As a business owner, it’s important to remember that your customers are the lifeblood of your company🤝. Without them, you won’t be able to survive. Building and keeping your customer’s trust is essential for your business to thrive and succeed in the long term. According to “A 2021 survey of 1,000 consumers concluded that more than 80% consider trust a deciding factor in their buying decisions.”🤔
Unfortunately, many business owners make careless mistakes that can damage customer trust. This article will explain some of the most common bad habits that you should break to earn and maintain your clients’ trust. Do you want to know more? You’ve come to the right place.🤩
Source: Harvard Business Review
Why Is Customer Trust Important?🤝
Building customer trust is essential for a successful business. Not only are good customer relationships ideal for business metrics, but they also aid a business’s overall image and reputation. If you want to secure longevity for your company, building and maintaining trust is essential.
Here are some reasons why building lasting customer trust is important:
- Positive brand image👍- Brands that put their customers first and foster positive relationships will get better word-of-mouth recommendations and create a positive reputation.
- Customer satisfaction😊- Trust contributes to customer satisfaction, and they’ll appreciate your dedication to their wants and needs. If customers feel they can trust your brand, they’re more likely to feel fulfilled and happy.
- Competitive advantage📈- Trust can set your business apart from the competition. By creating a reputation for trustworthiness, it gives your company a competitive advantage as it becomes a unique selling proposition.
- Customer loyalty🤝- Customer relationship management is essential for securing loyal, returning customers. When customers are satisfied with a positive, trusting relationship with an organisation, it leads to higher customer retention rates.
- Positive communication💬- Creating a trusting relationship with customers opens up communication channels. If customers trust a business, they’re more likely to provide feedback and helpful insights. You can use this to your advantage and tailor some decisions to meet their needs.
Overall, customer trust is essential for a successful business. By taking time to foster positive relationships with your customers, you’ll create a better brand image, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty and get ahead of the competition🏆.
Source: HR News
As a business, you may find yourself falling into bad habits that impact the trust you have with customers. By breaking these bad habits, you can improve your customer relationships and secure trust to impact your company positively. Do you want to know how? Let’s get into it.
Break These Bad Habits To Keep Customer's Trust🤗
To achieve long-term success, building trust with customers is vital. As a business, there are many ways you can benefit from fostering a positive relationship with your customers🏅.
It’s common for companies to fall into bad habits, forgetting to prioritise strong connections. If you want to know the bad habits to avoid, here are some ideas:
1. Poor Communication🗣
Communication is key, especially when building positive relationships with customers. Poor communication can cause a breakdown of trust. Failing to interact with customers, providing unclear and inconsistent updates and ignoring feedback can lead to frustration and a lack of faith😖.
Reach out to customers, encourage feedback and aim to be as transparent as possible. By doing this, you can foster trust and improve your communication💬.
To earn and maintain your customer’s trust, you should also be honest and transparent with them. Let them know of the timeline, the possible issues that you may encounter, and your plans on how to resolve those. When you do those and deliver well, they will be loyal to you🤞.
Source: Zendesk
2. Ignoring Customer Feedback💬
If you ignore your customer’s feedback, they won’t feel valued. This can lead to a lack of trust and impact the success of your business. Customer feedback is a useful insight into what you can improve. Ignoring this information hinders your growth and ability to adapt📈.
It could also prevent your business from attracting potential customers, especially if there’s something that’s not working. LinkedIn states that “83% of customers are loyal to businesses that resolve customer complaints.” So, it’s in your best interest to do so. Whether it’s on your website🖥, social media or in person, take it in and take it on board.
Source: LinkedIn
3. Neglecting Customer Service👍👎
If you neglect customer service, you could put your business at risk of losing your existing customers. By failing to prioritise customer service, your customers won’t feel valued, essential or optimistic about their experience. According to LinkedIn, “positive customer service experiences will bring 89% of consumers back.”
Examples of poor customer service are slow response times⌚️, an inadequate effort to find solutions and a lack of empathy. Aim to find solutions and put your customers first. They’ll appreciate your dedication to their positive customer experience, building and fostering trust.
Source: LinkedIn
4. Not Providing After-Sales Service🧐
Just because you’re already done with the sale doesn’t mean you’re set. You can follow up with your customers and ask them how they like the product/service so far. You should also be there when they have questions or if issues arise after their purchase🛍.
By doing this, you’ll know how to improve your company, and you’ll build a better relationship with them, so they might do business with you again.
5. Lack of Transparency🔮
From small businesses to large ones, a lack of transparency is often a contributing factor to the breakdown of trust between companies and customers. Transparency creates an environment of trust, openness and respect. According to LinkedIn, “94% of shoppers are loyal to companies that operate with transparency.”
Your customer base as a whole will appreciate clarity😊, especially in regard to your processes and pricing. Be as open as possible and give customers information that benefits them and their purchases.
Source: LinkedIn
6. Lack of Accountability🤷♀️
Taking accountability and responsibility is essential for customer trust. If something goes wrong, businesses need to own up and accept their mistake❌. In doing this, customers will feel valued and respected, mainly if an error has occurred.
Encourage your leadership team to foster a sense of accountability, and this will set a positive example for the rest of your team.
7. Too Much Focus on Sales💸
Focusing on sales too much can hinder customer trust. If your sales team solely concentrates on making a sale, a customer may struggle to trust. A sales-centric approach can be overwhelming for customers and can give off the wrong impression🤑.
“93% of customers are likely to make repeat purchases with companies who offer excellent customer service.” So, emphasise the importance of customer’s needs and try to avoid focusing on short-term gains instead of the long-term trust you want to build.
Source: HubSpot Research
8. Performing Slowly and Inefficiently🐌
Acting quickly and efficiently is essential not only in a crisis but on all occasions. Most people are busy or don’t like to wait⏱, so it’s essential to provide what they need as fast and effectively as possible.
Customers will appreciate your service when you do so and might become loyal to your business. According to HubSpot, 90% of customers rate an “immediate” response as essential or highly important when they have a customer service question🤔.
Set timings that are realistic, but try to avoid being too slow. If people wait too long, they’ll likely turn to one of your competitors in the future.
Source: Help Scout
9. Inconsistent Quality👎
Consistency is key🗝, and your customers will enjoy a sense of security with your ongoing commitment quality. Not only will inconsistent quality create disappointment, but it’ll reduce the amount of trust your customers have in you. Prioritise your quality control and ensure your customers are continuously satisfied. If the customer data or feedback shows they’re not satisfied, revise your process.
Implement ongoing staff training quality control measures and stay dedicated to providing high quality. This will help to foster a sense of trust between you and your customers🤝.
Source: HR News
Conclusion
Customers’ trust is crucial in a business as well as the things that you do can make or break it🤩. By identifying these bad habits, you’ll know what you need to work on to gain and keep customers’ trust in you. By fostering positive relationships with your customers, you can put their needs first and create a positive brand image and reputation for your business📈.
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