Customer retention strategy is very significant in the marketing field. Nevertheless, many business owners often ignore this and instead put their full gear solely towards winning the trust of brand-new shoppers. Little do they know that it takes about five to twenty times more resources for a business to obtain a new customer than to retain the existing one. While casting a wide network well for fishing is an ideal way to trap more fish, it should be noted that one-time clients will not keep a company from treading water.
The complexity of the business world is zigzagged with multiple facets that require entrepreneurs and even tycoons to painstakingly navigate uncharted waters without sinking their ships. One area where many business owners find it very hard to have their leeway is to build the customers’ trust. However, building customer trust is a priority for the success of businesses in 2023. It brings many benefits to businesses, including but not limited to customer repeat purchases and word-of-mouth marketing. Moreover, winning customers’ trust also paves the way to being in the industry’s leading position.
Contents
- Why is Customer Trust Important?
- Key Reasons Why Customers Remain Loyal
- 8 Effective Strategies to BuildTrustwith Customers
Why is Customer Trust Important?
In this age when disloyalty is dominant, it is easy for your customers to jump from one e-commerce store to another. Therefore, how do you make customers feel respected and place their trust in your business?
Customer behavior is simply a reciprocal behavior to what they receive. Trust comes when the customers’ needs are fully understood by you. This is through respecting their needs and offering relevant services based on their needs. Gaining customers’ trust is important because trust makes them loyal and come back, and it acts as a secret way to lure their friends to do business with you.
It is also important to know that every interaction we have with our customers dictates whether or not they will return. Therefore, their experience with you should be enjoyable, making them willing to return.
According to Donald Porter (n.d), “Customers don’t expect you to be perfect but fix things when they go wrong.”
Key Reasons Why Customers Remain Loyal
According to the customer quotient study, consumers value a brand withOpenness, Relevance, Empathy, Experience and Emotion.
A brand’s performance decides loyalty outcomes and is vividly correlated to profits and revenue growth.
The following are the six critical drivers as suggested by the customer Quotient Study:
- Stability: Every brand must have a primary foundation or Stability
- Creativity and innovation: A brand must continue developing, growing, and innovating.
- Relationship: A brand must provide a relationship.
- Benefit:There is a need for a brand to deliver practical values.
- Vision:A brand must have a guiding vision.
- Competence:A brand must strive towards always being competent.
In the following section, we will discuss, in more detail, approaches to help businesses enhance their customer trust in 2023.
8 Effective Strategies to BuildTrustwith Customers
1.Build Customer Loyalty Through Shared Values
It would be in the best interest of your company to only have its own easily identifiable values, but you should also aim to share them with your customer base.
As long as your customers understand and get along well with your values, they will identify well with you and feel connected. Besides, your company should be eco-friendly and, where necessary, donate a portion of your earnings to a specific charity.
2.Frequently Ask for Feedback
No matter the feedback you get, never be afraid to ask customers to give you their views on what they think about your product.
Don’t be afraid to do this even if the feedback is not as pleasant as you expected. Remember, positive feedback feels good, but negative feedback is more crucial.
Avoid immediately jumping to a conclusion without a poll or survey. Always use the result as a true reflection of your business standing.
Incorporate periodical feedback into your business, and don’t forget to compare the newest results to previous ones.
3.Treat Customers as Humans, Not Data
Sometimes, the customers need empathy, and you should always be there to encourage and compliment them. In the knowledge of many business owners, the secret is that customers are not fond of AI chatbots a common complaint is that these bots hardly understand them.
They only typically react to keywords and specific scenarios instead of the individualized human experience. With this in mind, remember that customers are people, not data.
Treating them as human beings and not just numbers on a screen can encourage them to become repeat purchasers.
4.Be Easy to Understand
Sometimes, business owners assume that having the best products in the market is key to dominance over other arch-rivals. However, the rival company might end up outselling your with inferior products simply because customers trust their explanations and marketing materials because they are easier to understand.
The more accessible the nature of your business is, the faster they can decide If they want to shop with you. For instance, those aware that your business better serves their needs will feel more reassured when buying from you repeatedly.
5.Make Returns and Refunds Easy and Affordable
In one way or another, mistakes are certain to happen. If you make returns nearly impossible and refuse to offer refunds, you’re actually sending customers away from your shop. Refunds and returns are a crucial part of customer service. Making the process pain-free and affordable is a sure way to win customers’ trust.
6.Provide Quick Delivery Options
Some customers need prompt delivery services, even if some may be willing to wait for a little while, like a few weeks, to receive their products. Take a step forward in delivery services, which will make customers come back as they know that their products will be delivered faster from your company, compared with your competitors.
7.Be Transparent
Apart from clearly and accurately communicating your policies and procedures, core values, and overall missions, it would help if you also touted your company’s commitment to privacy protection.
Make it clear how your company’s sensitive information will be protected from threats like data breaches. This help customers feel reassured.
Also, it is important to note that you should be honest about how and why you collect customer data this help in building trust and enhance compliance with regulations.
More specifically, clarify how you plan to use their information in the contact or user’s terms. Strengthen customers’ trust by detailing how you will use their information to improve the company’s overall experience.
8.Make Excellent Customer Service a Priority
Meeting the highest standard of customer service provision is one the best ways to win your customer’s trust. Offer unique experiences by personalizing every interaction with your customers. It would be wise enough to leverage your customer data to cater for every buyer.
In addition to offering personalization, remain a strategic partner for your customers at every touch point instead of a one-time problem solver.
You can do this by:
- Anticipating customer needs;
- Having clear price information readily available;
- Offering queue call back so that customers do not wait on hold;
- Pre-filling the customers’ forms with already-known information.
Always bear in mind that customer service excellence can only be achieved if the entire teammate, regardless of position and role, thinks about the customer’s needs.
Final Thoughts
For you to build customer trust and eventually retain customers, you need emotional intelligence. In the same way, trust plays a crucial role in a lasting relationship – customer trust must be earned and protected. This is not a walk in the park. It takes hard work to develop and maintain it. Therefore, a business must consistently show up for its customer base and exceed expectations. It is easier to talk about your excellent products or services than to build customer trust, which means that you have to walk the walk.
As a result, don’t wait until your product’s reputation is ruined before you begin building customer trust. Embark on your journey of winning your customers’ trust by seeking to understand your buyers immediately after you meet them and ceaselessly nurture those relationships throughout your customer lifecycle.
