My best friend has a saying, “Trust is a currency.”
As cheesy as that may sound, there’s nothing truer.
Trust is the cement that holds the brick of every relationship together. Husband-wife, parent-children, teacher-pupil, and brand-customer relationship are built on trust.
Therefore, the minute trust breaks down, the relationship goes out the window.
As humans, the first thing we build is trust. First, for those who care for us, and then others we meet as we grow older.
Unfortunately, we begin to lose that trust as we deal with other spheres of life.
In business, trust is key. As a matter of fact, there’s no business without trust.
You wouldn’t eat in a restaurant if you didn’t trust how the meal was prepared, would you? Or send your kids to a school if you didn’t trust them with their safety?
By the way…
What is trust?
Trust is the strong belief in the ability, reliability, or truth of a person or thing.
And so, using that definition, do you think your customers have that level of belief in your brand?
If you are unsure, here are 4 important keys that will help you build or regain the trust of your customers:
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Honesty & Sincerity
Your customers want you to be transparent.
Trust starts to break down when one party notices that the other party is being dishonest. Tell your customers the truth.
Tell them what’s in your recipe. Clearly show what they will get with your discount voucher. Do not try to hide anything. If you can’t provide a particular service, do not say you can just to take their money.
Because we are humans and prone to making mistakes, your customers know you will not always get it right.
But when you make a mistake, admit it and apologize. Be sincere about it.
However, I’m not saying you should reveal trade secrets. Or publish sensitive information in the name of being honest.
Just do for your customers what you have promised, and a little extra, if you can.
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Reliability
Next to honesty is reliability.
Let me paint a little picture of reliability using an everyday item.
Look at the chair you are sitting on. I bet the first time you sat on it, you didn’t doubt it was going to hold your weight. You just sat on it without thinking.
What if it gave in as you sat in it?
You customers want you be as reliable as the chair you are sitting in.
If your restaurant says it closes by 9pm, do everything you can to stay open till 9pm.
Because someone somewhere may just be depending on you for dinner. You don’t want them to visit you and find you closed by 8:15pm, for whatever reason.
You may lose that customer forever.
Furthermore, a lot of your customers’ livelihood may be dependent your business. Being unreliable may cost them dearly.
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Consistency
Will you be there when I return tomorrow? Or will I get the same experience in every single visit?
These questions border on consistency.
Other questions can be, “Will I get the same experience in all your outlets?”
An example of consistency is McDonald’s.
The McDonald’s burger tastes the same everywhere in the world.
If you provide a service you must make sure you are consistent. Consistency is what will keep your customers coming back.
And I don’t think I need to say what repeat business can do for your business.
Whenever customers visit you a second time, they have an expectation in mind. Providing anything below their expectation or previous experience will cause them to stop visiting.
Therefore, make sure that you provide the same quality of service to your customers every time they visit.
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Care
This is the final piece of the trust puzzle, but one that is scarce in the business world.
There are many brands out there that are honest, consistent, and reliable. However, there are very few that really care about their customers.
The issue of care is more pronounced in some industries than others.
For example, care is an important quality for businesses in the hospitality industry. If you run a hotel, resort, spa, travel, or restaurant business, your customers need you to show care.
And I mean really demonstrate it.
But what should you care about?
Let me tell you a few…
You should care about your customers’:
- Safety.
- Health.
- Belonging.
- Comfort.
- Situation.
These point may be few, but a really important to your customers.
Remember the United Airlines’ ordeal with Dave Carroll?
They didn’t care about his belongings. In addition to that, they refused to compensate him for the damage. He tried contacting them several times, but got no response.
As a result of a video he shot about his ordeal, they lost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Caring for your customers helps you build an emotional connection with them. Because your customers have an emotional attachment to those things listed above.
In conclusion…
These four keys are simple, easy, and inexpensive to apply. Just being a genuine human is enough.
The bible says something profound. It says, ‘do unto others what you want them to do unto you.’. And so, to apply these 4 keys, ask yourself, ‘How will I like to be treated as a human being?’
Then treat your customers the same way. Or better.
Speaking of emotional connection…
Sending personalized messages is an effective way to build emotional connection with your customers. However, you can’t do that if you don’t have the right data such as name their names and email addresses.
That’s why you need Spotonwifi.
Our Wi-Fi marketing & analytics platform helps you collect vital customer data and store them securely. Our software represents the data in charts and graphs that make them easy to interpret and apply.
With this data, you can send personalized messages that will get your customers thinking about your brand.
Want to learn more?
Contact us right away, and we will get you started.
POSTED ON February 14, 2020