SEO Hosting Blog

One of the biggest ongoing battles your company will fight is winning the trust of customers. Consumers have become more skeptical of companies than ever before. They know that the web is full of shady businesses, so their first instinct is to call “B.S.” on any company they aren’t familiar with.

What can you do to gain the trust of customers? Here are some tips to help you gain the upper hand in this never-ending battle.

• Ask your satisfied customers for testimonials—Customers don’t trust you, but they do trust your customers. If they see that other consumers have had positive experiences when dealing with your company, they’ll feel more at ease doing business with you. But you can’t always expect your satisfied customers to brag about your company. You need to be proactive and ask them if they’d be interested in submitting a testimonial about their experience.
• Encourage customers to review you—Many customers now turn to independent review websites, like Yelp and Angie’s List, to research companies before doing business with them. These websites can make or break your reputation, so you need to kindly encourage your customers to review your company. Remember, you can’t bribe them to submit reviews or tell them to leave a positive review. Just ask them to leave honest feedback about their experience.
• Display your credentials proudly—If you have strong credentials and professional affiliations, your credibility will instantly increase. Post these affiliations and credentials prominently on your website and marketing materials.
• Never promise what you can’t deliver—If you lie to a customer only once, they’ll likely never trust you again. Never promise what you can’t deliver. If you tell them you’re going to do something, do it. In fact, go above and beyond what you promise so they’ll take notice and tell others.
• Be transparent and authentic—People trust people, not companies. That’s why it’s important that you build personal relationships with your customers. Be open with them. Be yourself. Connect with them on social networking websites, and make yourself available to talk to your customers. This will earn you that trust you desire.

What are some other tips you have for companies looking to earn trust from their customers?

I’ve been a freelance copywriter for about 3 or 4 years now, and I’m still learning valuable business lessons on a regular basis. Last year, I learned a number of important lessons that have helped me grow my business, better serve my clients, and be better at everything I do.

Here are the 5 biggest business lessons I learned in 2011. After you’re done reading them, I’d love for you to comment and share some of the important things you discovered last year.

1. Even the most satisfied clients require nurturing—Customer relationship management is very important to running a successful business. It’s so much easier and more profitable to keep your current clients happy than it is to try to find new clients. When you think about keeping clients loyal, it’s only natural to focus your attention on strengthening your weakest relationships. However, you have to remember that a client who is happy right now may not be happy one month from now. Every client needs attention. Even the ones who you think will never leave you.
2. Giving up control can be a good thing—When it comes to my business, I’ve always been something of a control freak. I’ve been wary of turning to others for help, outsourcing certain menial tasks, or letting go of any power over my business. But I finally had a revelation. If I want my business to grow, I’m going to have to give up some control and trust others to help me. I started doing so in the latter half of 2011 with some great results.
3. It’s about value, not price—Will there always be price shoppers? Of course. But for the most part, price isn’t that important. It’s the value you provide. Your products and services can be more expensive than the competition’s as long as you do a clear job of showing what they’re still a better value at that price point.
4. Some clients will never be happy—Let’s face it. There are certain clients who just want to complain. No matter how far backwards you bend over for them, they’re still going to be angry. Avoid doing business with this type of client at all costs.
5. The competition is always improving—Your competitors are always getting better. Their services are improving, and they’re always adding new services and features. That means you have to keep getting better too. You have to always be pushing forward, finding new ways to improve the quality of the services you provide for your clients.

What business lessons did you learn in 2011?

Look, you might never find yourself in the middle of a PR crisis as bad as the ones faced by the likes of BP and Toyota, but just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean you’re immune to controversy. You never know when you could find yourself in hot water, and if you don’t respond properly, the problem will worsen and your credibility could be irrevocably shot to pieces.

Here are a few of the mistakes companies often make during a PR crisis that can cause their customers to stop trusting them.

1. Take too long to issue a response—Waiting too long to issue a response during a PR crisis looks suspicious. You can’t just stay silent and hope that the problem will magically go away. It won’t It will only get worse because your customers will assume that you’re hiding something, and  since you’re not out there telling your side of the story, they’ll have no other choice than to believe what they’re hearing about you.
2. Lie or conceal the truth—Unfortunately, the general public has been trained to believe that most companies can’t be trusted. Too many corporations flat out lie or try to hide the truth. Be better than that. If you’ve made a mistake, admit it and issue a sincere apology.
3. Not offer a plan for fixing the problem—The public can be more forgiving than you might think, but they need to be reassured that you won’t make the same mistakes again. If you want to keep their trust, you need to have a clear plan for resolving the issue and preventing it from happening again.

Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a PR disaster? How did you handle it?

In most cases, press release distribution consists of sending the press release to a list of reporters and publishing it on a few directories across the web. You might be surprised to know that there are many more things you can do to get more from your press releases.

Here are just 3 easy ways to repurpose and spread your press releases even further.

1. Post them on your website—If your company has regular news updates, you may want to create a dedicated news room on your website. Not only will this keep customers and prospects up to date, but it also creates a place where reporters can come to learn more about your company.
2. Spin them into articles—Is article marketing as effective as it used to be? Probably not, but when used in conjunction with other online marketing strategies, I still believe it has something to offer. Most press releases can be spun into articles fairly easily, requiring only a few slight tweaks.
3. Send them to your clients and prospects—Show your clients and prospects that your company is relevant and in the news by sending them your press releases via email (newsletters) and direct mail. As John Jantsch notes in Duct Tape Marketing, “With the blur of information coming to us everyday, people can no longer keep track of what they saw where. Over time, your press releases will become media coverage to your readers.”

Do you still use press releases to get attention for your company? What are some of your best press release tactics?

I believe there’s no information more integral to a company’s success than customer feedback. Every business can benefit by taking the time to listen to its customers, so they can discover what their customers really care about and how they can do a better job of satisfying them.

Unfortunately, most businesses only seek out positive feedback from their customers…the type of feedback they can use as testimonials on their marketing materials…they type of feedback they can use to pat themselves on the back and stroke their egos.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s important to get positive feedback from your customers. You need to know what it is about your company that truly appeals to your target audience. That’s valuable information.

But the more important question to be asking your customers is “What did you not like about your experience with our company?”

To me, negative feedback is the most valuable information there is. That’s the kind of feedback that keeps you growing. That’s the kind of feedback that lets you find your company’s weaknesses so you can work on turning them into strengths. That’s the kind of feedback that your company can use to turn itself into a powerhouse that crushes the competition.

Remember, every part of the customer’s experience matters, and while they might not make a fuss about your company’s billing process being confusing or your hold times on the phone being longer than they’d like, it still influences how they feel about you. It’s all part of your branding and marketing efforts, and by digging to discover what things customers don’t like about your company—no matter how big or small—you can constantly improve the experience they have with your brand.

So, next time you start to seek feedback from your customers, don’t forget to ask them “What did you not like about your experience with our company?”

And more importantly, don’t forget to act on that information.