How to Build Trust With Customers?

Developing a lasting relationship of trust with your customers is a mission that starts with your first contact with your prospects. By showing your clients from the beginning that you are listening to their needs, you can build a relationship of trust with them that will last through time. This is a good strategy to demonstrate that you are staying true to your commitments while retaining your existing customer base. In addition, an excellent reputation coupled with loyal customers to your organization will certainly ensure the success of your business!

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Because every human being is unique, it can be complex to know how to meet their specific needs and to offer them the best possible experience to create a lasting relationship. What are the most important factors in establishing a relationship of trust with a client? In our article, discover now nine relevant tips on the subject!

9 tips for building a relationship of trust with a customer

Maintaining a relationship of trust with your customers is the key to ensuring the success of your business. By showing empathy and expertise with your customers, they will be more likely to favor you over a competitor. Satisfied customers will naturally generate a positive word of mouth. This will attract many prospects while increasing the lifetime value of your current clientele! Without further ado, here are our valuable tips to help you build trusted relationships.

1. Delivering on your commitments to your clients

Of course, to develop a lasting relationship of trust with customers, it is important to keep your commitments. No one likes to receive promises of products, deadlines or improvements solely for the purpose of generating ephemeral satisfaction. A broken commitment or missed deadline can ultimately deter your most loyal customers from doing business with you again. This could even result in a bad brand image that will direct your prospects to your biggest competitors!

According to the study conducted by Edelman, 81% of consumers need to trust a company before doing business with it. Moreover, according to Smart Insights, 64% of customers will not hesitate to turn to a competitor if their trust is broken. How can you build trust with customers?

The answer is simple: live up to your commitments. The key to a trusting relationship is transparency and honesty. In this sense, never promise something that you are not able to offer. Listen to your customers, understand what they want, what they are looking for. Never let your profitability goals push you to ignore customer dissatisfaction. At first glance, your company is committed to providing customers with the best possible experience. Proactively address the situation to show your customers that their well-being is a priority for you. This will greatly contribute to your customer loyalty and benefit your brand image. Keep this advice in mind when defining how to build trust with customers!

2. Be transparent and honest

When it comes to defining how to build trust with customers, transparency and honesty are two crucial values to achieve this. According to the study conducted by Accenture, 62% of customers will be attracted to brands promoting their values as well as their authenticity. In that sense, how can you be transparent and honest in order to build a lasting relationship of trust with your clients? Here are some tips to help you:

Only promote services that you can offer;
Keep your commitments toward your customers;
Actively address customer dissatisfaction;
Promote an authentic brand image that is true to your identity as a company;
Disseminate reliable information to your community;
Carry out regular follow-up for your customers in case of delays;
Refuse to buy misleading ads and fake reviews online;
In case of scandal, be honest: admit your mistake and put forward that the problem has been solved.

Remember that transparency and honesty are the foundation of a trusting relationship that lasts through time. These are important values if you are wondering how to build trust with customers!

3. Have a clear feedback process

To establish a relationship of trust with a customer, it is important to know the authentic opinion of your customers. To achieve this, clearly communicate to your customers what your customer experience improvement processes are. Explain and simplify the various steps (surveys, telephone interviews, meeting with managers) to show your clients how important their opinions are to you. Afterwards, reassure them by describing the different ways in which the customer experience is handled. Improved services, employee training, simplified customer journey, up-to-date website: there are many ways to improve your customers’ experience according to their specific needs. By collecting such feedback, you can continuously improve the customer experience based on real-life feedback while showing your customers that their satisfaction is your priority. This is a must for developing a lasting and trusting relationship with your customers!

For this purpose, using customer experience software such as InputKit, send regular customer satisfaction surveys to ensure your customers are satisfied. Customer journey, quality of service, professionalism of employees and more: evaluate everything to get your customers’ opinions. Thanks to the feedback gathered, note the various flaws in your customer experience in order to adapt it according to your customers’ expectations. By showing your customers that their comments are read and heard, they will definitely feel appreciated. This is important if you are wondering how to build trust with your customers!

4. Act on feedback

Once feedback is gathered, take action based on your clients’ concrete needs. To achieve this, keep a close eye on customer satisfaction to show your customers that their well-being is your priority. If a criticism comes up frequently during your satisfaction surveys, take care to correct the situation immediately to show your customers that it is being listened to.

What are the most important factors to build trust with a client? Of course, there is honesty, transparency, but also a sense of duty. Did you know that according to Khoros, 83% of consumers are loyal to companies that respond to customer dissatisfaction? With this in mind, take care to respond to all your online reviews to show your customers as well as your prospects that you are a trustworthy company. Keep this advice in mind when defining how to build trust with customers!

5. Share success stories with other clients

Customers will often look at a variety of options before deciding which business to do business with. Therefore, it is important to know how to stand out from the crowd to attract the attention of potential leads. What better way to do this than to promote your success stories to build confidence in your leads? By showing your prospects your expertise, you will create a sense of trust and credibility that will certainly make them want to do business with you!

To write a good customer success story:

Get permission from your clients: Ask your clients to share a story or have them validate a story you’re proud of.
Describe the context: What is your client’s area of expertise? How long has your client been in business? What type of product, solution, was your customer looking for? What are the client characteristics that allow your prospects to identify with them?
Explain the challenge: Why did the customer initially turn to your business? What was their need, their problem? Explain how the situation was a challenge.
Demonstrate how your business is the best solution: Now is the time to promote your business. How did you manage to resolve the problem? How did you improve the client’s situation? Show how your company is an expert in its field!
Share your results: What is the end result of the story? A happy client, the beginning of a great collaboration? Explain to your prospects how grateful your customers are for your good service!

Remember that customer success stories are a golden opportunity to show your prospects the credibility and expertise of your business. This is important if you are wondering how to build trust with customers!

6. Demonstrate your expertise

If you’re wondering how to build trust with customers, it’s certainly important to show your expertise. After all, your prospects and customers will feel much more confident if you show them that you are an expert in your industry, and even more so if they understand exactly the nature of your services!

To help you, here are six tips to show your knowledge to your clients:

Offer educational content related to your industry (demonstration videos, educational books, pamphlets);
On your social networks, share trainings, webinars and conferences you attend to show your community that you are up to date in your industry.
When communicating with your clients, simplify certain topics to ensure a good understanding of the services offered;
Always answer your clients’ and leads’ questions about the products and services offered by your organization;
Always speak with a confident and professional tone to put your prospects and customers in confidence;
If you have an office or practice, take the opportunity to display your various certificates and diplomas.

Keep these valuable tips in mind when defining how to build trust with customers!

7. Continue to train and stay current in your industry

How to build trust with customers? Continuously improve your services by keeping up-to-date with the latest trends in your industry!

To provide a unique experience for your clients, attend continuous training, webinars and conferences related to your service offering. For every training you’ve completed, put your achievements on your social networks, your office or your office. An online training badge, certificate or diploma will certainly help to make your customers feel confident. By displaying your specializations and showing that you are up to date in your field, you will develop a professionalism that will reassure your clients as well as your prospects. They will be more likely to come back to your company for future services!

8. Deliver a memorable customer experience

When you ask yourself how to build trust with your customers, a memorable customer experience is definitely a must. A positive experience with strong moments to appeal to the feelings and emotions of the customer will certainly make them want to come back to your company!

Take care to build small attentions throughout your customer journey. Personalized experience, thoughtful surprises, friendly staff, up-to-date environment, special discounts for your most loyal ambassadors: there are many ways to show your customer that you are attentive to their needs. These attentions will generate a WOW effect that will put your clients in confidence: they will certainly want to come back and even recommend you to the members of their entourage!

9. Fill employees to ensure good service delivery

When it comes to defining how to build trust with customers, remember that your interactions begin with your employees. To do this, to build a lasting relationship of quality with your customers, you will need to hire reliable, ambitious and proactive employees. More than that, to ensure a good service delivery, you will also need to ensure the satisfaction of your teams at work.

Demotivated employees have a higher rate of absenteeism and are at high risk of negatively impacting your customer experience. Be proactive: promote an organizational culture of respect and trust to better motivate your employees at work. According to Gallup, happy employees are 41% more present at work and are up to 17% more efficient. Definitely, a motivated team that is satisfied with its working conditions is likely to have good relationships with your clients. This is important if you are wondering how to build trust with your customers!

How can InputKit help you build a trusting relationship with your customers?

When it comes to defining how to establish a trusting relationship with a customer, InputKit is the best software to help you. With our turnkey customer experience assessment and improvement solution, you can show your customers that you are a trustworthy company!

email or sms after service InputKit With our software, send customer satisfaction surveys in an automated and personalized way at the optimal time, one to two hours after a lived experience. Our response rate of 45% by email and 57% by text message (SMS) ensures you get valuable feedback regardless of the delivery platform you choose. This will help you make informed decisions based on real-life feedback. This is a must for maintaining a relationship of trust with your customers!

Did you know that our solution has a smart answer generator? With InputKit, write your own responses to online reviews and then respond appropriately to customer feedback with just one click. In addition, our software is also equipped with real-time notifications. You will therefore be able to detect customer dissatisfactions as soon as they appear in order to quickly rectify the situation. Keep these valuable features in mind when it comes to defining how to build trust with your customers!

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Finally, how to build trust with customers? Follow our valuable customer advice to help build customer loyalty!

Always keep your commitments to your customers. In the event of additional delays or customer dissatisfaction, always be honest and transparent. To ensure your customers are satisfied, set up a good feedback process and then act accordingly based on the opinion of your customers. On your social networks as well as your blog, feel free to share your various customer success stories and showcase your expertise. Such a strategy will give your prospects confidence and help you acquire new customers!

What are the most important factors in establishing a relationship of trust with a client? Follow the latest trends in your industry to offer your customers a unique and memorable experience. Finally, make sure you satisfy your employees to optimize their motivation and work performance. A motivated and proactive team will be much more likely to give their best to offer your customers a quality experience!

Now that you know how to build trust with customers, do you need help to optimize your customer experience? If so, feel free to schedule a free demo of our solution with our team of subject matter experts. We will be pleased to contribute to the success of your company!