Why should someone trust your business?

Maybe they find you by typing a question into Google. Or perhaps they clicked to your website from a Facebook ad or a link from another website…

At this point in the relationship, you’re a stranger to them.

Yes, they’ve found their way to your website, but what makes you any more trustworthy than the person handing out fliers at your local train station?

Small businesses too often take trust for granted. We think that just because our product or service is great and people come to our website – the sale will take care of itself.

Unfortunately, your prospects are skeptical.

Here are 10 ideas how to build trust and overcome skepticism:

1. Be Honest and Transparent

If you want to gain your prospects’ trust, there are no shortcuts; you’re going to have to earn it. A great starting point is to be open and transparent about your products/services and what your potential clients can expect of you as a company. Forget gimmicks and hype. Give your prospects all the information they need to help them make an informed decision.

2. Keep Your Promises

It makes sense that we want to keep promises we make to our clients. Unfortunately, sometimes, the little things get overlooked. Make keeping your promises about the little things as important as keeping your promises about the big things.

3. Communicate Openly and Frequently

Make it a rule that any important communication must happen in person. The true meaning of a message can get lost via text, email and sometimes even on the phone. Make sure you both heard and understood the same thing by talking face to face.

4. Put a Face to Your Name

People want to connect with people, not companies. So take every opportunity you can to personalize their experience with your business. If your business is online – it’s crucial to show the actual person behind the company. For example – write a personal ‘About us’ page with photos of you and your team, share behind-the-scenes videos and photos of how you do what you do or engage with them in a conversation on social media.

5. Be Supportive

Find ways to support them before, during and after they became active clients. It can be by sharing valuable information, answering their questions, asking about (and listening to) their challenges, or encouraging them to dare to take a risk, make mistakes or try new things.

6. Don’t Disagree or Criticize in Public

A public forum is never a place to voice a disagreement or criticism. Also… waiting a little before having a tough conversation is better, as it allows you to formulate your thoughts in a respectful way to encourage an honest and open discussion.

7. Build Social Proof

Word of mouth recommendations are important. In B2C those usually will be customer testimonials and reviews and when selling B2B – client references (or referrals). But you can gain social proof by getting a lot of engagement on your blog or social media posts, or many views of your YouTube videos. Also, don’t forget to share any media exposure you’ve got.

8. Collect and Share Testimonials

Satisfied clients who are willing to go on record (preferably video) and share their positive experiences with your company and product/service deliver a much more compelling and engaging message than if you try to convey the same message yourself. Make sure you use those testimonials everywhere.

9. Make it Easy for People to Contact You

There is nothing that rings alarm bells for a website visitor than if they can’t find a way to contact you. This creates frustration and distrust. Showing your contact information on your website – puts visitors at ease knowing they can contact you if they ever have a problem.

10. Respond Quickly

Once people do contact you, make sure you respond to them. In fact, when you don’t respond (or take too long to respond), you lose even more trust than if you didn’t put the contact information in the first place!

Now It’s YOUR Turn

For five minutes… come up with as many ideas as you can… what do YOU do to build more trust?