Is Trust Dead? Here’s How to Build Authentic Customer Trust in a Digital World

By Brian Hughes

Truly great businesses know the secret to customer retention lies in customer trust: earn a customer's trust and you've earned a customer for life; hurt this trust and you’ve just handed your competition a brand new customer.

When customers trust a brand, 83 percent will recommend a trusted company to others, according to a Concerto Group and Research Now survey. Furthermore, 82 percent of the survey’s respondents indicated that they would continue to use that brand frequently, a key indicator of customer loyalty.

The lifetime value of customer retention is hardly petty change. Businesses pay anywhere from 4 to 10 times more to acquire a new customer than they would to keep an existing one. Earning a customer’s trust not only ensures a higher level of customer satisfaction, but also reduces long-term customer acquisition costs by keeping existing customers right where they should be: spending money with your business.

But despite these facts, many businesses still struggle to be considered "trustworthy" by their clients. So what gives?

Is trust dead? Authentic honesty in the age of digital media

In an age of high flash and low substance, building trust is easier said than done. Customers are naturally suspicious of a brand’s intentions and motivators. Businesses are out to make money at the consumers' expense, right?

Yes, and no. We do all need to make a living, but not every company is out trying to overcharge or over-sell. Differentiating your company from the competition on this point is key.

Are you struggling to build trust with clients, despite your best intentions? Here’s how to build authentic customer trust from the bottom up:

1. The customer is not always right. When is the cliché “the customer is always right” actually wrong? When the customer thinks they need one type of service or product, but you know they’d actually benefit from a different, better solution. To build trust, you need to get to the heart of what your customer truly needs.

Maybe your product isn’t the right fit for a potential client’s business growth strategy. Don’t simply go along with what a customer says because they’re “always right.” Be honest and point them towards the product that is the right solution. You’ll build trust and earn an invaluable reputation as a straight shooter, rather than an up-seller.

2. Stop hiding mistakes. Mistakes happen. They become an expensive nightmare when they’re covered up and ignored for an extended period, or worse, when your team tries to bury them and hope that the client will be none the wiser. Fall behind on a project? Get over taken by scope creep? Are costs compounding faster than anticipated?

Whatever the problem, be upfront immediately and let your client know what’s happened. Customers and clients are smart: they know when you’re being honest versus when you’re telling a more colorful version of the truth. Don’t play games, make up excuses, or pass the blame off on others. Whether you’re sitting in a personal meeting with clients or posting an honest message to your customers via social media, own up to your mistakes and move forward.

3. Train every employee to deliver superior service. When you’re a small business with a limited number of customers, it’s much easier to stay on top of what these customers need and delight them with superior service at every turn. But as businesses grow, many find that delighting every customer is simply not practical from a scalability standpoint. The larger the business, the more difficult it becomes to deliver superior service.

Even something as simple as the right customer greeting can fall by the wayside. Don’t be lazy: all employees should deliver equivalent levels of service. Create and implement a meaningful customer service measurement (like feedback surveys) and respond immediately to this feedback.

4. Keep it real on social media. Don’t use generic or canned responses to reply to a follower’s comment or question. Fully address the question or comment with a personal response. Resist the temptation to delete complaints about your business (unless the commentary is offensive to you and other users). Even if you disagree with their critique of your company, offer a real, honest response.

Customer trust: the bottom line

Don’t confuse being liked with being trusted. It’s natural to want to be liked. After all, you want a business relationship to be pleasant for both you and the client. But being trusted is far more important.

Trust pays off with client loyalty, referrals, and the knowledge you’re truly delivering the best possible service for your clients each and every time.