It might start with a name and a logo, but if there’s one thing the team at Bartercard knows, it’s that building a trusted brand is much more than just graphic design.
Building a trusted brand is critical in the digital age. Having a strategy and focus to help build trust in the right places can maximise your impact, your brand reach, and your market sway.
We live in a trust economy, where reputational capital is crucial. Yelp, Google and other digital platforms hold businesses to account for the quality of their goods and services - one poor Google review or tweet can have a significant negative effect.
The saying, “a happy customer will tell one person about you, but an unhappy customer will tell five,” now vastly understates the impact that word-of-mouth marketing can have on your business. If you’ve upset a customer who happens to have fifty thousand Twitter followers, you have a serious problem on your hands. Fortunately, Bartercard is here to help. Keep reading to learn how you can make your brand a trusted one.
A trusted brand must set its expectations high
Traditionally, the best way to build a solid reputation and the trust of your customers has been to deliver on your promises, and provide great customer service, but these are baseline expectations in today’s transparent and competitive marketplace. If they are not met, your customers will leave you, and they will tell everyone why.
It is important that you surpass the basics. Don’t just satisfy your customers; delight them. Create a memorable experience worth sharing and your brand can separate itself from the competition.
A trusted brand will exceed expectations
The use of the Net Promoter Score (NPS) has become a firm favourite as a key non-financial metric for many businesses. NPS is a figure calculated by measuring responses to one simple yet crucial question: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?” Every major bank, airline, and telecommunications company tracks this figure, which speaks volumes to the value of trust and reputation in today’s economy.
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What is it you would expect and appreciate from this business, particularly in a time of need?
Remember not to lose sight of what’s central to your business. All too often, business growth strategies involve processes that are put in place to improve the overall customer experience or business results, but if those processes distract staff from pursuing their primary goal, they ultimately won’t be helpful to you.
Don’t fall victim to strategies that undermine your core mission. Smart companies have started to do away with these lengthy, detailed polices, chasing superficial customer gratification, by replacing them with simple statements of intent.
Add value and expertise to build credibility and trust
All businesses are interested in increasing their customer base, but it’s important to remember to focus on what value you can give to a customer, rather than what that customer will do for your business. Improving profits is undeniably what business owners strive for, but a smart business model sees beyond this. When the time comes that a customer or prospect requires goods or services that your business offers, they’re more likely to choose you over your competitors if you can demonstrate the unique value of your goods or services.
So, how do you achieve this? Include cast studies on your website that focus on addressing common challenges your customers face. Ensure it focuses on the customer and their business, not on your products or services. This can be harder than it seems, so invest in the help of a good marketing agency to assist you if necessary.
Help people connect - if you’re speaking with a customer or prospect who has a problem unrelated to your business, and you know someone who could help them, make the introduction (and ask for nothing in return). It’s an incredibly powerful way to generate goodwill and you’ll feel pretty good about it too.
Build your own network
Connect, meet, and engage with others to build your network. This is how opportunities present themselves and it helps you spread the word about your business. It’s not just about building your business’s brand, however. Take the time to help yourself and build your own personal brand at the same time.
Trust is built on good relationships
People buy from people, so get to know your customers and prospects as individuals. Find common ground to break down barriers and build trust - remember, it’s not just a transaction. Build rich connections with your customers, and focus on developing collaborative partnerships that bring greater value to both parties.
Trust is crucial in today’s business world. Technology and social media are powerful platforms to reach out to your market. By combining these tools and the fundamentals of effective relationship building, you’ll be positioning yourself for continued success.
Make your brand a trusted one
Any trusted brand is built upon a foundation of service to the customer, not profits and the bottom line. For more information on the values and practices that will make your brand the most trusted in your industry, contact Bartercard today.
