Ten Ways You Can Build Customer Trust

We have been working with a customer for the past three years and migrated many of their processes onto our platform.

Each process implementation included customizations and integrations per the BPOs customer needs. We have always adhered to the rollout, customization, and integration timelines.

In one of the processes, we feared that we would overshoot the timeframe for customization, and we came to know of it only a week before the stated implementation.

We decided to keep the customer informed.

So, when we called the customer and told him about the expected delay, this is what he had to say:

We fully trust your abilities and understand that the delay is due to reasons beyond your control. We will communicate the extended timelines to our customers as well.

How to Build Trust With Customers?

Trust here is the operative word. How do you gain your customer’s trust?

I will share a few pointers on how we have gained our customer’s trust.

1. Share Who You Are

We always share our genesis story and why we bet on the cloud contact center platform right from the beginning.

Our story includes how we have helped customers with their business, expertise, awards, and recognition.

Besides, we regularly communicate with our customers through our newsletters on how other customers use our platform to their benefit.

This invariably builds trust with our customers, which has allowed us to grow 100% year-on-year in the Indian market.

2. Our Business Model

Most customers fall into a trap when they sign a contract with a vendor for a specified period or give a minimum commitment on the number of agent licenses.

Both these options are very tricky for the customers because your platform costs don’t change per your business needs.

This is what we do.

• We don’t ask our customers to sign a contract with us
• No minimum guarantee
• No commitment on the number of licenses
• No customization charges when we implement it for the first time
• The platform will be up and running within 48 hours
• Your dialer, telco, integrations, and customizations – all together at a per-minute cost

You pay based on your usage. No hidden charges or agenda.

You can scale up and down the infrastructure at the click of a button.

Doesn’t this build customer trust?

3. Structure Your Offerings around Customer Needs

How often have you heard about remote and hybrid working in the last two years?

How often have you heard people talk about omnichannel experience?

You don’t have to answer this, but you get my point.

This is precisely what we have built into our platform – we are remote-ready, and our open APIs allow integrations across channels and systems.

In essence, as a customer experience function, you get to see a single view of your customers, allowing you to offer the best possible customer experience.

Our remote-ready platform allows you access with a working browser and an active Internet connection.

This is how we connect with our customers’ needs, which necessarily builds trust.

4. Get Your Customers to Speak

We run events where we conduct multiple sessions on customer experience practices.

Who best talks about it?

Obviously, the practitioners who also happen to be our customers.

We get our customers as a part of our webinars, panel discussions, and roundtables.

They share their experiences, which are facilitated by our platform. Should I say this acts as an excellent testimonial for our brand besides making them useful for the fraternity?

This helps our existing and new customers to trust our brand.

5. Have a Call Schedule

We organize a 10-minute call with all our customers, and that too with an open agenda.

Did you get the drift?

Seek active feedback is the mantra here.

This is a call where we find out if everything is fine with the platform and if they need anything specific to improve their business. We ask tough questions like, “why are you still with us?” and “What is it that you dislike about us?”

We also share a few user stories about how other customers use our platform. This improves the trust levels and triggers conversations where they open up and discuss their wish list.

Seeking feedback helps build trust and allows them to maximize the benefits of their purchase.

6. Customer Experience Is the Be-All and End-All

We believe in the Zappos adage, “every customer interaction is an opportunity to WOW your customers.”

See, if your customers would love this:

You can reach us 24×7 by call, email, and messaging.

This is what we do with our customers. Be available for them, and ensure that all these channels are available for them to reach you. Besides, all these channels are integrated, which makes it easy for any agent to attend to a customer’s request.

The moment you attend to a customer and reassure them, half your problems are solved.

The fact that you are available to address your customer’s challenges improves the trust factor manifold.

7. Be Truthful and Honest

In your zest to please your customers, don’t overpromise. When you overpromise and don’t deliver, it definitely breaks the trust of your customers.

Let us assume that your customer is asking for something you cannot deliver.

What do you do?

You ask them to wait, and you can evaluate alternate solutions. Else, you can see if it makes sense to include what they need as a part of your product roadmap and let your customers know the timelines.

There is no better way to build trust with your customers than by being truthful and honest.

8. Improve User Adoption

Most products fail because there is a lack of user adoption.

Have you come across this scenario? Someone in the top management decided to deploy the software, and nobody is using it.

What would be the fate of such products? Would you have ambassadors and evangelists for such products?

Ensure that your product is intuitive and usable. Also, create a crisp training program, easy-to-use manual, FAQs, and knowledge bases around the product.

Despite all this, your customers would still need help from your customer support. Be available to help them with the initial hurdles.

The more you get them to use it, the more likely they trust you, and the more likely you will be successful.

9. Co-create

How often have you worked with your customers in co-creating?

Often, you would identify a market gap and develop a product. Before you roll out your product, you tend to offer it to beta customers, seek feedback, and incorporate those changes before your big rollout.

The co-creation process is very close to your beta customers. However, you would collaboratively define problems, devise solutions, and design.

This would allow you to get closer to your customers, and they start to trust you. Eventually, these customers would become your advocates or evangelists.

10. Incentivize Your Customers

Do incentives build trust?

Incentives build loyalty, and loyalty helps develop trust.

How does your business look in the minds of your customers when you offer incentives?

It says that you care about long-term relationships with your customers to the point of being willing to incentivize repeat business.

How often have we based our purchase decisions on the loyalty points we get? Studies show that 75% of customers favor organizations that offer rewards.

We provide this to our existing customers on repeat business. This has allowed us to build trust.

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Customer trust is central to every brand. Businesses that know how to build trust will eventually succeed to a large extent.

The simplest way by which you can build customer trust is to make your customers your top priority at all times.

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