It’s hard to succeed in your business plan if your customers, suppliers and employees don’t trust you.
Employees who lack confidence will be unwilling to engage and will not be enthusiastic about taking initiative for you. Customers who lack confidence will not renew their contract with you.
Develop a positive image
Confidence in business generates a good atmosphere, a good understanding, respect for commitments and agreements, and above all a certain form of letting go which indicates that we believe a priori in the good intentions of the other.
When you develop trust, you develop a super positive image of your company, based on values of credibility, security and reliability.
Create a competitive advantage
At a time when consumers are more and more informed, they compare your services / products with those of your competitors in a few clicks. The positive image and trust in your business is something they are willing to pay more for.
This represents a differentiation and a solid competitive advantage! Hence the importance of developing trust in business: it is the winning strategy for satisfying your customers, boosting your sales and increasing your long-term profits.
So how do you (re)build trust in your business?
1. Team spirit: use “we” instead of “I”
Peter Drucker (management consultant) summarized this idea perfectly: “The most talented leaders are those who never say “Me” . It’s not because they can’t say it, but because they really believe in team spirit”.
Indeed, they understood that their job is to make a team work. They accept responsibility and make an effort, but it ‘s the team that deserves the recognition .
This is how they manage to build trust in the company, which facilitates the completion of the most complex tasks and projects.
2.Strengthen the team spirit in the company on a daily basis
To promote team cohesion in your company, here are some easy-to-apply principles:
good communication is essential: disseminate information to everyone as clearly as possible, so that no one feels excluded.
create an atmosphere of open dialogue, where people feel comfortable expressing their opinions, whether positive or negative,
openly promote good behavior (helping each other, compliments), and call to order employees who pull the cover.
encourage conviviality by organizing small regular events (breakfasts, aperitifs, birthday drinks, etc.)
put notes of humor in your meetings and encourage your collaborators to do the same.
propose common objectives able to federate your collaborators, and share with them the vision and the global objectives of your company.
Creating a friendly atmosphere and good team cohesion within your office can only increase the satisfaction of each employee. If they feel happy and confident in your company , their level of performance and involvement will naturally increase.
3. Keep your promises
Entrepreneurs, if you make a promise, you have to keep it to engage your employees and retain your customers .
It is for this reason that you have to be careful about what you promise. Don’t engage in what you can’t do, or what you don’t intend to do.
In order to maintain a good reputation, it is better to make fewer promises, but be sure to keep them:
If you tell a customer that you will provide a product or provide a service on such a day, check the feasibility before you promise.
Another scenario: if you publish on your site that you deliver in 24 hours or that you have products in stock, make sure that this is the case.
It is also necessary to keep the promises that you publish on your site and your company blog for your prospects.
On the other hand, if you make the mistake of making a hasty promise, and you feel compelled to work weekends or overtime in order to live up to your word, don’t complain about it afterwards. your customers.
Once you have committed to specific goals, follow up on the promised deadlines.
Your customers will feel respected, and you’ll build trust in your business.
4. Repeat important things
Lewis Carroll said: “ What I say 3 times is true” .
Indeed, studies have shown that we need to hear information at least 3 to 5 times to believe it.
Our psychology is designed in such a way that we doubt what we hear for the first time. The more we see and hear a message, the more we believe in it. This is also how you restore trust in a company .
So hang in there if your ads don’t work on the first run.
Repetition is the technique that will make the difference. Repeat over and over again if you want your marketing messages to resonate with your prospects.
5. Consolidate your (e-)reputation
As you probably inferred from the previous point, building a good reputation doesn’t happen overnight.
It can take months and can be years of regular service and publicity.
This entire journey is essential before becoming a benchmark for products or services in which consumers trust.
You must continue to put in the effort, ensure the best quality and gradually build a flawless reputation, one that reflects your efforts.
If the worst happens, and you accidentally get a bad reputation, don’t be depressed! Take the necessary decisions to repair the situation.
Your digital reputation or e-reputation
Your digital presence is necessary to deploy your marketing strategy.
But be careful: watch what is said about your company on the web and social networks ! You need to understand the perception of internet users and their level of trust in your business.
A bad comment on a forum or a negative post on Facebook could cause you to lose customers. Stay vigilant, and check regularly:
the main search engines,
consumer review sites,
the forums.
In case of negative comments, do not panic! Respond quickly in a professional manner, and use a customer feedback template to your advantage: show that you are responsive by taking countermeasures and/or making a commercial gesture.
In addition, if you publish blog articles, favor positive content, which will enhance your image.
Schedule regular releases of new content. An abandoned blog gives a bad image: lack of reliability, rigor.
6. Be honest with your customers
When you share information honestly, it spreads a climate of trust, understanding and cooperation within your team and among your customers.
So if you can’t deliver because an order is late, contact your customers in a friendly way and honestly explain the reason for the delay.
Don’t lie or cover up your mistakes. People can spot lies and there’s always that possibility that you’ll forget your lie and they’ll find out. If this happens, you risk losing your reputation permanently.
You don’t have to reveal everything. There are things you have to keep to yourself. But either way, follow these 5 pillars of business trust :
Be honest and transparent,
Keep his promises,
Be available,
Treat customers like people (not like numbers or income),
Ensure the most satisfying customer experience possible.
This list is not exhaustive, but it is a great starting point for cultivating trust in your products/services .
7. Control your attitude
If a customer doesn’t know you well enough and sends an email or asks to meet you in person, offer them the friendly, smiling face that’s eager to serve instead of the grumpy, silent face of the chef that scares away.
Do not miss the chance to encourage your customer to interact with you and avoid that your bad mood pushes him to look elsewhere. No matter your mood, your feelings, your sorrows, your arguments, always keep a stable mood in front of your customers and prospects.
Make sure that not only the quality of your products and services are impeccable, but also your impeccable attitude.
Be able to acknowledge your mistakes when necessary, and make polite apologies if your business has failed a customer.
Develop your leadership
Are your customers, suppliers or collaborators afraid of you? This question seems weird but we often don’t know how others perceive us.
It’s as important to have a stable and confident mood as it is to not look haughty or creepy. It’s good for your health and also for your personal image.
If you have clients or team members that you know well and whose loyalty you trust, you can ask them:
How do others perceive you?
How do they find you?
What might they have heard about you?
It is true that it is difficult to accept evaluations of your managerial performance , especially if it is not positive, but it is much more important to be aware of any shortcomings that may affect your work.
Over time, with awareness and changing habits, we learn to do better and embody better leadership. You will improve your management style and you will gain in serenity. Business confidence is an important performance lever, and one of the secrets of effective leadership.
So, do your customers and employees trust you?
8. Trust each other
Granting trust is a reciprocal act.
If you treat your employees like children, they are likely to behave like one.
Also, don’t try to control everything and empower your team. Assume that they also have room for error. You will be relieved of a mass of work, for one thing. You will install a lasting climate of trust and create a virtuous circle, on the other hand.
Companies that implement trust management practices perform better because they get more commitment from their employees.
Put trust at the heart of your company’s value system and culture, and lead by example.
Consider formulating a charter of values, in which you clearly express the place you place on trust in your company and mutual respect. This will serve as a basis for anchoring this value both externally (customer relations, suppliers, etc.) and internally.
