Three ways to gain credibility and trust for your brand/business
"One thing is certain; consumers are more than willing to spend their money on goods or services they can TRUST."
Ever experienced that crushing hurt when doubted by potential clients ?
Once upon a time, you had to leave the confines of your comfort zone to get whatever you needed. With time and technological advancement, a tap on your phone has become the antidote.
The dawn of technology has improved the ease of doing business for vendors. The irony however, is that it leaves many at a disadvantage because it creates an atmosphere for competition to thrive. Thus, becoming a practical realization of the proverb "One man's meat is another's poison."
It would be delusional to talk about online spaces for businesses without mentioning how it has become a gateway for professionalized fraud. This has affected innocent and genuine vendors who have to battle with building trust among their potential customers. These innocent vendors are left frustrated as they dangle with consumer doubt and low sales.
Consumer doubt is that lack of trust in your brand or business. Small or unpopular businesses are usually the easy victims of consumer doubt because prior to the point of sales, the consumer most likely never heard or consumed your product. One thing is certain; consumers are more than willing to spend their money on goods or services they can TRUST.
As a small business owner, the simple answer to building consumer trust is by becoming credible!
Let's talk about 3 influential ways to earn the trust of your potential clients and become credible.
1.Speak Against Your Own Interest.
Here's the trick; if you keep telling your new customers or clients about how great your product is for everyone, the higher they become suspicious of your brand. The truth is, no product is good for “everyone.” An effective weight loss program is still useless to a slim person.Play the “reverse psychology” trick on your customers by reminding them that your product isn’t for everyone.
This can be creatively done in your advertisements. An ad with the inscription, “If you weigh below 85 pounds, this weight loss program is NOT for you." is a harmless confession, since lightweight people would most likely not register for your weight loss program. Another advantage of this confession is that anyone who comes across it would trust you a bit more, considering that you openly limited the potential number of participants, and put yourself at risk of loss.
Human psychology is funny; hype yourself too much and they will doubt you, discredit yourself (in a soft, harmless way) and they will trust you.
2. Be Precise With Numbers
In a seminar I attended last year on creating brand awareness, the speaker shared one of his experiences. In his words,
"I had a friend who knew a guy that worked there and he hooked me up with the contract. When he asked about my writing experience, I told him about my very first published article in 2012 on one of the most popular entertainment websites in Nigeria at that time. He also asked how many views the article got, and I specifically told him that the last time I checked, the article had 17,331 views. He checked with his phone, and the number of views had increased just a bit. He told me that the reason he awarded me the contract was because I tried to be as specific as I could with my numbers. That showed I paid attention to details.
He told me he trusted me a lot more when I gave him my precise numbers than when we were first introduced. I wonder if I would have gotten his trust or the contract, if I lazily answered by saying “the article got thousands of views.”"
Between the statements, 25% of Nigerians drink alcohol and 25.6% of Nigerians drink alcohol, the latter is more believable because it is specific and shows the researcher cares about the extra fractions. This is how your customers will care about those extra details that do not seem like a big deal to you.
Irrespective of the nature of your business, businesses involve numbers and it is important you are precise with them.
3. Show Evidence
What better way to boost your credibility and gain consumer trust than showing proof?
The words, "I can do this" is the least your consumers care about until you prove your capability with actions. As much as you can, post screenshots of your past client’s testimonials on your social media pages or website as proof of your capabilities.
I hope this article exposes your brand more and help you gain more valuable lead.
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