By: Christina Nguyen
Have you ever revoked your loyalty to a company after they were outed in a scandal that seriously compromised your trust in them? A lot of us have been there ‒ these days, customers care a lot more about a brand’s ethics and morals, than just what’s written on your About Us page but also what you actually practice.
It’s a huge turn-off when you find out a brand’s seriously mistreated its workers, especially if it’s got something like “be kind” in their Instagram bio. After a few hits, it’s only natural that a lot of customers are apprehensive of who’s getting a piece of their bank accounts. These are important items to keep in mind as you promote your business.
Here are a few steps you can take to build a trustworthy company:
Hire people that line up with your values.
When you’re interviewing potential team members, go beyond your usual questions about work experience and personal interests. Add in questions that gauge their values, such as their conflict management or leadership skills. If you really want to be sure that they’re not just throwing out the right words, give them a hypothetical scenario of a difficult, stress-inducing situation.
If you’ve got a few minutes to do some research, look them up on social media. If you find them reposting cruel pranks with laughing emojis and nothing else in their Instagram stories, that’s a red flag.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to a diversity consultant.
One of the many reasons why customers lose trust in a company is hearing complaints from former employees of not-so-inclusive practices, such as paying women less without reason or tuning out people of color in the boardroom. If you have any reason to suspect that not every team member is on board or even aware of inclusive practices, reach out to a professional diversity consultant.
Your team members are human beings who can’t leave their identities, such as their skin colors, disabilities, or sexual orientations away from work. Even if they do have the choice to conform to the majority and mask their differences, this can be emotionally strenuous. Besides, would you really want them to hide their true selves every day?
Consider the impact, not just the intent, of your actions.
Many companies and individuals who have positive intents don’t always make the most positive impacts. Americans who travel to impoverished countries with the intention to help their citizens by building churches are a glaring example of this. A corporate version is the shoe company TOMS ‒ their shoe donations to developing countries were definitely noble, but unfortunately their deeds ended up disrupting the local shoe economy. To remedy this, the company decided to manufacture shoes in those countries instead.
So if you’re planning an office volunteering day or an entire trip, don’t do something that a lot of people are going to take the wrong way. That also goes for anything customer-facing, such as modifying product features that users really didn’t ask for. That’s why user experience (UX) research is so critical before developing any new features.
Step up your customer service.
Customer service, whether it’s through social media or the phone, is usually one of the most direct human interactions customers will actually have with your business. While you can’t control the behavior of every single representative and social media manager, you can outline your rules to show compassion, empathy, patience, open-mindedness, and understanding. Quality customer service can even grow your bank account!
Hold meetings regularly with anyone customer-facing to outline difficult scenarios and how to efficiently handle them in ways that leave the customer happy. Since many of your team members have probably handled difficult customers before, let them bring up past scenarios and have everyone pitch in to offer solutions that won’t get you reprimanded on social media.
Actually act on customer feedback.
An effective way to show your customers that you’re listening to them is acknowledging their feedback if possible. You can’t tailor your business to every customer’s desires, but you probably can make a few changes if customers are constantly asking for the same thing.
If you’re getting thousands of grumpy complaints on Instagram on how it’s too easy for users to lose progress on your app, you might actually want to take a look at the problem as soon as possible. Not listening to your customers can make them feel ignored and unimportant, as if your business is only about what you want to make rather than actually serving a purpose to others.
What are your tips for building a business that customers can trust? Let us know in the comments below!
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About Stingray Advisory Group LLC: Stingray Advisory Group LLC is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan and is a proud member of Local First and the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. We help small businesses grow by providing guidance in financial planning, website development, marketing, and more.
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