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, and having a strategy and focus to help build trust in the right places can maximise your impact, your brand reach, and your market sway.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
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, and for more information on what is Bartercard, Bartercard members and where can I use Bartercard please go to http://askbartercard.co.nz .
