Help People Trust Your Business

We humans are a trusting lot until we are shown otherwise. We are also possessed of a mysterious optimism. We hope things will work out. We trust in the process. Sure we know that there are a lot of lowlifes out there, but by and large, we think we can spot the difference.

When it comes to identifying a company we are happy to do business with, we look for certain things. If these are in place, the chances are we’ll go ahead with the transaction. If your business does not meet this profile, then you will be losing out. People will pass you over, not because of the quality of your product or service.  It will simply seem that there are more professional and trusted businesses out there. Here’s how you can become one of them and help people trust your business.

Where is your virtual office?

You may have been told over and over that you can set your business up and run it from anywhere. It is true you can. But your physical address matters. It is in the top five things that people look for when they find your website. It’s human nature. The web may be global, but we want to be able to relate a physical place to a business. We like it to have an address.

You could add, the classier and more respectable that address, the more trust will be extended to a business. It’s simple logic. If a business can afford to rent or lease a space uptown at an expensive address, it must be doing well. Thus, it must be a serious business that is trustworthy.

So the first step in helping people to take your business seriously is to get a virtual office address. Your inquiries will go there and your correspondence will go there. You may never set foot there, although you may well get use of premises for meetings as a part of your package. Nevertheless, you will have ‘arrived’.

Get your contact details and numbers updated.

Dial 0800 and you will be in touch with a professional business that can help you. That may or may not be true, but the point is that is how the vast majority of customers see it. 0800 is a trusted number to dial. A business like Callagenix can get you set up with that prefix and number. You will have instantly transported your business to the ‘trust’ world.

Your contact details on your website are important. Make sure that you purchase the right international domain names for your ‘business.com’. This will make you look more professional. People want to deal with the best in the field and having those contact details sends out the right signals. It is also a good idea to respond to enquiries, calls and emails as soon as possible. One of the most useful things to have on your site is a help desk or forum. Few people these days want to trawl through an FAQ that might or might not have the answer to their query. If you want people to respect your business, talk to them.

Get the best website you can afford

Given that you are planning and growing a wildly successful business, act like it from the start. As business moves online, it is getting harder to distinguish between the virtual world of a market leader or the new kid on the block. There is only one platform. Your website. It is when it comes down to it a collection of images and words. Colour, design, graphic interface and good copy are the sole contenders that will make the difference. Stop thinking that a template site is good enough. Go to a web designer who can give you the quality you need. It may cost more but the chances are that it will bring you far more business. You will inhabit a classy world and enjoy great interaction with your customers. Your website will do more and the stuff it does for you will be better quality.

Produce a professional business plan.

It’s not just customers who you will need to convince of your professional approach. It is other members of the industry. It may even be investors and companies who you will want to team up with. Having a professional business plan outline will be essential if you want to expand your business. There is no point in scrawling down a creative fantasy. Make this plan and outline a real, verifiable document that has its basis in an optimistic but real world. Know your business and get an accountant who can make your figures stack up. There are lots of different elements you’ll need to include in your business plan, but the key thing to remember is that you need to include it all, no matter how small it might seem – it could make a difference. Write down everything from how much container shipping will cost to how you intend to find your target market and you’ll find it much easier to grow your business as time goes by.  

Outsource where you can.

From secure storage solutions to unassailable security features make use of the burgeoning cloud. Any business now can seriously punch above its weight. Make yours one of them. This is also true for software systems that are state of the art. You’ll have to meet a monthly payment but the advantages are that you will have all the tech and security you need. That will help persuade your customers that you can be trusted. You will also have all the updates, backup and service that you will ever require. Many companies who offer these services will back them up 1000%.

Install a credible and flexible payment system.

No matter where you or your customers are you want to be able to process a payment. Increasingly that means ‘on the go’, in different formats. Make sure you are working with a company who can give you this security and the flexibility to engage with your customers wherever they are.

Include Recommendations and Testimonials.

They work, but they must be qualified. ‘Great service. CW any name,’ is not really what you call a quality testimonial. Your business needs real people who have had their problems solved. This is something that you can develop when you are talking to customers. You could even offer incentives for such interaction. That curious and trusting human nature comes to the forefront when there is a story involved. Make it real and it will work.

Getting people to take your business more seriously is not a world away from where you are now. In many ways it is about you getting serious about your business. Do that and your customers trust will surely follow.