5 Best Practices for Building Trust with Your Clients
Trust; we all have a tendency to throw the word around whether it’s in work life or our personal life. But have you ever stopped to think about the defining values of trust and what they mean to you? Google defines it as: Belief, protection, faith and care, not only this but also the reliability, truth and the ability of something. In this blog we'll take a look at some of the defining values and how they can be used when building trust with clients.
As humans, we are naturally programmed in such a way that we base most, if not all of our opinions and decisions, on the trustworthiness and reliability of situations. This also applies to relationships with people and businesses. Would you choose to work with a company if you felt you couldn’t trust what they say? Most likely not.
When you're looking to buy, before making a decision on a company or product you may read reviews or speak to others who have previously used the service. Word of mouth is a very powerful tool and a whopping 92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know.
Once a client has done their research and taken the leap to sign up, the trust between them and service provider still needs to be ever present at all times in order to build loyalty between the two parties. What's the point in bringing on new clients if you can't retain them?
Did you know that 82% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company because of bad customer service?
Client trust ultimately boils down to keeping your clients satisfied throughout their whole journey, meaning their loyalty will remain to you and in turn your business will grow. It's as simple as that.
So let’s break it down and explore some key values within trust and how you can use them to ensure your clients are satisfied 🤝
When building T.R.U.S.T with clients, start with the T!
1. T is for Transparency. Be transparent!
No one likes to be caught off guard with hidden fees or be subject to searching through extra long terms and conditions, so make sure everything is clear from the get go. If you're interested in building trust with clients, make sure they understand what service they are signing up for and what to expect in their whole journey. Being transparent from the start helps you prevent any bad experiences down the line. You wouldn't go to the hairdressers and only get half of your hair cut, would you?
"A lack of transparency results in distrust and deep sense of insecurity”
Dalai Lama
2. R is for Request Feedback - Improve your services
A great way to improve your services and client trust is to ask for clients' feedback. This will provide you with common areas for improvement, plus also giving you potential new ideas to take on board. There are many ways you can ask for feedback from clients, for example you could create a survey, or include an optional questionnaire at the end of a phone call. These days, a lot of companies are running social media polls and competitions to get people interacting with their brand.
To help us with feedback at Clinked we have a feature request board - this is a place that our clients can go to to request features they wish to be developed within the client portal. They can also vote on existing ideas they think are great! When we have a suggestion with lots of upvotes we will take it into development to be rolled out across the platform.
3. U is for Understand their use case - a pillar of client trust
When a potential client approaches your business, it’s best to have a discovery call to explore their requirements and see whether your product or services will be a good fit. Ask the right questions and evaluate how your product may work for their requirements. Providing a service to someone when it may not be the correct fit would be detrimental to your business both on the short and long term. First because all the effort your sales and customer success teams put towards building trust with clients will go to waste. Secondly because unhappy clients are always more vocal than happy clients - and we know by now how detrimental bad word of mouth can be for businesses...🗣
You can also find and leverage the best email extractor out there to gather relevant contact information for a follow-up after the discovery call and provide additional resources or assistance tailored to their specific needs.
4. S is for Straightforward Communication - Speak Clearly!
No one likes jargon - it’s hard to understand and it only slows processes down. When you’re speaking to a potential client or an existing client it’s important you use language that they will understand. We as people have the potential to get frustrated if we feel we're not being heard or given information that we are not able to easily process. Ensure you have open communication channels with your clients: it will help them feel safe in the knowledge that they can reach you if needed, and ultimately help towards your goal of building trust with clients. If you've ever joined a service and instantly had trouble contacting the customer support, you know how frustrating it can be!
"Ask most therapists, and they will tell you that good communication is at the heart of any successful relationship."
Sophie Winters
5. The final T is for Tracking & Security - Let them feel safe!
Earlier we mentioned google confirmed that one of the defining values of trust is protection. It's human instinct for us to need to feel safe, from our commute to work, weekend activities or in our own home. The feeling of being protected also stems from the requirement of us wanting others to be held accountable for their actions. When it comes to client trust, the same rule applies.
So ask yourself this: are you providing your clients a safe and secure platform to communicate and host their sensitive information? Do you also have a record of everything your staff has touched, changed, updated or even deleted? If not, it may be time to look into using a software that is able to keep track of this ever changing information. At Clinked we have a full audit trail within the portal to help ensure accountability, and as a safety standard our platform is securely encrypted and password protected.
- Transparency and no hidden agendas
- Request Feedback to help you learn
- Understand their use case to ensure strong partnership
- Straightforward communication & no jargon
- Trackability & assurance that sensitive information is secure
Enhance the experience for your clients
So keep building the trust and building strong relationships because with client trust comes success. Without clients, there would be no businesses!
You can build a trust-based business that is known for long-term client retention and loyalty by putting these five essential practices into practice with your clients. Additionally, maintaining current client relationships can lead to new opportunities through increased customer referrals and positive reviews, further establishing your credibility as a trusted expert.
Speaking of client trust, do you need help onboarding them digitally? Check out this article on how to give your clients a seamless onboarding experience with a client onboarding portal solutions!
How to Streamline Client Onboarding Process Effectively
Want to find out how you can start building trust with clients with the help of a client portal? Speak to our friendly team today! Book a Demo with Clinked now!