Cultivating Trust online is tricky but VERY important. But with online relationships it is necessary.
Here are a few tricks to help you earn and keep that trust.
1-When it comes to earning trust, it’s not if you answer but how you answer. Recognize the type of feeling your customer is having, and respond in an empathetic, emotionally intelligent way. The worst thing you can do is respond with the attitude that your customers are yet another problem to be solved. They will sense it. For example, if a customer tweets asking for help with a lost password, winning their trust might be as easy as adding an, “I’m sorry” or “that must be frustrating” to the response.
*TIP* Also, when a customer has a good experience with your brand, amplify it. Thank them and then share their feedback socially. Not only do you validate their emotion, you also create the opportunity to connect with the members of your community that might have the same feeling or problem, but haven’t made it known.
2-Before they trust you, your customers need to know not just that you’ll hear them, but that when they raise concerns, they’ll see a resolution. That means enabling your customers to express their feedback in the place where it’s most productive for them, whether that’s Twitter, Facebook, product pages on your website, or anywhere else. In other words, your community needs to have multiple front doors under one roof.
In order for a customer to find a channel that works, you have to make sure that all the conversations people are having about your brand are accessible anywhere your customers are.
3- Educate through experience- It’s not your job to tell your customers what the company values are. It’s your job to let them experience those values by bringing them into the fold of your brand’s community. That requires a system for archiving, organizing, and sharing conversations,
4. Keep the Momentum Going- Once you’ve earned your customer’s trust they’re likely to be even more engaged with your brand and product. That’s a good thing, but it means you’ll need to go above and beyond to continue building that relationship. To do that, you have to get to the point where the trust goes both ways and you trust the customer.
Ultimately, real relationships are a two-way street, and your customers know that. Trust is the foundation of a relationship, but to keep that relationship going, you need to prove that you earned it, every day and everywhere.
As Always, Have Fun and Be Social!
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