Trust is the cornerstone of all successful working relationships, but particularly in discussions with clients. As company’s strive to connect and foster loyalty with their clients, understanding the psychology behind customer trust can provide valuable insights.
The Importance of Trust
As a business, levels of trust will have a direct impact on your client’s decisions, loyalty and overall satisfaction.
It can be the difference between them coming back for more vs exploring options elsewhere or talking badly about the brand vs referring others to work with you.
One model describes trust as based on three key elements: reliability, competence and intimacy.
Applied to organisations, this can be understood as customers needing to believe that a company:
1. Will consistently deliver on its promises
2. Has the expertise needed
3. Understands its clients and operates ethically
So, what can organisations do to demonstrate these three areas and improve their perceived trustworthiness?
Communicate Transparently
Research has demonstrated that communicating transparently with your employees and clients is one of the most effective ways to build trust. Put simply, people appreciate honesty and clarity when it comes to new information or changes around services, products or company policies.
With the additional understanding that comes with transparent communication, clients and customers can be confident that the organisation has the expertise needed to deliver what’s needed.
Through this communication there is also the opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to ethical and client-centred approaches which can also increase levels of trust with clients by building intimacy.
This can also be applied to building trust in sales teams or even on a multi-site basis between departments.
Build trust through team development
Be Consistent when Building Trust with Customers
People trust organisations that are able to exhibit a consistent track record of success. This will build trust by demonstrating reliability. Experiencing consistent service, communication and results strengthens confidence in organisations.
Consistency eliminates any guesswork for the client, who can approach the company knowing that they will get a positive outcome every time.
Furthermore, the research shows that regular and dependable service leads to higher client satisfaction and satisfied customers are more likely to come back for future business as well as recommend the business to their own network.
Invest in your people
Employees who feel valued and supported are much more likely to deliver exceptional client support and customer service so it’s no wonder than research has shown that there is a direct link between employee satisfaction and client satisfaction.
Providing the correct support so that each individual within the organisation feels confident handling difficult conversations, demonstrating creativity and even confidently articulate their subject expertise will enable them to consistently deliver.
Furthermore, ensuring a positive work culture and ensuring effective leadership can also be crucial in motivating employees to go above and beyond, contributing to a perception of a more reliable, competent and therefore trustworthy organisation for clients.
Building trust with customers as a larger organisation can be a challenge but demonstrating reliability, competence and intimacy is something that clients will recognise and reward, leading to greater organisational success.
If you’d like to explore the topic of trust and building it with clients further then get in touch to discuss our coaching options.