Do Your Customers Trust You?

Your marketing and customer service provide excellent opportunities to build trust or to discredit the very idea of your professionalism. Let’s try for the first outcome, shall we?

Trust is important for all companies, all marketers. Clearly it counts with healthcare, for example. Studies show that about 90 percent of consumers that trust their healthcare brand (physicians, health insurance plans) would recommend that practice or plan to a friend. But there’s an exceedingly wide differential when they don’t. Only six percent of those who don’t trust the healthcare brand would make the referral.

Building trust helps with referrals and retention, and also provides a framework for recovering from mistakes. You may recall the marketing paragon Coca-Cola had a debacle with New Coke in the 1980s. But they said “sorry” and recovered after repenting of their sidestep away from what customers love.

Marketing – Trust is built (or not) in each interaction, starting with marketing campaigns and social media posts. Here, you speak with a voice and present an image that demonstrates that you are a trustworthy source of solutions for the home. Rule of thumb: Make an honest proposition before the sale, then over-deliver on that promise after the sale.

Customer Service – Service is how you over-deliver, starting with the call scheduler and the appointment confirmation. From there, the in-home service tech or installer is the one building trust.

Train them well for their interactions. As the same well-trained and personable tech returns to the home for seasonal and repair service, they have the opportunity to build relationships on behalf of the company. They can do so with their excellent technical and communication skills, but also in those personal touches – i.e.: learn the dog’s name, hear how the kids are doing in school, listen to health concerns that can be improved or avoided with contracting services (such as IAQ).