10 Ways to Build
Trust and Build Your Business
-- by Charlie Cook, http://www.charliecook.net
-- http://www.redtienda.com/english/newsletter66.htm#1Trust is an
essential to attracting new clients and building
trust should be an essential part of your
marketing strategy. Here's how.
You
wouldn't buy a car if you didn't think it could
get you home. And you wouldn't purchase it from a
dealer you thought was robbing you blind on the
price and might not stand behind it if the engine
fell out as you drove it off the lot.
Before
making a purchase from you, buyers need to trust
that your products and services will do what they
are supposed to. Does your marketing help
establish the trust necessary to convince
prospects to buy from you? If you're struggling
to attract clients and customers, use the
following tactics to convert prospects to
clients.
1. GET
TESTIMONIALS
No matter how great your credentials are or how
much experience you've had, people pay more
attention to what OTHERS have to say about you.
Pick up
the phone and call your customers to ask what
they thought of your product or service, what
they liked about it and how it was helpful. Edit
their comments, get their permission to use the
comments and then feature these testimonials in
your marketing materials.
2. USE
ARTICLES INSTEAD OF ADS
We have come to distrust ads and to believe what
we read in published articles. Invest your time
in writing articles to establish yourself as an
expert. If you run ads, include testimonials in
them.
3. GIVE
SOMETHING AWAY
When you give something to people, regardless of
the cost, they are more likely to trust you and
return the favor by buying something from you.
Use an ebook, article, workshop or free
demonstration to build trust.
4. GET
REFERRALS
When you need a new doctor, lawyer, plumber,
carpenter or a place to eat you ask a friend for
a referral. You trust the recommendations of
people you know, and in fact, that's how the
majority of people find jobs. Don't wait for the
occasional referral to come in spontaneously;
implement a proactive system to generate
referrals.
5.
EXCHANGE ENDORSEMENTS
Team up with a business you trust that also
targets your market. Get them to include an
endorsement of your products and services in
their marketing and do the same for them. While a
personal referral is ideal, an endorsement is a
close second. This tactic can double your
marketing reach at zero cost.
6. GIVE
EXAMPLES
Tell a story instead of making impersonal and
dramatic claims of what you or your product does.
Use case studies to tell what you did for whom
and the difference it made in their life or their
business.
7.
PERSONALIZE YOUR MARKETING
Its a common misperception that to sound credible
your marketing should be dry and impersonal.
People do business with people. You need to help
prospects get to know you and trust you. Let your
passion and personality come across in your
marketing as well as your professionalism.
Include a picture of yourself, with a smile, in a
prominent place on the first page of your
marketing materials.
8. REDUCE
PERCEIVED RISK
Buyers' biggest concern is how well your product
or service will perform. Providing a guarantee
may help, but in most cases its not going to make
the sale. Clarify the value you provide and state
your commitment to seeing that your clients are
not only happy, but ecstatic about your product
and services.
9. MAKE
CONTACT EASY
If you want clients to get in touch with you,
show them how. Put your phone number at the top
of your marketing materials and tell them to
call. When you call them, give them your phone
number again at the end of the conversation and
tell them to call. If you have a web site, put a
contact form at the bottom of your home page.
10. STAY
IN TOUCH
The people you see and talk to on a regular basis
are usually the ones you trust the most.
Communication isn't the only ingredient for
developing trust, but it is a critical one. If
you sell services or high end products, a
personal phone call is one of the best ways to
answer prospects questions, and to establish
trust. Contact your prospects and clients
regularly and get feedback on what they are
concerned about.
You want
to convert prospects to clients and clients to
repeat clients. Use these ten marketing tactics
to build trust and you'll find more prospects
buying your products and services.
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