Why Should I Trust You?

On a day when everyone is on the lookout for pranks, it’s the more frequent practice of businesses fooling the customer that may be influencing your own leads when they interact with your company. No one likes to be fooled, especially when it comes to investing time and money in a solution.

So why should a client trust you? How is trust even measured?

When it comes to building a business the “know, like and trust factor” is something oft repeated but rarely explained. How do you build trust when you’re just starting out? In this post we’ll focus on consistency which is a big part of trust, especially when you’re new to a field or niche.

Consider what you do when you make a purchase – do you use the brand new car rental company or one that you trust and is established? Do you work with a real estate broker, bank or hotel in their first month of business or one that has a steady reputation?

If you’re like most consumers you’ll go for the established business and, when you do take a chance on the new one, you don’t invest as much money and watch carefully for mistakes or problems. Remember, no one wants to be a fool and so early, small errors are big warning signs of bigger issues.

To complicate matters, as a new business it’s hard to overcome a lack of trust and build consistency because you’re already running in a dozen different directions and have many things taking up your time. If you can implement a few systems to deliver value consistently then you can establish your trustworthiness faster.

Consistent marketing in your business is key to trust

You already know how difficult it can be to get people to visit your website because it’s a busy and loud world with so many people calling for your audience’s attention. When they get to your website if there’s just one blog post, it doesn’t increase confidence. It doesn’t show off your expertise and screams “amateur.” Systems for blogging will help you get your content out there regularly to show you’re not a “fly by night” enterprise.

Consistent marketing is also a factor in the networking groups you attend – if you go weekly then you’ll get more leads and contacts than if you attend every few weeks or rarely. Consistency is even important in how you show up on social media. If you only tweet when you’re selling something then it’s just like cold calling because there’s no relationship built over time, just a pitch without any reason to trust you.

Consistent follow up brings in clients

Every business has to make choices about which leads to pursue, but if you’ve ever dropped the ball on follow up then you know that nagging pit of doubt that you may have just left money on the table. Worse, your lead and audience may come to expect that you’re not reliable if you don’t respond when you say you will.

This points to a larger problem. After all, if you don’t follow up and send an email when I’m a lead why should I trust that you’ll follow up on content when I’m a client?

Small actions can build or break down trust that has be hard fought. The solution is simple, but not always easy: follow through on the things you say you’ll do when you say you’ll do them.

How do you become more consistent in you business?

First, realize that you don’t have to do it all. Start with a few things and do them consistently before adding on more. It’s better to do five things a hundred times each than a hundred things five times each.

Second, choose the right things to do consistently. Understand what type of content your clients prefer and deliver in that medium consistently. If your audience doesn’t use Pinterest or won’t listen to a 45-minute weekly video then don’t worry about Pins or put all your time into a YouTube channel.

Third, build simple systems like email reminders, calendar updates or checklists to remind yourself of the things you must do consistently to build the trust with your audience. Wise consumers are on the lookout for frauds and tricks 365 days a year, not just on April Fools Day.