Many small businesses are on a tight marketing budget. Luckily, there are still lots of ways you can build brand awareness \u2013 and many of them are inexpensive or free. After all, good word of mouth is priceless. But it\u2019s not going to happen unless your customers truly believe in your product and in what you\u2019re selling.<\/p>\n
Your biggest fans are your brand ambassadors. When they\u2019re smitten with your product or service, they rave about it to their friends, family, and even people they hardly know. To get the \u201cbuzz\u201d on the street and all the positive word of mouth flowing, you need to build relationships with your customers, and what will follow is trust.<\/em><\/p>\n You may not have time to create personal interactions with every customer, but there are a lot of generalized things you can do to encourage positive customer experiences across the board. By developing consistent strategies, you\u2019ll leverage your resources while putting customers first. Here are five secrets to building your customers\u2019 trust.<\/p>\n Encourage regular communication with your customers (and not just via email). Don\u2019t forget about them, and don\u2019t let them feel forgotten. Stay active on social media. Blog regularly and keep your customers updated on what your business is doing. Remember the old saying, \u201cOut of sight, out of mind.\u201d If your company fails to stay in touch with customers or stay active on social media, your customers can forget about you.<\/p>\n When you do interact with your customers, ask them how they\u2019re doing. Ask them about their kids or pets. Learn their names and have a real conversation \u2013 show them that \u201cpersonal touch\u201d and teach your employees to do the same. Our advice is to train your employees to get to know your customers and build relationships.<\/p>\n When your customers contact you, whether it\u2019s via a phone call, an email, a comment or direct message on social media, respond quickly. Show your customers that you\u2019re listening and that you do care. \u201cBut what if I don\u2019t have an answer yet?\u201d That\u2019s okay. Say something to the effect of, \u201cI don\u2019t have the answer, but I can find out. Can I get back to you?\u201d Make sure you follow through and get back to them in a reasonable timeframe.<\/p>\n You and your employees should always look for opportunities to go the extra mile for your customers. It doesn\u2019t need to be expensive \u2013 it can be as simple as a follow-up call, a handwritten note, a small thank you gift, or a personal gesture that requires a little extra effort on your part.<\/p>\n Away from work, we\u2019re all customers at some point. Surely, you prefer to give your business to: people you like, businesses that will go the extra mile for you, and businesses that show you they care. When your business creates positive experiences for customers, they\u2019re going to say good things about you, which in turn, will lead to referrals.<\/p>\n Create a likable brand, not just because it\u2019s good for business, but because it\u2019s the right thing to do. As you build a brand that people like and trust, you\u2019ll be on track for building solid customer relationships. Your team can volunteer in the community. Your business can donate to charities and participate in community events \u2013 be creative!<\/p>\n As you help worthy causes, don\u2019t forget to utilize these as marketing opportunities. You can share what you\u2019re doing on your blog and social media accounts, and issue a press release. The exposure is not only good for your business, it helps create awareness about the cause you\u2019re supporting. Everybody wins.<\/p>\n Always deliver superior customer service. Even if you have \u201cfavorite\u201d customers, you should treat them all well. Don\u2019t give one customer superior service and ignore another customer. Provide excellent customer service to all of your customers. You don\u2019t want to pre-judge; you never know who will become your greatest referral source.<\/p>\n Interested in learning more effective techniques for building trust and creating customers who are brand ambassadors? Reach out to AdviCoach to connect with an experienced business coach! Your success is our business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many small businesses are on a tight marketing budget. Luckily, there are still lots of ways you can build brand awareness \u2013 and many of them are inexpensive or free. After all, good word of mouth is priceless. But it\u2019s not going to happen unless your customers truly believe in your product and in what…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sales","category-success"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/02\/0102.AdviCoach-February-2.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/02\/0102.AdviCoach-February-2.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"tforehand","author_link":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/author\/va\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1. Add a personal touch. <\/strong><\/h4>\n
2. Be quick to respond. <\/strong><\/h4>\n
3. Give more than is expected. <\/strong><\/h4>\n
4. Build a\u00a0likable\u00a0brand. <\/strong><\/h4>\n
5. Deliver equal, superior customer service.<\/strong><\/h4>\n