You can spend a long time winning the trust of your customers, but that’s not enough. Once you’ve acquired it, you need to work hard to keep it. It’s one of those things that can be lost in an instant, if you’re not careful, though there are also cases where it can be lost over time. There have been many instances of large companies having to work hard to rebuild lost confidence in their business. And if it can happen to large companies, then you can rest assured that it can happen to small companies too. Below, we look at four ways this can happen.
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Slow Communication
When a person entrusts you with their business, they want to make sure that they’ve made the right choice. Small businesses are especially at risk of losing their customer’s faith by being unreachable. If someone sends you an email to check up on their order, make sure you’re replying promptly. Even if you’re fully aware of how far along you are with their order, there’s no excuse for making them feel nervous. We’ve all read those reviews that give positive feedback for the goods or services but knock off a few stars because of delays and poor communication.
One Fatal Error
If you’re looking for an example of one fatal error that can damage your company, sometimes beyond repair, it’s internal credit card fraud. Your customers entrust you with their data, so don’t risk one bad employee break the law from within. Vet your potential employees thoroughly, and also take steps to avoid credit card fraud with Ivrnet. It’s impossible to bring a customer back on board if they know they can’t trust you with their data. As such, preventing these types of crimes before they can take place is your best possible approach.
Social Media Mistakes
Your social media accounts are a great tool for growing your business, but they can, in certain instances, do more harm than good. Hitting the wrong tone – such as being politically incorrect or otherwise insensitive – can create a backlash against your company that goes beyond your customers. It’s also important to ensure you have due process when it comes to posting. If too many wires are crossed, it’s more likely than messages that were intended for internal use could get out. And it’s clear to see how that could go wrong.
Bad Reputation
Like social media, the internet will be a terrific way to promote your brand. But it can also prove to be your undoing. You’re not the only one with a voice online; everyone has a voice, including all your customers. If you haven’t been delivering the levels of customer service that people expect in the 21st century, then there’ll be a long line of bad reviews posted around the web. People really do listen to what others have had to say. While the odd bad review is unavoidable, if you’re getting too many of them, then you’ll know that there’s something fundamentally wrong with how you’re working.