How Do You Gain Customer Trust? Essential Tips for B2B Companies

Understanding customer trust

Customer trust signifies a positive relationship between an organization and its customers, marked by a buyer's confidence in the provider's product quality and consistent delivery of great experiences.

Anthony James, CEO of Trinity Consulting Services, describes customer trust as the glue that holds brands and customers together.

In B2B settings, customer trust also means that your buyers are positive that their confidential data is safe with you and that any sensitive information will be handled in a safe manner. B2B clients often choose vendors for longer-term contracts, so having confidence in their operations is essential to secure a deal. When customer trust is nurtured and tended to, it can turn into long-term customer loyalty and advocacy.

Building customer trust can also be essential for your organization's financial wellness. 92% of business leaders report that a proactive approach to building trust with customers helps improve their bottom line.

That said, building trust with customers is a careful balancing act. B2B organizations can make mistakes such as overpromising and underdelivering, or misuse of customer data, that can significantly damage the trust they have carefully built.

7 tips on how to gain customer trust in the B2B context

There are many ways to improve trust with your customers. We outline the top strategies to help you start your journey today:

1. Be transparent with your policy

Being open about your return policies and how to get in touch can really help win your customers' trust. On the flip side, if customers find themselves jumping through hoops or stuck on hold forever, they're probably going to end up frustrated and unhappy with the whole experience.

Research conducted by Accenture suggests that two-thirds of consumers value transparency as one of the most essential qualities in an organization. Therefore, be sure to include your Service Level Agreement (SLA), return policies, and a range of contact options on your site. Ideally, these should be placed at the end of your contracts, invoices, or customer communications.

2. Ensure your online presence is seamless

Creating a clean digital experience is an easy way to improve trust with your customers. A streamlined, functional website and omnichannel customer support can help build customer trust in your brand around the clock.

Test your website thoroughly before launching, ensuring that it runs smoothly across all major browsers and includes high-quality written and visual content across all pages. Your IT support teams should regularly check your website for broken links and monitor data analytics to see how your sites perform.

3. Create the perfect customer service experience

Providing outstanding customer service is one of the most important ways to improve trust with your customers. Your B2B buyers expect a personalized, seamless experience where their questions are answered quickly.

Intelligent solutions like Thena can help organizations ensure that their customers are looked after 24/7 by integrating AI-generated request acknowledgments in Slack, streamlined ticket tracking, and an intelligent conversational ticketing system. While Thena automates monotone tasks and manages smart ticket allocation, your support teams can focus on creating a truly outstanding customer journey.

4. Build on data insights

Building trust with customers requires a deep understanding of your audience. This can be achieved by generating quality data about their needs and challenges so you can create the perfect product or service that fits their issues.

Keep track of a variety of data to build robust insights. From feedback surveys to market research, customer retention rates, and behavior analysis, business leaders should dive deep into all elements of metrics to build a healthier, more functional operation and long-term trust.

5. Personalize your customer communication

Providing truly personalized customer communication to your buyers showcases your understanding of their needs and challenges. Creating a unique experience catered to them can make your customers feel cared for, building customer trust and loyalty.

However, it's important to remember that while customer data collection is essential for this process, business leaders need to monitor the security measures linked to it closely. A customer data leak can ruin businesses and destroy hard-earned customer trust.

6. Ask for feedback and testimonials

Showcasing feedback or testimonials on your website or in your sales decks can really help you build customer trust quickly. Especially in B2B environments, buyers often seek reassurance by reading customer stories or reviewing the list of existing clients.

95% of customers suggest that reviews heavily affect their purchasing decisions. Customer feedback gives credibility to your organization, so ensure that your customer support teams actively seek feedback opportunities from your happy customers.

7. Showcase your people

B2B buyers like to know that there's more to your organization than just your product. Organizational agendas increasingly emphasize social responsibility, sustainability, and diversity. Showing off your and your team's stories can help your business appear more approachable.

38% of customers suggest they are likelier to feel trust and connection towards brands showcasing authentic content. If you are short on time or budget, create a team page on your website with your sales team's names and headshots. However, customers will likely appreciate video or written content about employees, company culture, and charitable activities. Don't be afraid to stand out!

Conclusion

Building and keeping customer trust isn't easy, but it's absolutely essential for any business that wants to succeed. Always looking for ways to boost that trust is key.