As a business owner who is just starting out, or even if you have been around for a little while, building your business brand has to be one of your most immediate and ongoing goals.
Raising and expanding awareness of the product or service you have to offer is essential if you are going to make your business a success, and marketing campaigns can go a long way to help, but if you don’t get the trust of your end customer at the end of it – no amount of clever marketing will help.
Building a solid and loyal customer base can be challenging for any business, but it can be done with consistent quality action. This is the only effective way to build your brand online and earn yourself a good reputation.
But how do I make a start?
When you are introducing your new business to people, you start out by making promises. “We promise that you will not find a better cleaning service anywhere else”, or “We promise you that our new flex-fit shoes are the most comfortable footwear you will ever own” etc.
The first step to building trust in your brand is to deliver on your promises, plus wherever possible, over-deliver on your promises. If you can give more than was expected from you, your customers will be pleased and flattered, and will be more than happy to recommend you and your product or services to all their friends and family.
First impressions count, and very quickly your will see your reputation grow for delivering fantastic customer service, and your brand will be recognised in a positive light. In a recent survey conducted on social media, 59% of people said they would be happy to try a new brand or business if it meant they would be getting an improved customer service experience.
Honesty is always the best policy
Be completely open and honest about what you are offering to your customer. You know yourself from your own experience that when you are looking to buy something, be it a product or service, you want to know exactly what you are getting for your money.
If you wanted to buy a new standard lamp for a dark corner of your living room for example, you will want to know if the light bulbs are included in your purchase or not. It’s the same if you were buying a new television, you will want to know if there are batteries included for the remote control, and also if the television comes with a stand or wall bracket, and if all the necessary cabling and connections are included.
Forgetting to clarify exactly what your customer will be receiving could result in some negative feedback, especially if your customer assumed they would be getting light bulbs with their lamp, or batteries with their remote control etc.
Feedback, feedback and more feedback
Once you have completed a sale, make a real effort to encourage your customer to leave you a positive testimonial. Customer feedback is more important than you think when you are trying to establish and build your brand name.
You may be getting a few good sales, but if you are not getting the positive feedback to show for it, then you are not encouraging potential new customers to come on board. Customer feedback helps to answer questions for potential new customers – the main one being “am I the only person buying this?”.
To begin with the most important thing you can possibly do to build your brand is to focus on delivering great customer service. This is the best way to get the ball rolling, and will naturally lead on to building a good reputation over time.