Ways For Start-Ups To Build Trust

By: Zain Nabi  |   April 15th, 2013   |   Business

As the number of start-ups all over the developing economies continues to grow, the number of projects getting shut down is also increasing. There is not just one reason behind this trend, but it has been observed by industry experts that many start-ups miss a few very crucial things when they plan out to create their own enterprise.

 

Persistence, commitment and dedication on part of start-ups are very crucial and those who are looking for short-term profits might end up shutting their projects down. Those who are strong enough to have a little of the mentioned attributes do manage to sustain for a little longer period sometimes but fail due to poor marketing strategy and hence they, too, end up giving up on their dreams.

 

Among many important tools for marketing, one is establishing trust of your customers. Even if you are a small start-up, you must realise that you have set up a business that is dependent on the target audience and if your consumers are not supporting you and your services your business will sink. Gaining trust of your customers will translate into revenue for you as the people who trust your enterprise are likely to invest in it. We have got some tips from Mark Evans, a marketing professional, about how one can establish trust.

 

An important thing for you as a start-up is to be very clear in your goals and ambitions. You must be clearly able to answer when someone asks about your start-up. They must not be left wondering about your services or feel ambiguity. While attracting customers make sure your products/services appeal to them and if not, do not attempt to allure them.

 

You and your team are the face of your enterprise. So let the people know who you actually are. Don’t hide behind the curtain and instead try to tell the world about yourself and all others who are working with you. This will greatly help in building customers’ trust. According to Evans:

 

“A pet peeve is reading a startup’s “About” page that doesn’t tell me the people involved with the business. It makes me think “What are they trying to hide? How come there’s no information about the founders or management?” If a customer is going to trust you, it helps if you’re not trying to be the Wizard of Oz. Instead, provide some information about you and your story.”

 

If you fail, admit it. Running away from your failure or blaming someone else will not help build strong relationship with your customers. Moreover, whenever you interact with your audience, ensure you do not bombard on them a lot of questions. Customers do not want to answer a lot of questions about themselves.

 

There could be many other ways for a start-up to establish trust, but the key thing to note here is the value of trust. One cannot just ignore the fact that establishing trust is essential to successfully run an enterprise, small or large.

 

Photo: IanYip