The
Secret to a Successful Online Business :
It’s All About Building Relationships
People buy from those hey know and
trust. Nowhere is this more true
than on the Internet, where you may never even meet anyone in
person. Establishing a trust relationship with your potential online
clients takes time, but it is well worth the effort! Think about the
last time you bought a product or service online, that had a
substantial positive impact on your work or life in some way. If you
were spending a good chunk of change (and perhaps investing a good bit
of your time) on that purchase, chances are you did some research
first: reading online forums and reviews to see what others had to say
about them; contacting them directly with questions and observing how
quick and helpful (and polite) their response was; maybe even buying a
smaller product or service from them first. All to determine if you
could trust this online business to deliver what they promise. Your
potential online clients are no different! They are going to want to
know if they can trust you to deliver, too. Here are three specific
ways you can work on building trust relationships online, and how each
will help your business:
1.Get to know your
customers.
This helps you more deeply understand what it
is they need — making it a lot easier to tell them how what you are
selling is going to meet their needs. Find out where they “hang”
out, on discussion forums, social networks, etc., and get involved.
Don’t just schmooze or try to sell your product right then and there
— instead, add value to the conversation. If you are doing it right,
you’ll be doing a whole lot more listening than talking.
2. Connect with your customer on a personal level.
Let them see you
as a person, one who has some things in common with them. People will
trust you, and ultimately buy from you, if they feel you are like
them. This means being sincere and transparent — not pretending or
making something up. If you can’t make that trust connection with
one particular person, don’t force it — move on to someone else.
3. Keep up the trust relationship.
The relationship doesn’t stop
after the sale! Clients who know and like you, and have benefited from what you have sold them, will tell others about you! It will be
easy for them to recommend you because they are recommending a trusted
vendor, not an impersonal business or product. If you’ve done a good
job of providing them with something that makes their job or life
easier, they won’t be able to wait to tell someone else!
People buy from those hey know and
trust. Nowhere is this more true
than on the Internet, where you may never even meet anyone in
person. Establishing a trust relationship with your potential online
clients takes time, but it is well worth the effort! Think about the
last time you bought a product or service online, that had a
substantial positive impact on your work or life in some way. If you
were spending a good chunk of change (and perhaps investing a good bit
of your time) on that purchase, chances are you did some research
first: reading online forums and reviews to see what others had to say
about them; contacting them directly with questions and observing how
quick and helpful (and polite) their response was; maybe even buying a
smaller product or service from them first. All to determine if you
could trust this online business to deliver what they promise. Your
potential online clients are no different! They are going to want to
know if they can trust you to deliver, too. Here are three specific
ways you can work on building trust relationships online, and how each
will help your business:
