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Education

Trust me
The more available and active a company's name
is in this type of endeavor, the easier it is for the
business to become a preferred reference point By Nancy Drexler
and mainstay name for community members. This Acquired Marketing
instantly garners a lead in sales over the competition
and provides participating merchants more business s payments become increasingly commod-
opportunities. itized, business success hinges on relation-
ships. And relationships are based on trust.
4. Keep customers uppermost in mind A Fostering trust is how we make partners and
customers feel comfortable about choosing us – and how
Customers love knowing they're valued. If it's as we get them to keep coming back. Today, social media
simple as a loyalty program or bonuses offered to offers a new way to develop and build trust.
buyers through multiple channels of communication,
so be it. Real-time retail allows merchants to invest Social media breaks down an invisible wall that has existed
their energy efficiently into ensuring that customers for too long between business owners and the people they
are happy and remembering the store's name. This serve. Through blogs and social networks, businesses are
is because when a system is streamlined, centralized now able to talk to consumers more intimately, to share
and connected, merchants' time is freed up for more information without selling and to seek their customers'
direct and personal issues brought forth by the advice on matters related to their businesses.
consumer. This leads to quicker response times and
procurement of goods for customers, creating a win- By bringing customers deeper into your business and
win situation. giving them a sense of investment in your company, you
earn their trust and loyalty. You show them you value their
5. Make returns easy opinion and how important they are to your business. As a
result, they become part of your company forever.
The more comforting a company's return process, Welcome reviews
the fewer qualms people will have about buying
from its stores. This is why, for example, even Recent studies have also shown a correlation between
though certain big-box retailers handle a massive online reviews and consumer trust. More importantly, they
quantity of returns, they still manage to have high can be a turning point for decision-making. If a prospect
levels of customer loyalty, satisfaction and profit per is hearing and seeing positive information, it doesn't just
customer.
make the individual more inclined to like you, it makes the
prospect more inclined to choose you.
Real-time retail systems are logical and simple to
implement and can garner the huge boosts in ticket It is simple to solicit positive reviews. Build it into your
sales that are needed to push any SMB to the next level sales cycle, and encourage partners and customers to get
and stretch the cost-revenue gap. It's time to spend less vocal about your business.
time on defense and more time attacking the five points
described herein. Worried about bad reviews? Don't be. By responding
quickly, calmly and openly to customers who have less-
Completing them successfully is only a matter of than-stellar things to say about you, you show them that
ingenuity and time, not money or liability as many have you hear and value opinions.
come to assume. The steps will require some cognition
to nail, but business owners who know how to garner Customers today expect to be able to find certain
success understand that anyone can easily tackle them information about your brand on the web. If they don't,
in a timely and efficient manner.
it makes them wonder why the data is not there. And not
in a good way. A social media presence legitimizes you
in today's tech-savvy world. The more visible you are to
Ben Golder is the resident writer for retailcloud and has extensive customers and the more places they can find you, the more
experience in the fields of customer support, product design and they trust your brand.
idea generation, as well as in writing content, blogs and articles
for various companies and publications, particularly in the realms Nancy Drexler is the President of Acquired Marketing, a boutique
of commerce and paintball. An avid paintballer and snowboarder marketing firm for businesses in the payments industry. To learn
at heart, he looks forward to being able to move to Japan to open more about what Acquired Marketing can do for you, visit www.
a paintball complex by the time he retires. Ben can be reached at acquiredmarketing.com, call 917.743.5258 or email ndrexler@
ben@retailcloud.com. acquiredmarketing.com.

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