Reputation is everything. It encompasses every aspect of your business, from the quality of your products to the care you show your customers. It’s word-of-mouth, and it’s the number of stars on Google Reviews, Yelp, or whatever else. Perhaps most of all, it’s a measure of your business’s trustworthiness to deliver on the promise of a great customer experience. But how does a business project trustworthiness? Is trustworthiness even a tangible thing, something into which you can invest? Can trust be its own economy?
As Adriana Stan notes in an article for Techcrunch, “trust is quickly becoming the global—and most-valued—currency of modern time.” We consumers are getting “into cars with complete strangers” and “sleeping in the beds of people we’ve never met”—with services like Uber and Airbnb. However, the trust economy isn’t entirely a new-age invention. Stan continues, “Trust was once an expensive pursuit. Banks were built from luxurious materials in bold architectural forms, with sturdy marble pillars and adornments to provide powerful declarations of solidity, tradition, and trustworthiness—and to project a sense of enduring history.”
And while physical branding—be it the marble pillars of a bank, the Italian décor of a pizzeria, or the mannequins adorned with the latest fashion in a department store—is still critical, we must now acknowledge that this “modern language of trust” is “great reviews, ratings and influence.”
Let’s consider those reviews and ratings. Shep Hyken, writing for Forbes, acknowledges that “[r]eviews are a powerful way to market a business” because “[t]oday’s customers expect a better experience. And whatever the experience is, they talk about it. In some cases, they write about it, and the world gets to read what they are thinking.”
As Hyken’s article continues, he quotes entrepreneur Danno Vivarelli: “The business with the best online reputation wins.” Even if your business has resisted building an online presence (perhaps eschewing social media and the web altogether), people talk. Even the oldest-school, hole-in-the-wall, middle-of-nowhere business has some kind of online reputation. And if it somehow didn’t, that might be even worse.
Hyken continues, “Positive reviews and comments from customers build trust… Having hundreds more reviews than your competition makes your business an obvious choice. People believe friends, family and other customers more than they believe you.” This is why it’s so critical to solicit reviews from your customers, each and every time. Those reviews are the best kind of currency in the trust economy. There are different ways to do so, and we suggest checking out these articles for great advice, but there’s something even more important:
“Before you can get a five-star review,” Hyken exclaims, “[y]ou must be good enough for a five-star review!” There can be no profit in a trust economy unless your business excels at delivering a superior customer experience. Satisfaction is key, in everything from when a customer first enters your business to when you thank him at the end. Then, and only then, is it worth asking for online feedback. If you can’t ensure a great experience, then the rest is meaningless.
The most effective form of feedback comes from an external set of eyes. You can’t self-evaluate because you already know too much about the inner workings of your business, which feeds too much into excuse-making. You need feedback from average consumers, the very people you’re trying to market to. But waiting for that feedback to appear online is risky, as a bad review can follow your business forever.
Instead, we suggest you consider mystery shopping. At The Brandt Group, we work with regular customers near your business to enter and evaluate the factors that matter most to you. From them, you’ll receive honest feedback that is critical and, crucially, private. In this way, you’ll learn what’s working well and what isn’t, so that you can adjust as needed without risking your reputation.
If you’re interested in learning more, please feel free to read up on the solutions we offer, including on-site and telephone mystery shopping. When you’re ready, please don’t hesitate to contact us, and we’ll get started on helping you navigate the trust economy. With your business’s reputation built on the solid foundation of trust, you can enjoy many years of success, weathering whatever storm comes your way. What are you waiting for?
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