How Small Businesses Can Demonstrate Trust to Get More Sales

Nearly all small businesses face a common challenge. The challenge of demonstrating to potential customers that your small business is credible, trustworthy, and has a track record of success in delivering products or services. This challenge is typically derived from the fact that when potential customers visit a small business website, they often do not have any indication whether they can trust that small business or not.

Further complicating matters for small businesses online is the constant threat of fraud and misuse of personal and financial information that weighs heavily on online users’ minds. This fear of online shoppers is real and tangible. In fact, a Javelin Strategy & Research study found that the fear of identity theft and online shopping in general cost retailers over $21 billion in lost sales in 2008.

A June 2009 McAfee's study showed that 92% of consumers are concerned about their security when shopping on new or unknown websites. Further, that study found that 63% of shoppers will not purchase from a website that does not display a security policy or other indications of trustworthiness. A 2009 VeriSign Security Report found that nearly 50% of internet users avoid buying online due to concerns that their financial information will be stolen. The report states that 83% of internet users want assurances that their information will be secure.

These concerns are getting the attention of all types of businesses, including industry giants like Microsoft. Scott Charney, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President of Trustworthy Computing, said at the 2009 RSA Security Conference that "When shoppers visit websites, they don't know if that website is to be trusted or not. For all of these reasons we need End-to-End Trust."

Steps for Small Business to Demonstrate Trust:

Shoppers’ concerns with buying online are well documented and the data supports those concerns. The good news is that there are some simple steps that all small businesses can take to demonstrate trust on their website to shoppers. Here is how you can make your online business trustworthy too:

1. Management/Owner Information: Be transparent to your shoppers. Prominently display under a “Management” tab the names of the owners of your business. Make sure you add some background information on that manager/owner. You can even include it in story form. This information gives shoppers comfort that there is a real person behind your business and makes it more personal.
   
   
2. Use Online Video to Virtually Introduce Yourself: A hot new trend is using online videos, through a YouTube clip, that introduces the management of your small business to shoppers and potential customers. Here are some good tips in this prior post on using videos to build trust and credibility for your small business on your website.
   
   
3. Contact Information: Another way to build trust is to clearly and prominently display contact information including phone numbers and email addresses for customer service and management contacts. By showing shoppers that they can contact you in case there are any product or service issues, you give them comfort that your business is accessible. Live Chat Support and 24x7 customer support helps in building your potential customers’ confidence levels.
   
   
4. Return, Shipping, Customer Service & Data Policies: You must clearly provide a list of your return, shipping, customer service, and data protection policies. It is important enough that small businesses should consider devoting a whole tab or area of their website where shoppers can visit and see what the policies for your business are. Again, the goal here should be - more the information about these policies the better.
   
   
5. Trust and Validation Marks/Seals: The 2009 Verisign Security Report found that 86% of online shoppers feel more confident about entering personal and financial information with sites that have some type of security indicators, such as trust marks. A few seals provide much of the information that is covered in this post through just one seal that resides on an online store's website. Look for those seals.
   
   
6. Customer Feedback: Show that you can be trusted and also let people know your track record with customers by publishing comments about your product, service, and business.
   
   
7. Actively Engage Customers: Use social media sites and tools like Twitter, Facebook, and a blog to profile your business, and create a tangible brand and personality to engage customers. These conversations with your customers and the community give shoppers a more complete, in-depth, and intimate look into your business. Having these conversations as we have covered in our previous posts via Twitter and your blog only make your business more credible.

Also, one of our favorites, Inc Magazine has a good article on this same topic of online trust and you should check that out too.

If you start using these tips, your business and your website will go a long way in clearly demonstrating trust to shoppers and thereby helping you increase sales.

About the Author: Raj Malik is a Co-Founder of KikScore, a business focused on helping small businesses demonstrate reliability and trustworthiness to online shoppers. Kikscore's product includes an interactive merchant report card and trust score that small businesses use to show shoppers that they are trustworthy.

About MyBusinessAssistant: MyBusinessAssistant is one of the fastest-growing virtual assistant outsourcing providers for small businesses, and home to the Virtual Business Center.MyBusinessAssistant has collaborated with KikScore to enable small online business owners in building trustworthy businesses. Our 24x7 Phone Support, Live Chat Support, Email Support, E-Retail Website Development and Support, Online Marketing Support, and many other back-office services help small business owners in building their credibility.