Trust is priceless and takes years to build and maintain, yet it is very fragile: although it takes years to build, it can shatter instantly. It is also the secret ingredient in forming deep, long-lasting relationships.

As a business owner, your ability to earn customer trust will set you apart from the competition. Doing so builds a loyal customer base that can bring you leads, referrals and more money. Like anything valuable, however, trust requires time.

According to Entrepreneur magazine, a new market survey shows that it takes two years before customers trust your brand—or, more specifically, two years for a customer to consider your brand one of the things they can rely on. This survey was conducted with the participation of SDL's customers, collecting data from 2,835 people across 6 continents, 9 markets, 5 languages, and 4 generations of customers.

According to SDL, you also need more than twice that time to reach “revenue tipping points.” This is when customers actually begin spending more money on your brand than on competing brands, according to SDL. This process takes 5 years.

5 years may seem like an eternity for customers to develop a relationship with you, but think of them as people in your life—friends you are confident will accompany you on life's long journey. It may have taken you 5 years to understand them, if not longer.

One way to strengthen your relationships in life and business is to communicate more, and more effectively. This does not mean sending messages hour after hour, especially if the person you want to build a relationship with dislikes text messages. The key to communicating with customers is to focus on delivering your message in a way that appeals to that person. As an entrepreneur, think about your target demographic and tailor your message accordingly.

For example, young customers aged 18 to 27 are more likely to see food brands through Twitter content and use online customer communities. Customers aged 28 to 36 are more likely to check updates through Facebook pages and mobile websites. “Generation X,” customers aged 37 to 49, is more likely to communicate with a brand through online chat, while the oldest customer group, aged 50 to 68, tends to prefer traditional methods such as face-to-face communication.

Communicating effectively with customers helps build a close relationship that, over time, can become trust.

 

Thảo Nguyên

According to Infonet/Entrepreneur