Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their very own.
It is a widespread nightmare — you are strolling by a busy hallway or giving a presentation solely to look down and end up utterly bare.
We’re inherently fearful of showing an excessive amount of about ourselves, and as an entrepreneur, this probably extends to your enterprise as effectively.
However based mostly on rising my very own enterprise from nothing to over $100 million in annual income, I can let you know much less just isn’t extra in terms of enterprise transparency — extra is extra. Being open builds belief, and belief fosters prospects and relationships in droves. The one exception just isn’t gifting away your commerce secrets and techniques to rivals.
Listed below are three efficient methods to construct belief with purchasers and prospects by being extra clear (with out leaving you feeling nightmarishly over-exposed).
Associated: How Transparency In Enterprise Results in Buyer Progress and Loyalty
1. Enhance gross sales by 18% or extra by growing your Google opinions
Almost everybody reads opinions earlier than buying. One examine discovered a whopping 93% of individuals learn opinions earlier than making a purchase order, and on common, opinions produce an 18% uplift in gross sales. In immediately’s on-line panorama, individuals put virtually as a lot weight on a Google assessment as they do on a private advice.
One of the simplest ways to extend your opinions is to easily ask! In accordance with analysis, 70% of customers will depart a assessment for a enterprise when requested.
About 4 years in the past, we had 486 opinions after servicing greater than 90,000 purchasers. We began utilizing Podium to ship out texts or emails — based mostly on buyer choice — asking to depart a assessment on Google, the Higher Enterprise Bureau and Trustpilot.
By Might 2024, we might collected 2,312 five-star opinions, a rise of 375%. Take into account that our account managers have been very diligent about sending assessment requests to purchasers and solely ask the purchasers most probably to offer optimistic responses.
One other good strategy to improve opinions is to automate postcards on the shut of an order thanking somebody for his or her enterprise and inspiring them to depart a assessment. A bodily mailer is probably going simpler than an electronic mail — one examine that surveyed 1,200 customers discovered that 76% trusted unsolicited mail probably the most versus on-line strategies.
You is perhaps questioning, “What concerning the detrimental opinions?” You are at all times going to have a handful of dangerous opinions, however individuals have a look at the ratio of excellent vs. dangerous. If in case you have way more five-star opinions than one-star opinions, they will disregard the detrimental ones and assume it is not the norm.
2. Enhance lead era by 105% by sharing your purchasers’ success tales
Sharing actual advertising outcomes has at all times been a precedence for my enterprise, PostcardMania. We at present have 944 advertising case research and 139 video case research that doc actual individuals sharing marketing campaign specifics that led to extra leads, income and new prospects for his or her companies.
We share these case research far and extensive with prospects by way of electronic mail and postcards within the mail to extend belief. However extra not too long ago, we started incorporating these tales into video social media advertisements. Throughout a current earnings name by Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated 50% of all individuals’s time on Fb and Instagram is spent watching movies, so naturally, we went that course to realize extra eyes on our companies.
We put our 139 video case research — actual enterprise house owners speaking about their profitable campaigns — to work for us on Fb and Instagram.
In consequence, our social media leads doubled. In 2022, our common variety of social media leads per week was 174, after which in 2023, the common lead depend elevated to 356 every week! That is a 105% improve.
After all, our use of social media on this case is a component of a bigger multi-channel advertising technique that ties unsolicited mail and digital advertisements collectively, so I counsel an analogous method if you wish to see the identical outcomes (we have really packaged our profitable method right into a single inexpensive advertising bundle referred to as All over the place Small Enterprise because of excessive demand from our purchasers to duplicate this technique). Campaigns that uniquely mix print and digital promoting utilizing hyper-targeted mailing lists and lookalike audiences have been confirmed to work time and time once more, so I extremely advocate them.
It would not matter what business you’re in, your prospects’ success tales will be compiled and included into your advertising plan to develop your buyer base.
Associated: How Drawback-Fixing Case Research Assist You Market Your Enterprise
3. Convert prospects quicker by dropping the velvet rope and alluring them in
Being clear on-line will assist construct a optimistic picture of your model and convey in additional prospects — however you can too take this one step additional and let prospects go to your enterprise and work together along with your services or products in particular person. One report revealed that 79% of shoppers need manufacturers to go above and past what they’re required to disclose and provides extra info, with two-thirds of them saying they might swap manufacturers for extra in-depth knowledge.
At PostcardMania, we welcome purchasers to go to us and take a tour of our in-house printing facility. We even have a advertising convention twice a yr the place purchasers can meet their advertising consultants face-to-face and be taught extra about our enterprise behind the scenes. These purchasers usually find yourself being a few of our greatest and longest-lasting relationships! You are able to do the identical by internet hosting an occasion and opening your doorways to the general public. It would not should be a convention — you can begin small with one thing so simple as an evening of snacks and leisure.
Associated: 3 Methods to Personalize Your Advertising for Greater Engagement
Free samples are additionally a good way to point out prospects precisely what they’re getting earlier than they make a dedication. This does not at all times apply to each enterprise, however you possibly can attempt to discover a strategy to permit prospects to work together along with your services or products on a deeper, extra bodily degree.
Incorporate any of those ways, and you may present prospects probably the most genuine aspect of you and your enterprise. Consider me after I say buying and selling in your fears about being tremendous clear for daring authenticity will reap actual rewards in long-term progress and buyer loyalty.
