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Who Do I Trust? Who Do I Trust? Me, That’s Who!

October 9th, 2009 | Data and Information Analysis,Humor,KikScore & KikReport,Online & Small Business Resources,Small Business,Small Business Tips | No Comments »

Trust. It’s essential to any purchase. It’s also a big deal to Tony Montana (aka Scarface). Why do I bring him up? Because, in addition to giving pop culture the famous quote above, Tony’s business had to deal with trust issues. In the beginning, he was a small business – working much harder than more well-known “entrepreneurs.” It was only after years of building a large customer base that potential buyers knew he was a trusted source of “product.” And only then could Tony take a little time off, buy a big mansion, fly off into paranoid coke-fueled fits of rage and get into a shoot-out with 40 gunmen. Tony’s story is every small business’ story. And we here at KikScore want to help you build your business’ trust factor up quickly – so you can get going on that big mansion and violent death.

Your mom was right — Appearance is Everything. Offering a low price, without a professional looking website, business contact information and customer references – well, it’s like getting a letter from a Nigerian princess who will double your money in 60 days. It just sounds too good to be true. Too many people have been burned by other “great” deals. Low prices alone won’t cut it. Spend some time personalizing your site, give people some details on you and your business, make sure there is a support email, get some customer references. Include on your site what you would like to see if you were shopping on an unknown site (with an awesome price on a TV).

Don’t be a Wall Flower. Communicate with potential shoppers via a corporate blog (you’re reading this…I’m sure consumers will read yours…unless it’s boring…but then again, so is this and you continue to read this…whatever, write a damn blog already). Log on to Meetup.com, attend some local functions, and discuss your business. The more people you communicate with, the more people will know (and will write about) you. This will increase shopper confidence that you’re not a Nigerian princess…unless you actually are.

Take Care of the Football. So you’re a legitimate business, with a professional looking site. Heck, you even write a well-known blog. Business is growing, life seems grand. That is until some bad guy steals your customers’ credit card and personal information – because you didn’t keep that information secure or have encrypted transactions. After that, you’ll have plenty of customer contact…via their lawyers. Take information security seriously (and let your customers know what you are doing to keep their information safe).

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