Customer trust can go a long way in boosting the prominence of your startup company. However, with the growth of digital commerce, that can be quite challenging. Let’s explore how you can build and strengthen digital trust with the help of Virtua Solutions.
Understanding Digital Trust
In its simplest definition, digital trust refers to the confidence that users put in the ability of people, technology, and processes to create a secure environment. With businesses, it concerns how well you can provide safety and privacy for customers when doing their transactions. There is also the concern of how you use customer data.
Image from AT&T.
Consumers and companies rely heavily on digital trust. The former mainly uses it to assess products and determine which ones they will go for. On the other hand, companies rely on digital trust to measure their effectiveness and what they need to do to improve.
The Importance Of Digital Trust
Why you need to develop consumer trust is already obvious. But if you zoom more specifically on the concept of digital trust, there are several benefits that you should pay attention to.
Drives Customer Loyalty
With how intertwined digital commerce has become with our daily lives, people have put a lot of emphasis on trust when choosing companies to stay with. Often, their goal is to select companies they can partner for longer. For your part, that loyalty earns you the opportunity to upsell and cross-sell more products to customers.
Encourages Greater Spending
Getting people to spend more is always a goal for any startup business. But it can be a challenging one to achieve. However, digital trust can provide you with the capital to pursue it. According to a 2018 survey, 57% of consumers are more likely to increase their spending within a year of dealing with a business that has high digital trust. You definitely would not want to miss that opportunity.
The Four Pillars OF Digital Trust Your Startup Company Should Follow
To better tap into digital trust for your startup business, you should understand how it works . That is where the four pillars come into play. These are the elements by which customers gauge how trustworthy your business is. By understanding how these pillars work, you can use them to bolster your perceived trustworthiness among consumers.
Image from Deloitte.
Privacy And Control
Many customers’ first concern with transactions is being able to do those under their own terms without prying eyes. Here, trust begins when customers see companies actively champion protecting their privacy.
In the case of the digital realm, it is all about protecting customer data. People want to ensure that their personal information would not be leaked while doing their business. On the other hand, they also highly regard those who give them greater control over their personal info and preferences.
Security And Reliability
Customers have also become more aware of the risks surrounding digital transactions. Cybersecurity threats have now become more real, even for ordinary people. Thus, they want companies that can protect them from these threats.
Image from Global Investigation Journal.
But beyond that, they also want greater reliability. Customers expect the services they pay for would remain usable and safe even during such circumstances. For this, they look up to companies which use the latest technology to secure everything.
Transparency And Accessibility
Customers feel more confident doing business with a company if they know who exactly they are dealing with. Thus, your startup business needs to be transparent about its practices. That includes providing easy-to-understand disclosures that will guide customers.
Additionally, your company needs to make itself accessible to meet customer questions. Expect that there will be a lot of these, as they try to make sense of your policies. In the digital realm, that isn’t just about being available on various channels. Transparency and accessibility also require you to provide resources people can use even when you are not there.
Ethics And Responsibility
For many people, doing business isn’t just about accomplishing the transactions. It is also about doing it the right way. Here, customer concerns are not just about their welfare but also others. For this, companies need to abide by the highest ethical standards.
Image from Axbom.
Customers also look up to companies that take their responsibility to the public seriously. Here, they should be ready to address any issue that arises and make it their mission to resolve those. This extends beyond the physical realm, with the digital domain also being an important area for performing their responsibility.
How Your Startup Company Can Build Digital Trust
The four pillars above will already guide you in developing your startup company into a trustworthy organization. However, you might wonder how you can better abide by these pillars in the digital age. You should pursue several things to establish and strengthen that trust between you and your customers.
Create A Culture Of Risk Ownership Within Your Startup Company
Interestingly, building digital trust begins well outside the digital realm. The first thing you need here is establishing a culture of risk ownership within the organization. Risk ownership and management should not be just within the IT department. Instead, everyone should invest in the task.
Image from RSM.
For that, you need to empower them to raise concerns about risks. That involves creating an easy-to-use reporting system. Additionally, encourage them to search for these risks actively.
We at Virtua Solutions can help you develop this risk ownership culture when you outsource with us. Our primary role will be to serve as a link between the various departments and your higher-ups. That way, there is an easy connection where they can send their concerns.
Improving The User Experience
Another aspect of digital trust is providing a better user experience for your customers. For this, you shouldn’t be just reacting to their current needs. You must also be proactive in determining what their future needs are.
Use the customer data you have to map out their customer journeys and provide more personalized experiences based on those. When people see that you have tailored your services for them, they are more likely to do business with you.
Image from ITSM.
But alongside that proactive response, you also need to be transparent about your processes. This way, people know what they are getting into when they do business with your startup company. That also includes proactively informing people of any issues you encounter, such as data breaches. People don’t like being kept in the dark about such important matters.
Boost Trust In Your Startup Company With Our Help
Building trust in this digital age is not a one-click project. You should invest a lot of time to show people they can always depend on you. And you need the right partner to help you in the effort. Contact us today and we will give you a full rundown of what we can do to boost your image.