by Peter Wink (from the ClickBank eNewsletter)
As an online publisher or affiliate, it is always important to do everything you can to encourage repeat business. After all, first-time customers are not only the easiest to re-sell if you follow my tactics below--they are the least expensive.
So how do you gain and foster trust in the eyes of your new customer? How do you get them to spend their hard-earned money with you again and again?
Over the years, I've identified 11 important keys to gaining and fostering online trust with your customers. By consistently keeping these tactics in mind when selling online, you'll keep your customers happy and take your sales to a new level.
#1: Establish a Track Record
This is the most effective way to build trust. Each time you sell a product or make a promise, make sure you do exactly what you say. Over a period of time, your customers will feel comfortable with taking you at your word without question.
If you breach this trust or betray them, it will cost you future sales in the long run. Establishing a track record takes time, but it's well worth it.
#2: Follow Up
After making a sale, make sure to contact your customer within 24 hours and find out if they're happy with your product or service. People will respect you for following up. This shows your customer that you care about them.
#3: Keep in Touch
This is a long-term version of following up. After you make a sale, keep in touch. Send an email asking the customer how they liked your product. If possible, and if you have their permission, call them as a follow up. Find out if your product is performing as promised. This builds a bond with your customers.
Usually when a merchant rips someone off or makes a shady deal, they disappear. Many online merchants make returning a product or getting customer service support almost impossible. By staying in touch, you demonstrate a level of integrity that'll put customers at ease when they do future deals with you.
Here's another idea--start a newsletter and, as long as you have their permission, reach out to your customers at least once a month, or send them an online survey to fill out. You can send surveys using Zoomerang.
#4: Go the Extra Mile
I think Harvey McKay, author of Swim with the Sharks without Being Eaten Alive, says it best, "Underpromise" and "Overdeliver." This means doing more than what's expected. Unfortunately, it's usually the other way around. By doing more, you add more value. It's more than just delivering quality--it's delivering a level of quality and integrity that goes above and beyond the initial promise.
When you go the extra mile and truly satisfy the other party, you make yourself indispensable to them. An example would be sending a special email every once in a while to all your customers with an article or tip relating to your product (just make sure you have their permission first). This will not go unnoticed.
#5: Show Empathy
Most prospective customers are not just poor decision makers--they're terrible. They may be terrified to buy online or spend a certain amount of money. Understand this is a weakness and help them. Be willing to assist customers in making a decision. Give them an outstanding no-questions-asked promise. Provide multiple testimonials. Provide an 800# where customers can call if they have questions. Put yourself in your prospective customers' shoes and think like they do.
#6: Be Trusting of Others
This is very tricky during your first sale. Don't be afraid to give your customers a better-than-average money-back promise, and highlight that fact. Most customers are honest and will not keep your product while asking for a refund. It may happen occasionally, but it is the exception, not the rule. Most people have good intentions.
#7: Admit When You're Wrong
Sometimes you may sell a product that, for whatever reason, does not deliver as promised. For instance, your product may contain audio or video files that do not work as planned. It happens!
If you want to build trust, proactively admit when you've made a mistake and then do everything you can to quickly correct it. By admitting you're wrong, you show you're trustworthy. Your customer knows that when you admit to being wrong (especially if you're proactive), you're demonstrating a high level of honesty and integrity. Just make sure to do it quickly!
#8: Be a Team Player
Approach every sale as if you and your customer are on the same team. Keep in mind that the goal of every deal is to find a winning solution for everyone. You make a sale by solving someone's problem, and they pr
ovide you payment in exchange. A sense of teamwork builds friendship and camaraderie.
#9: Communicate Clearly
To build trust with customers, you must be clear, articulate, and precise every time you communicate. If you're not clear, or seem to be hiding information, customers will automatically think you have a hidden agenda and start to distrust you and/or your organization.
#10: Be Fair with Everyone
Being fair means treating people equally. Have a genuine respect for everyone you sell to. All things being equal never give a special discount to one person and not another. You never know which customers will turn out to be the most profitable in the long run, so it's best to treat everyone as if they were your top customer.
#11: Walk Your Talk
Stand behind what you say, do, buy, and sell. If you say something, mean it. If you sell something, use it. If you do something, do it with the highest level of integrity.
Be genuine about who you are and never misrepresent yourself or your product. If you tell your customers that a product will do something, make sure it does. If you tell a customer that you provide a special guarantee, honor it.
If you make a habit of using these techniques as often as possible when interacting with your customers and making sales, you'll develop stronger relationships and have customers who buy from you again and again!
Peter Wink
, www.peterwink.com, is an authority on negotiation strategies and dealmaking. He is the author of Negotiate Your Way to Riches and Buying Secrets Retailers DON'T Want You to Know About. 
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