7 Ways to Make Current and New Customers Feel Safe

Your new customers won’t be your current customers for very long if they aren’t feeling safe dealing with you. Safety is paramount when it comes to experiencing comfort. The more comfortable your customers feel when engaging with you, the longer they will hang around. Safety and trust go hand in hand.

Safety is a lead factor. In the end, making your current and new customers feel safe is the only way to retain them in the long run. Whether it’s an online store or a bricks and mortar store, it’s the security and safety of your business and all of its data that makes you customers confident.

Here are 7 ways to help you make current and new customers feel safe.

1. Keep Their Data Safe

As business continues to move online, there is a growing sense of ownership over personal data. Customers expect companies to keep this information that they collect safe. In fact, 64% of customers say they are unlikely to do businesses where their personal information was stolen. Even the biggest companies like Sony, Facebook, and Capital One get hacked back to back. However, the effort you make will go a long way in making your customers feel safe and satisfied.

If you offer your products and services online, you should ensure that your interface is encrypted in 256 bit. This is true for all pages, not just the pages where personal and financial information is being exchanged. At a point of sale, it can be helpful to offer a variety of payment options. This way customers can use a favorite wallet, such as Google Pay or Amazon Pay, PayPal or even an Apple card that features a dynamic credit card number.

Once you collect this information, make sure that you have a safe space for keeping it. You don’t want to repeat Target’s mistake of storing customer information on systems that are not networked with protected access.

2. Optimum Pricing

Second to their information being secure, you should work to give your customers optimum pricing. We’ve all read the story of the hen that laid a golden egg, one at a time. Sure you could overcharge a customer a couple of times. Once they realize that they can get a better deal elsewhere, they would likely take their business elsewhere – with a grudge on top.

On the other hand, despite not having economies of scale working for you (it would be very difficult to sell more milk than Walmart does), you could be forthright and win hearts. For example, you could break down your pricing in parts – some toward the actual cost, and then some extra toward shipping or storage. This shows that you’re doing what you can and that you’re sensitive to your customer’s cost burden.

If you sell a variety of products, think about incorporating penetrative pricing. For example, you would choose an item or two in your portfolio, and offer it for less than the rest of the market. That includes the big box retailers. This way you reinforce the point that you are cheap. This also works to impress the newest customers. The new crowd may not be familiar with how clean hearted you may be, but the proof would be in the pudding (the one item they find cheaper than anywhere else).

3. Offers

Everyone seems to love offers. Even if all you do is sell groceries, with very little margins. But those persistent offers can go a long way in converting your new customers into long-term, current customers. Offers cultivate a sense of thrift and pragmatism within the customer. The smarter you make them feel, the smarter it would be for you as a business owner. You don’t have to always cut corners. Think win-win. For example, you could start with offers over items with a shorter shelf life.

4. Fair Ratings & Reviews

No matter the size of your business, think about getting yourself affiliated with the Better Business Bureau, Trust Pilot, Yelp or another organization like that. It can be especially helpful to go with whichever site is well known within your industry. The reviews that companies place on their websites, often claiming to be from customers, are usually unverifiable and considered without merit.

On the flip side, taking the initiative to come to a third-party platform will be generally appreciated. You can be certain your prospective customers are likely to go through those reviews before deciding to do business with you. In the end, peace of mind and a feeling of safety come before all business activity; in fact, that is what leads to trust, which is the foundation of any business.

5. Warranties and Guarantees

Knowing that their money is safe, even after having spent it, goes a long way in reassuring potential customers. That is where money-back guarantees, warranties on a product, etc. come into play. A lot of offline commerce does not move online because such assurances aren’t available in the digital world. Many times, if a customer is deciding between two offers, they will choose the more expensive one, if it includes a warranty or guarantee.

6. Trial Period

The thinking is if your product is good, you have no reason to hide behind a paywall. Businesses that want to grow incentivize adoption by allowing you to try before you buy. Sometimes at no cost. This lets the customer decide if the product is right for them and if they want to invest their money. This trial period can not only help customers decide on the product, but it also helps you find the right customers for your product, many who will become loyal customers.

7. Customer Service

Amazing customer service is no longer an asset to your business. Instead, it is a requirement. It is even more of a requirement if your business is online. Look at it as a differentiating factor. See if you can offer customer service round-the-clock, something that traditional stores would not be able to.

When you offer great customer service, customers will rest assured that should they have a problem with your product they will get the help they need in rectifying the issue. This gives customers peace of mind and can often be the deciding factor with consumer purchases.

Safety Leads to Trust

Safety leads to trust, which can do wonders for the credit flow in your business. Every aspect of your business should be evaluated to determine if it makes the customer feel safe or not. If the answer is ever no, then efforts should be made to address this. Only when customers feel safe with your products and business will they decide to do business (or continue business) with you.