Here are a few additional suggestions of practical things you can do in your business to gain the trust of your prospects by calming their fear of purchasing on the Internet and dealing with an unknown company:
6. Be very clear and precise about what the customer is getting with his purchase. Don't leave anything unclear or in doubt. If anything, be overly specific and descriptive so the customer doesn't wonder what his dollars are actually purchasing.
7. Make the actual buying process as easy, straightforward, and intuitive as possible. Don't ask for more personal information than is necessary. Now is not the time for a customer survey. Explain each step you ask the customer to take. If the buyer is going to be taken away from your web site (for instance, to have a credit card transaction approved), explain to him why he is leaving the site and how he will be returned automatically.
Explain fully how he will receive his purchase (by email link, product download, in the mail, etc). Leave nothing to his imagination.
Let him know that if he gets stuck at any step of the process, or if the buying path completely breaks down, he will still have immediate access to help and support so that his purchase will be finalized anyway.
8. Abandon the typical sales pitch jargon in favor of being true and honest. Online especially, there is a tendency to try to shout louder than the next seller when promoting your own products and services. Stay as far away from hype and hyperbole as you can. Customers online recognize certain language and exaggeration as spam and the usual hype of questionable companies. Don't let your business become guilty by association.
9. In some businesses, you might consider the credibility that affiliation with a trusted trade group can give to your business. This "accreditation" or endorsement may not be possible in every niche, but sometimes knowing that a company meets some minimum performance standard will ease the customer's fear of a "fly by night" company that answers to no one.
10. If possible, have several buying process options. Some customers are scared to death about displaying their credit card information online. But if they have the option of purchasing by check or over the phone, they would take advantage of it. This may not be practical in a small start up business, but it is a goal that every business should have down the road as revenues justify the additional expense of several buying alternatives.
11. Consider a follow-up email or telephone call to each purchaser. This little added attention to the customer won't influence her first decision to make a purchase, but it may help to personalize your business in her mind and it will let her know that you went to the effort to assure her satisfaction with the purchase. Thank your customers for their business, and ask them if they have any questions or concerns with their purchase.
12. Contact your customers and give them benefits to staying with your company other than at the time of making purchases. In other words, find ways to stay in touch with your customers personally, even when you're not asking for a sale. It's very easy and inexpensive to send helpful information out to customers that they don't have to purchase. That's one of the reasons why I love the online information business. It costs you nothing, other than a little time, to contact and provide value to your customers.
13. Brand everything you do. Make yourself easily recognizable. Highlight the USP (unique selling proposition) that you have chosen for your business. The idea is to reinforce in the mind of your prospects that you are real, a legitimate business, and that you're here for the long term. Besides the name of your business, put your own name (as the owner), your logo, your slogan (can be the USP), and your contact information on every email, newsletter article, information product, invoice, business letter, press release and communication that leaves your business.
All of these practical suggestions will help to reduce the fear your prospects may have that they will lose their money by dealing with your business.
