How to Build Trust with Your Clients When You Really Want to Hide
Building trust with your clients is essential for maintaining effective long-term relationships with them. However, some business leaders struggle with building these types of relationships. There are many reasons this can be a struggle:
- Lack of confidence in your abilities
- Low self-confidence
- Imposter syndrome (you may feel as though you’ve lucked into success and haven’t really earned it)
- You’re holding back because you’re afraid they won’t find you worthy
Any one of these fears can create a wall between you and your clients that prevents you both from the type of relationship and results you desire, especially if you’re trying to hide essential parts of who you are from your client. Fear can be devastating to your attempts to build trust but there are things you can do to stop hiding from your clients and build the type of trusting relationship you both deserve.
Be Responsive
Whether your clients call, send emails, send text messages, or fill out help tickets on your website, you need to respond promptly. This makes them feel like their concerns matter to you and that you are listening to them. That will help them trust you more and it’s something small you can do to build it. Of course, this doesn’t mean being on call 24/7. Set your business boundaries and explain to your clients when they can expect to hear from you.
Be Clear in Your Communication
The written word is beautiful. It has been used to create marvelous works of fiction, letters of love, and treaties of peace over millennia. It is also notoriously imprecise if you aren’t careful. Think about it: People argue over what songs mean, what poets intended, over what the framers of the constitution meant.
This lack of clarity is the precise reason we need lawyers to look over contracts before signing them. People are deliberately imprecise at times. Don’t give your clients the appearance that this is your goal. Write clearly in plain language. Make your message heard. It shows trust in their interpretation of your words and confidence in your ability to convey your message.
Give Extra
Perhaps the biggest thing you can do to build trust with your clients is to always give them more than they expect. Whether it’s an extra bonus item, a condensed study guide, or even an easy-to-use flow chart of the information you’ve gone over with them. When you give more without asking for anything in return, it breeds trust and sets the expectation that you’re dealing honestly with your clients.
Their faith in you boosts your own confidence creating situations in which you’re building deeper connections and trust unconsciously.
Building better trust with your clients when you’re feeling as though you’re not worthy of their business can be very difficult; but it’s not impossible to overcome. If you take a few moments every day to address their concerns, answer their questions, and, most importantly, solve their problems (address their pain points), you will cultivate incredibly loyal customers for life. You cannot really ask for better than that when working to grow your business.