Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their very own.
It is a widespread nightmare — you are strolling via a busy hallway or giving a presentation solely to look down and end up utterly bare.
We’re inherently fearful of showing an excessive amount of about ourselves, and as an entrepreneur, this probably extends to what you are promoting as properly.
However based mostly on rising my very own enterprise from nothing to over $100 million in annual income, I can let you know much less shouldn’t be extra in the case of enterprise transparency — extra is extra. Being open builds belief, and belief fosters clients and relationships in droves. The one exception shouldn’t be gifting away your commerce secrets and techniques to opponents.
Listed below are three efficient methods to construct belief with shoppers and prospects by being extra clear (with out leaving you feeling nightmarishly over-exposed).
Associated: How Transparency In Enterprise Results in Buyer Progress and Loyalty
1. Enhance gross sales by 18% or extra by growing your Google opinions
Almost everybody reads opinions earlier than buying. One examine discovered a whopping 93% of individuals learn opinions earlier than making a purchase order, and on common, opinions produce an 18% uplift in gross sales. In at the moment’s on-line panorama, individuals put virtually as a lot weight on a Google evaluation as they do on a private suggestion.
One of the best ways to extend your opinions is to easily ask! In response to analysis, 70% of customers will go away a evaluation for a enterprise when requested.
About 4 years in the past, we had 486 opinions after servicing greater than 90,000 shoppers. We began utilizing Podium to ship out texts or emails — based mostly on buyer desire — asking to go away a evaluation on Google, the Higher Enterprise Bureau and Trustpilot.
By Could 2024, we would gathered 2,312 five-star opinions, a rise of 375%. Remember the fact that our account managers have been very diligent about sending evaluation requests to shoppers and solely ask the shoppers most definitely to provide optimistic responses.
One other good method to enhance opinions is to automate postcards on the shut of an order thanking somebody for his or her enterprise and inspiring them to go away a evaluation. A bodily mailer is probably going more practical than an electronic mail — one examine that surveyed 1,200 customers discovered that 76% trusted unsolicited mail essentially the most versus on-line strategies.
You could be questioning, “What concerning the destructive opinions?” You are all the time going to have a handful of dangerous opinions, however individuals have a look at the ratio of excellent vs. dangerous. You probably have much more five-star opinions than one-star opinions, they’re going to disregard the destructive ones and assume it is not the norm.
2. Enhance lead era by 105% by sharing your shoppers’ success tales
Sharing actual advertising and marketing outcomes has all the time been a precedence for my enterprise, PostcardMania. We presently have 944 advertising and marketing case research and 139 video case research that doc actual individuals sharing marketing campaign specifics that led to extra leads, income and new clients for his or her companies.
We share these case research far and extensive with prospects through electronic mail and postcards within the mail to extend belief. However extra just lately, we started incorporating these tales into video social media adverts. Throughout a current earnings name by Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg mentioned 50% of all individuals’s time on Fb and Instagram is spent watching movies, so naturally, we went that path to realize extra eyes on our companies.
We put our 139 video case research — actual enterprise homeowners speaking about their profitable campaigns — to work for us on Fb and Instagram.
Consequently, our social media leads doubled. In 2022, our common variety of social media leads per week was 174, after which in 2023, the common lead rely elevated to 356 per week! That is a 105% enhance.
In fact, our use of social media on this case is an element of a bigger multi-channel advertising and marketing technique that ties unsolicited mail and digital adverts collectively, so I recommend an analogous method if you wish to see the identical outcomes (we have truly packaged our profitable method right into a single inexpensive advertising and marketing bundle known as In every single place Small Enterprise as a result of excessive demand from our shoppers to duplicate this technique). Campaigns that uniquely mix print and digital promoting utilizing hyper-targeted mailing lists and lookalike audiences have been confirmed to work time and time once more, so I extremely advocate them.
It does not matter what trade you might be in, your clients’ success tales will be compiled and included into your advertising and marketing plan to develop your buyer base.
Associated: How Downside-Fixing Case Research Assist You Market Your Enterprise
3. Convert prospects sooner by dropping the velvet rope and welcoming them in
Being clear on-line will assist construct a optimistic picture of your model and produce in additional clients — however you may as well take this one step additional and let prospects go to what you are promoting and work together together with your services or products in particular person. One report revealed that 79% of consumers need manufacturers to go above and past what they’re required to disclose and provides extra data, with two-thirds of them saying they’d change manufacturers for extra in-depth knowledge.
At PostcardMania, we welcome shoppers to go to us and take a tour of our in-house printing facility. We even have a advertising and marketing convention twice a yr the place shoppers can meet their advertising and marketing consultants face-to-face and study extra about our enterprise behind the scenes. These shoppers typically find yourself being a few of our greatest and longest-lasting relationships! You are able to do the identical by internet hosting an occasion and opening your doorways to the general public. It does not should be a convention — you can begin small with one thing so simple as an evening of snacks and leisure.
Associated: 3 Methods to Personalize Your Advertising for Increased Engagement
Free samples are additionally an effective way to point out clients precisely what they’re getting earlier than they make a dedication. This does not all the time apply to each enterprise, however you possibly can attempt to discover a method to enable prospects to work together together with your services or products on a deeper, extra bodily stage.
Incorporate any of those techniques, and you may present prospects essentially the most genuine facet of you and what you are promoting. Imagine me after I say buying and selling in your fears about being tremendous clear for daring authenticity will reap actual rewards in long-term development and buyer loyalty.
