How To Build Trust And Stand Out In Today's Customer-First Economy

Building trust in today's customer-focused economy can be a big challenge for companies of all sizes. While brands want to help as many customers as possible, in a timely and efficient manner, it can be challenging to consistently deliver. Adding to these challenges, today's customer not only wants to feel uniquely heard and addressed, but they can share and rate their experiences in an unlimited number of ways. As Matthew Hodges from ThriveHive notes, "when consumers trust your brand, they're much more likely to become a paying customer, and best case scenario, a loyal customer that then spreads the word to their friends and family."

So what if there was a way to immediately show your commitment to serving your customers?

We decided to dive in and consider the topics of trust and support building. In one of our conversations at the office on this topic, we started considering the role a .HELP domain could play in this area. Can it better assist companies to connect with their customers? We thought we’d reach out to the .HELP team to chat further and see if this TLD can help gain traction and trust with customers. Here’s what Vaughn Liley, Director of Registry Sales at Uniregisty, had to add:

Q: How have you seen companies using .HELP domains to better serve their customers?

A: There are two main ways that companies can use .HELP domains to better serve their customers - the first is to register their “name" or “ brand" .HELP and forward the domain to the help section on their main site - a good example of this is applemusic.help. The second way is to go a step further and create a dedicated help site on a .HELP domain.

Q: What are the key benefits you see of using a .HELP page?

A: Help is such an intuitive and easy to understand concept that it requires little or no conscious reasoning - as a result it is probably one of the better use cases of any of the new top-level-domains. Having a domain ending with .HELP is a perfect way to instantly communicate where users and customers can find help. Research shows that the majority of people prefer to use search engines to look for help information and a .HELP name is a great way to make help sections searchable from the internet - .HELP is easily communicated and memorable.

Q: What suggestions do you have for how companies can get the most out of their .HELP site?

A: Top tips to make best use of your .HELP domain name are:

1. Make sure that your help section is easily searchable from the internet.
2. Help sections should have all the relevant information and resources in one place.
3. Make sure your help sections are user-friendly and easy-to-find.
4. Encourage users to read instead of immediately contacting customer service or leaving the site altogether.
5. Never stop helping your customers - give them the .HELP they deserve.

The slack Help centre is a perfect example of all the above - get.slack.help

Q: Who do you suggest should consider a .HELP domain?

A: Anyone with an online presence should consider a .HELP name, whether they are B2B, B2C, product or service - we all need a little .HELP from time to time.

That's great advice, Vaughn, thank you for sharing. Now that we've got your .HELP domain in mind, let’s consider how to best continue building trust and excellent support to your customers.

Be Honest

It's said that you only get one chance to make a first impression, it's similar for building trust. Be honest with your customers when they reach out to you with challenges. Let them be heard and use them as a resource to solve the problem, and ask questions to make sure you fully understand what they are flagging. If it's something that you've received multiple comments about, let them know you are working on the solution and that their time is extremely appreciated for sharing this with you. Again, dig deep and see if they have any suggestions, after all, your customers are your best focus group.

Be Transparent

It's usually obvious when a brand is hiding something. If a process isn't working, open up and let your customers know. Share the information on your website and on your social media channels. Let your audience know that you're expecting a delay in production time, a price increase, or whatever else it may be. Jayson DeMers of Entrepreneur explains that you must "be open and transparent about your goals and processes, and if something goes wrong, acknowledge the error proactively. If you're caught withholding details or neglecting the communicative side of the relationship, any trust you may have built could fall apart." You'll be surprised at how cooperative your customers are when you allow for transparency. Let’s be honest though, it doesn’t end at transparency - you must also be keenly proactive and solution driven to hold your customers’ trust and business. So read on…

Be Knowledgeable

Make training a priority. All your staff members should be kept up to date with any product or service changes your company may experience. You must be the expert of your own brand. Use your knowledge of your brand, and of your industry, to provide useful tools and information to your customers. Provide them with quick video explanations, infographics, interviews with others in the industry, and answer their questions on your blog. Become the go-to brand for all things "need to know" within your industry and ensure you are providing value to your customer beyond the product or service you offer.

Follow Up

If a customer reaches out with an issue and you move through the steps to help solve it, make sure you follow up a few days later to ensure that your assistance has completely solved their request. There's nothing worse than spending time with a customer service agent only to then realize a few days later that your request was not fully handled. Reach out to your customers during this critical time and see if there is any further assistance they may need. This simple follow up will help build long-term trust with your customers.

Be Accessible

Thomas Smale of Entrepreneur discusses the importance of being accessible to your customer. While this may be obvious, it's not always of highest priority for companies. Thomas states that you must "be available to your customers and allow them to interact with you. Customers often have questions, and if there's nowhere for them to go to get their queries answered, or you don't respond in a timely manner, you could begin to lose credibility." A great way to ensure you're always accessible is by implementing a simple help page, and one of our favourite ways to do this is by acquiring a special domain, like .HELP, for your business. Using a unique extension is a no-brainer and places customer needs front and center of any business.

Trust has never been as important as it is today in the digital world. Make sure you are providing your customers with the best possible experience by following our tips above.

Interested in acquiring your very own .HELP domain? Head over to HEXONET and get searching - we'll help you find exactly what you're looking for.