9 Tips to Build Trust With Your B2B Company's Audience

Trust in your B2B company is the foundation for any marketing or sales process. Regardless of what your B2B company sells, you probably have competitors who sell the same or similar products or services. While countless factors can affect a prospective buyer's, or sales lead's, purchasing decision, one of the most influential is trust. By building a trustworthy reputation, it'll be easier to market and to close more sales. Below are nine effective ways to build trust with your B2B company's audience.

#1) Showcase Testimonials

You can use testimonials to foster a more trustworthy image for your B2B company. According to a hawkeye study, roughly three-fourths of B2B buyers say customer testimonials have the greatest influence in their purchasing decision.

There are two ways to showcase customer testimonials. 

1. Written testimonial - this can be done with automation software. Ask customers to leave their written testimonial on Google, LinkedIn, BBB or any other social media platform you choose to use for your company. If they prefer to email it to you, then take their quote and put it on the website.

2. Video testimonial - this doesn't have to be done high tech which costs lots of money. You can use your cell phone and get their video testimonial right in their office. Marketing can put it on YouTube and feed it through various social media outlets or even to the website. Sales can use it right in their emails when communicating with new prospects. 

This is a great way to build trust with your target audience.

#2) Get Social

Does your B2B company have an active presence on your industry's top social media networks? If not, you should consider creating a social media marketing strategy. Even if you don't intend to sell products or services on social media, you can use social platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to create a more trustworthy image. It's estimated that over nine in 10 Americans have a social media profile. When a prospective buyer searches for your B2B on social media, he or she may stumble upon your B2B company's profile.

Be sure to regularly update with new value-based content. This is a great way to show the depth of knowledge in your company. When the sales lead sees reads and watches video content the prospect may trust your B2B company more and regularly check your social media profile.

#3) Use a Branded Email Address

If you're planning to use email as part of your B2B company's sales process, make sure you send emails from a branded email address. In other words, don't use a generic email service like Gmail or Yahoo Mail. Instead, set up an email account under your B2B company's official website. That way, recipients will see your B2B company's name in the "from" address, such as [email protected] rather than [email protected] or [email protected]. It only takes a few minutes to set up an email account under your B2B company's website. Once set up, however, it will increase the effectiveness of your email marketing efforts, allowing you to build trust with your audience.

To effectively manage the email, be sure to segment out like the following:

* your current list

* targeted list from SalesLeads' Target Account Sales Intelligence with the email that came included with your selected contact name

* sales leads contacts that were sent to you with the Project Report. Now you can stay in front of the sales lead project contact(s) while you work through the sales process.

#4) Raise Brand Awareness

Your B2B company's level of brand awareness will directly influence how much prospective buyers trust your organization. All of the world's top Fortune 500 companies are highly trusted by their respective audience, partly because everyone knows their brand. When you see the same brand name and logo plastered everywhere you look, you'll instinctively trust that company more than those with a lower level of brand awareness. If you encounter a new brand name or logo that you haven't seen elsewhere, on the other hand, you'll probably trust that company less.

To raise brand awareness and, therefore, build trust with your B2B company's audience, follow these tips:

• Customize your B2B company's website with brand imagery, including a logo, slogan and color scheme.
• Add an "about us" page to your B2B company's website.
• Customize your B2B company's social media profiles with brand imagery.
• Offer complimentary branded products or swag to buyers and prospective buyers.
• Be consistent when displaying your B2B company's brand imagery. If you use a specific logo on LinkedIn, for instance, use the same logo on Twitter and elsewhere.
• Always mention your B2B company's name at least twice when calling prospective buyers.
• Hand out business cards featuring brand imagery to buyers and prospective buyers.

#5) Ask for Referrals

Something as simple as asking some of your B2B company's current customers for referrals can help you create a more trustworthy reputation. Statistics show that B2B companies with referrals generate 70% higher conversion rates than their counterparts without referrals. Furthermore, B2B companies with referrals close sales in nearly half the time, on average, than their counterparts without referrals. When a current buyer refers business friends from other companies to your B2B company, that person will have greater trust in your organization.

To attract even more referrals, consider setting up a rewards program in which you reward buyers for new referrals. By offering buyers an incentive for referrals, such as a discount or free product, they'll be more likely to refer friends, family members or coworkers to your B2B company. As a result, you'll achieve a more trustworthy image for your B2B company, which of course will drive even more sales.

#6) Follow Through With Promises

Honoring commitments is essential to attracting and retaining buyers in the B2B sales industry. If you promise something to a buyer but fail to follow through with it, he or she may leave your B2B company for a competitor's company. After all, failure to honor commitments suggests your B2B company can't be trusted. And if a buyer doesn't trust your B2B company, it's unlikely he or she will continue purchasing its products or services.

Whether you promise to complete a service by a specific date, deliver a product by a specific date or simply contact a prospective buyer at a specific time, be sure to honor your commitments. You can always over-deliver by fulfilling your promise before the expected date, but don't make the mistake of coming up short with your commitments.

#7) Avoid Automated Calling Solutions

Using an automated calling solution may sound like an effective way to streamline your B2B company's sales calls, but it typically comes at the cost of trust. Prospective buyers don't want to receive a "robocall" from your B2B company. If a prospective buyer answers the phone, only to hear an automated solution, he or she may trust your company a little less. Without a human voice on the other end of the line, the prospective buyer will question your B2B company's legitimacy.

#8) Become an Expert

You can't expect prospective buyers to trust your B2B company unless your company is perceived as an expert in its respective industry or field of work. Therefore, you should create high-quality content -- and share it on the right platforms -- so that prospective buyers view your B2B company as an expert. Publishing whitepapers, articles in publications, blog posts and social media posts and other informational content on topics related to your B2B company's industry will help you create a more authoritative and trustworthy image.

#9) Strive for 100% Buyer Satisfaction

Perhaps the most important tip to build trust with your B2B company's audience is to strive for 100% buyer satisfaction. Granted, it's nearly impossible to satisfy every buyer, especially if your B2B company processes a large volume of orders. But if you actively strive for 100% buyer satisfaction, you'll achieve an exceeding high ratio of satisfied to unsatisfied buyers. In turn, all of those satisfied buyers will help spread the word about your B2B company, all while creating a more trustworthy image for your organization.

It's estimated that only 18% of prospective buyers trust B2B companies and their sales reps. Don't let lack of trust cost your B2B company sales. Follow these nine tips to build trust your audience.