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Three Reasons Why (Potential) Customers Don’t Trust Your Small Business

Here are the three common sales and marketing faux pas that small business owners make -- and how to correct them.

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Even if you really need the revenue, it is important to keep the customer’s interests at the forefront of your mind and selling process. Otherwise, the end result never goes well. Not only can you end up taking on the wrong type of customer but you can also find yourself undercharging just to make a sale.

Customers are not stupid. They will expect you to want to make a sale. However, customers also expect you to put your business needs aside, keep it real and tell the truth when it is not in their interest to buy from you … even though it means that you could lose a sale.

How do you fix this?

Think of every customer you come into contact with as a long-term investment rather than a short-term opportunity. There is no better way to prove you are trustworthy than telling a customer that it is not the right time to buy. They will remember you, and even if they never become your customer, they can potentially become an evangelist for your small business.

3. You are marketing opinions without hard facts.

As lovely as you think your products and services may be, that doesn’t count for anything unless your opinions are backed by hard facts. Hard facts can include case studies, testimonials and survye responses from people that have actually used your products and services.

Consider this: As customers we are naturally suspicious – we’re hard wired this way. We subconsciously tend to look for things that are not right when marketing claims seem unverifiable and exclude quantitative facts.

How do you fix this? 

Let your customers do the talking for your small business.

Get into the habit of asking for testimonials from your customers. If you are just starting out, offer your products or services to a few potential customers in exchange for creating a case study or gaining candid feedback. Also, avoid using anonymous testimonials – people know it is “BS” and in that case it’s better not to have any testimonials at all.

What other sales and marketing faux pas should small businesses avoid making? Let me know in the comments section below.

Connect with Elizabeth on Twitter.

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Photo Credit: Gant

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