We’ve all heard the saying “honesty is the best policy”, but many businesses still choose not to live by this simple phrase.
We’ve all heard the saying “honesty is the best policy”, but many businesses still choose not to live by this simple phrase. It is without question that honesty in business will help to maximise your company’s potential. The word ‘honesty’ encompasses a range of qualities that customers look for in a business.
Being honest and truthful helps create trust and build stronger relationships between businesses and customers. Adapting to the idea of implementing honesty in your business organisation, within and externally is a great customer service practice, and you will witness a more rewarding experience with your clients in terms of relationship building, satisfaction and loyalty.
Customer experience with your business begins well before an actual purchase takes place. It is shaped by all of your communications—from marketing to sales to support–
From the moment a customer sees an ad or reads your website, they’re beginning to assess their experience with your business.
What you say before the purchase may be just as important as what the customer experiences afterwards. Their relationship with your company is a function of both expectations and reality.
Some businesses are so eager to win new customers, they mislead customers and make promises they can’t deliver. Then they underdeliver on what they have promised. Marketing and sales teams polish things up to make them look as good as possible. But they end up disconnected from reality—and that’s how poor customer experiences are made.
Here is how being truthful to your customers will lead you towards success:
IT IS ESSENTIAL TO BUILD CREDIBILITY AND TRUST
Being honest with your customers is important to gain their loyalty, earn their trust and successfully build credibility for your brand. Understand that it is a recurrent practice. Being transparent in business will land you loyal clients who are willing to trust your brand. Once you mislead your clients, you will begin to lose your credibility, and with it, the trust. It is next to impossible to retain a client who doesn’t trust your business.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO UPHOLD YOUR BRAND IMAGE
If you are a new business, you might claim that you have more experience than you do. But that kind of dishonesty and lack of integrity will backfire on you sooner or later.
People will discover the misinformation, and their customer trust in you will shatter into tiny pieces. Your reputation as an honest person will encourage people to want to work with you or buy from you again; if they no longer trust that honesty, they won’t want to work with you or buy from you.
Word of mouth is the best way to get more customers. If leaders or salespeople aren’t honest with them, they won’t recommend the business to their friends and family. If someone recommends your business to a friend or family member, they like your products or services and would recommend them to others. If you have a business that requires reviews, your customers are more likely to take the time to write a good review about your customer service than if they aren’t happy with your services because they feel you were dishonest with them. They might even write a negative review about your business, which could be disastrous for you.
IT WILL HELP YOU BUILD A LASTING RELATIONSHIP WITH CUSTOMERS
The most important milestone in your journey with clients is the point where you can rely on them for their loyalty, and can say with conviction that you have a strong relationship with them. In order to create a strong, mutually beneficial bond with clients, be honest with them. For example, if there is a delay in the delivery of a product, don’t over promise anything, and explain the situation to the customer, while admitting your fault and making sure it does not happen again. Be truthful and compensate that customer by giving a discount card or gift voucher and going the extra mile.
At Locate Your Look honesty is always the best policy for us. When we talk with salon owners they continue to say companies promise them things they don’t deliver on. Leading them to lose trust in similar businesses. We won’t promise you what we can’t deliver. We know we couldn’t find you 100 new customers a week so we won’t promise that, we won’t tell you our platform is FREE to join then send you an expected bill after generating you new customers. Our portal pricing is simple and transparent. We offer a complimentary listing for everyone within the industry with a no obligation upgrade. We don’t charge commission or any added extras so no unexpected bills. As a business we never want to Overpromise and Underdeliver.
If you have a reputation of being honest, you are also known to possess a high level of integrity and transparency as well. To be honest means you take pride in the work you do, you believe in the service you provide, and you don’t try to be something you’re not. Whatever your industry, healthy competition is what keeps a company afloat.
Putting your best foot forward at all times is the key to ensuring your business is a success. Honesty in business is right at the top when customers are deciding which company to do business with.
