As an online business, an open, honest, and transparent attitude towards your customers and employees will be the most significant contributor to your brand’s favorable perception. Here are more reasons why companies can prosper through being trustworthy and transparent.
Your Team will Be Happier and More Productive
There are plenty of studies showing that transparency is very influential in promoting a happy workplace. A happy employee is also a more productive one and more likely to provide exceptional customer service.
Cheerful, more relaxed employees are also more creative and are always happy to come forward with new ideas. Collaboration in the workplace between management and employees often contributes a great deal to an organization’s profitability.
Brand Transparency Builds Trust
Trust is just as important for employees as it is for customers. A foundation of trust helps employees work well together, translating into better relationships between employees and clients.
Honesty and Transparency Creates Shareable Information
Most companies today include social media in their marketing efforts. Sharing honest information about your products will encourage more of your followers to share your content online.
Some of the information you can post includes how your products are made. You can speak of where you make them, and where your employees are from. You could also add causes your business supports into the mix, for example. Include how your products are created from environmentally responsible products, for instance. Or mention any other ways your brand gives back to the community.
Brand Transparency and Honesty Creates More Profit
More than two-thirds of consumers say they are more likely to spend more if they believe the brand is trustworthy. Consumers consistently rank transparency as the single most significant factor in why they remain loyal to a brand. Above all, more than 90 percent stating it as their primary motivation for coming back. It might be challenging to quantify how much influence transparency will have on the bottom line. However, the results above suggest it would be significant.
Generate Trust by Acknowledging Mistakes
There are many examples of corporations hiding their mistakes from the public. Even when those mistakes negatively impacted their customers’ lives, or caused them financial distress. What happens when mistakes are revealed, despite the brand’s best efforts to keep them from view? Community outrage usually makes the misstep very public. Once the damage is done, it can take years to restore a favorable perception in the marketplace. Disgruntled customers do not soon forget their mistreatment and are happy to talk about it to anyone who will listen.
Acknowledging mistakes may cause some unrest among your loyal customer base. However, it will be far less damaging to your brand than a cover-up. Above all, ensure your brand owns up to doing something wrong or making a mistake. It says to your customers and employees that you have learned from the experience. Trust is maintained, and there will be no need to spend thousands on repairing a damaged reputation.
Consequently, in an increasingly online economy, the need for transparency has never been greater. Your brand will benefit from a happy and productive workplace and enjoy healthier relationships with your customers. Happy clients will tell people about their great experience, which will only improve your reputation in the marketplace. For this reason, transparent and honest companies are often more successful and sustainable than ones that are not.
All photos by Fabio Formaggio on 123RF.