In modern day retailing, margins can be tight and costs need to be kept down. But being overly zealous will also cost you your reputation. Communicating with your customers and establishing trust is essential. Positive word of mouth means you will spend less on advertising. And customer loyalty equals repeat business. The more loyal your customers, the more you can charge over your competitors.

Indeed, times are such that local customers will window shop on the high street and then go online to buy. The obvious reason for this is cost, but that’s only part of the equation. A well executed sales process, customer reviews and favourable distant selling laws also weigh on the customers mind.

It is worth reminding ourselves that bad customer reviews are believed more easily than good customer reviews, regardless of when they were written. And no matter how much you improve your customer relations, those reviews will be found for many years to come.

Consumers sometimes shop locally as they feel there is a greater sense of accountability. But will they make big ticket purchases when you are receiving bad reviews? A good way to tackle this is to lower your sights and improve the customer experience on cheaper items. Let the customer build their trust.

I have a few tips for those online businesses seeking to build trust.

1. On your contact page, do not say “our preferred method of communication is by email” because actually my preferred method is to pick up the phone and talk to you for real.

2. Do not hide behind a generic telephone number like 0871. It might be convenient for your business but it will often put your customers off. It is better to go with a local number, although for certain types of business, a freephone number might work quite well.

3. Add photos of your business, warehouse, shop and staff. Add a map with directions. This re-enforces you are real and accountable.