Phil Portman is a serial entrepreneur and the Founder & CEO of Textdrip — a small business SMS marketing tool to automate SMS campaigns.
One powerful currency that can build or break any brand is trust. Each business deals with it daily.
Undoubtedly you have heard Warren Buffet's famous proverb: "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you will do things differently."
All in all, a trusted brand equals a successful brand. However, most don't know the secret ingredient to building and maintaining customer trust—ethical communication.
These days, consumers have access to plenty of information and resources, so their expectations are also increasing. According to Gartner, 74% of consumers want more than products and services from the business. And more than 87% of consumers say they dislike purchasing from brands they don't trust!
This data clearly indicates that bridging the trust gap is essential. It can establish a positive work culture, engage stakeholders and help maintain a good brand reputation. Remember: How consumers feel about your brand has 1.5X more impact than their thoughts.
Here, the question is: How can leaders build an ethical communication strategy that respects customers and drives more business?
Spam: A Trust Killer
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People get bombarded with messages they don't want or need (spam) in their emails, texts and social media feeds. This flood of junk mail chips away at trust and pushes people to tune out or be skeptical of companies that send too many messages.
You must be wondering why trust matters.
Let's find out!
Why is Trust Important?
Trust is vital in any relationship, whether personal or professional. When customers trust a specific brand/business, they are more likely to buy their products or services—they even recommend it to others. Put simply, trust equals loyalty, and loyalty equals long-term success. So, ultimately, trust equals long-term success.
Now, the question is, how can businesses build trust? The simple answer to this is to implement ethical communication strategies.
Let's understand what ethical communication is and what its key principles are.
What is Ethical Communication?
Ethical communication = Truthful + Respectful + Transparent + Responsible + Morally correct communication between two parties. (Here, two parties means business and consumers.)
But how can effective and ethical communication be balanced? How can businesses successfully implement it? The answer lies with five ethical communication pillars.
Ethical Communication Pillars
• Honesty - Speak only the truth. Don't make any false claims about your product/service.
• Respect - "Respect is earned, not demanded," says author Stacey Halls. Businesses should adopt a consumer-first approach to win their trust. Respect customers' time, preferences and privacy; in turn, they will be loyal customers.
• Transparency - Be honest, kind, empathetic and direct. As a leader, you should be honest about your product, services, capabilities and limitations. Whenever any issue arises, acknowledge and address it. Establish open communication channels, actively listen to your consumers and take their feedback seriously. It will make them feel their opinion matters.
• Relevancy - Understand your customers well and send relevant messages. As a business leader, you should aim to send relevant, value-driven messages—not just to fill consumers' inboxes with irrelevant emails or text messages.
• Authenticity - Respect consumers' privacy. These days, data protection and cybersecurity are major concerns. Your consumers' confidentiality is hugely important when it comes to business ethics. Be upfront about why and how you will use consumer data. It will help you strengthen consumer trust.
Besides, businesses can increase their ROI by following these golden rules:
• Adopt a consent-based communication approach.
• Craft transparent messages that let consumers understand who is talking to them and what the purpose is.
• Make the opt-out procedure simple.
• Implement a feedback loop. Let your consumers rate your product/service. Based on their feedback and your evaluation, adjust your strategy.
• Be consistent.
Building Trust Through Ethical Communication
Honest talks matter. Ethical communication helps create a good brand image by matching words and actions with openness, truth, and customer care, which builds trust and loyalty that ultimately leads to more sales and sets your brand apart.
Benefits
• Better reputation - Ethical communication shows a commitment beyond making money, which builds trust and loyalty.
• Closer connections - Back-and-forth talks encourage teamwork and emotional bonds, turning customers into brand supporters.
• Easier crisis handling - Ethical communication serves as a lifeline when things go wrong, reducing harm to your reputation.
Ethical Communication In Action
Several businesses have successfully implemented ethical communication strategies by setting standards for honesty, transparency and a customer-first approach. Let's check out two noteworthy examples:
Buffer is all about transparency with its social media platform. The company publishes salaries, revenue, and user data to the extent that they feel comfortable doing so (one even allows employees to post freely on their blog!). In turn, a new interest is instigated and creates the impression of honesty, which caters to customers who appreciate transparency.
TOMS is a shoe brand that is great at explaining its mission. This puts the monetary impact of purchasing into perspective (a buyer will fund 1 minute-and-a-half worth of mental health resources) and ongoing storytelling on performance communicates status to customers regularly that type of behavior drives more sales and increases customer retention.
Key Takeaways:
• Leadership quality builds internal and external credibility.
• Engagement and culture-active employees are important.
• Honest is what honesty does (i.e., only you get customers who care).
• Communication is critical to making sales and building loyalty.
Let's Put An End To The Ethical Communication Dilemma
With business prosperity being driven by trust and loyalty, ethical communication should not be viewed merely as jargon but rather as a strategic instrument that connects communication with principles of ethics, thereby promoting sustained productivity.
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