Kristine Kirby Webster's article on the mutual relationship necessary to build trust with your customer base is a great read. Here is the article in abstract with commentary.
Key points to remember:
Trust is a product of a positive association with your company, that not only will your products do what you say they will, but what the customer expects them to do. Inherently customers don't trust companies that sell, the majority of their experiences are negative.
Successful brands engender strong two-way communications in relationship development. This communications includes information sharing, and listening for customer concerns. I'll add that positive communications contribute more to the relationship than negative ones.
Brand represents your customers understanding of your product, how they want to see it based on the information they have. Brand is how they recognize your product and the associated feelings that contribute to a buy action. Think of a brand as a psychological trigger that induces a desire to purchase or favorable opinion of an offering.
Webster establishes a brand relationship prior a direct customer relationships. This really depends on the type of offer you have for a specific audience. It can be said just knowing who your customer is represents a passive relationship that contributes to a purchase.
Your brand relationship contributes to the appeal of your offer. How a customer feels about your product significantly contributes to their decision to purchase. You will not establish positive feelings about your product without a strong relationship with the buyer.
Webster talks about serving customer "needs" properly. While this might be a linguistically issue, I prefer the service of "wants" over "needs" -- your customers need a lot of things, but make purchase decisions based on wants. Understanding a customers specific want will outline exactly what they desire as a result of receiving a solution.
Relationship strength can translate into purchases or referrals. Do not overlook customers referring buyers to your product based on their own experience. I cover this area in more depth for "Applying Strategic Relations" subscribers. The key your investment in one relationship is transfered to the referral, referrals come with a stamp of approval.
Every buying relationship is a long-term investment. According to a Jupiter Media Metrix 2001 study, "companies considering viral marketing and customers' satisfaction when identifying loyal customers can reduce customer acquisition costs by 27% and increase order size by up to 60%" You never want to do business with a customer just once, even if you have a one-shot sale, invest in customers for life.
Relationships are built over time on interaction at a time. While Webster didn't specifically point this out, I could tell she understands the power. Take building customer relationships one day at a time, incrementally adding to the value of your offer with each communication with the prospect or existing customer.
See also: "Differentiating Factors between 'Normal' And 'Profitable' Customers", "14 Strategies to Retain Key Accounts in Recessionary Times", "Improving Communications with Your Customers While Creating Sustainable Profits"
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