Generating Trust to Motivate Sales

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I'm convinced that trust is the essential lubricant that enables commerce to flourish. Unless your online store commands wide name recognition, the shopper will have questions that boil down to one -- How can I be sure that I'll get what I am paying for in a reasonable amount of time?

If you succeed in assuaging this concern and helping people trust you, you're likely to get the sale. If not, they'll refrain from placing an order. It's that simple, and that important. These are steps you can take to build customer trust that results in a higher conversion rate:

• Build a professionally designed online store. Yes, the design will cost you, but it will pay for itself in the sense of competence it generates. A sloppy or amateurish site raises concerns, while a professionally designed one breathes confidence.
• Provide generous guarantees and return policies. If these are fair and reasonable, your customers will feel like you could be trusted to handle a problem if one were to come up.
• Sell brand name products. If you sell off-brand products, your customers know nothing about the quality. But the big money manufacturers have spent to build their brand image can pay off for you in easier sales.
• Tell the story of your business, and don't be afraid to be personal. People love stories. Tell your vision, explain your high standards, your customer-focused values, and explain your unique selling proposition. Introduce several of your partners, or officers in the business. Don't make them sound stuffy; make them sound like interesting and fun human beings who together make a great team.
• Show a photograph of yourself, or, if you're not comfortable doing that, a group shot of your whole team. This takes away the faceless, anonymous, danger-lurking terror of the Internet and replaces it with real people. People prefer to do business with real people.
• List an address and phone where people can contact you, preferably a street address (though I use a post office box). Make it easy for people to reach you.
• If you have a brick-and-mortar store, by all means show a picture. This roots you in place and time, and doesn't make you feel so temporary, so cyber, so fly-by-night.
• Join respected associations, such as BBBOnline, TRUSTe, or BizRate.com.

Each of these are small elements. Together they build the trust that grows your bottom line.