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The way to grow your business is clear. It is transparent.
Transparency relates to the openness with which you act and how clear you are in your intentions and actions. It is an incredibly important factor for consumers, being the third most considered factor when making purchase decisions.
Why transparency is important
Demonstrating transparency shows you have nothing to hide. When consumers can see who you are and what you stand for, they know they can trust you. People want to buy from companies who can be trusted.
Being transparent is a BBB Standard of Accreditation, so being accredited lets customers know you act with integrity and transparency in all that you do. Many of the guiding principles that go into demonstrating integrity overlap with BBB’s Standards of Trust.
Trust is the most important consideration in purchasing decisions, after cost and quality. More than 90% of consumers say transparency by a brand is important in deciding who they buy from. Additionally, 94% of shoppers will stay loyal to a transparent brand, with 75% of those spenders happy to pay more for products or services from a business they believed to be open and honest. The open exchange of information is essential to demonstrating transparency, with 59% of consumers relating openness to being transparent.
What does transparency in business mean?
Transparency includes:
- Communicating with customers, including being forthcoming with information, even if it is unfavorable.
- Being honest about mistakes and shortcomings, and open about remedies.
For consumers, transparency is particularly important when it comes to a few particular matters:
- Safeguarding privacy and data is essential to maintaining trust. Tell consumers honestly, what you’re doing with their personal information, including whether it is being shared with other brands or companies, or is used for internal marketing purposes only. Giving people the full story allows them to willingly opt in to these communications and shows you respect their data and privacy concerns. Although 69% of consumers are comfortable sharing data to receive more personalized recommendations, 79% of people say they are at least somewhat concerned about data privacy. Protecting privacy is also a part of the BBB’s Standards of Trust.
- Providing people with all the information. People also want to know about the messy details. Give them the ingredients list and give them as much insight to processes as possible. Better yet, show them. Sixty-seven percent of consumers believe that video is the most transparent form of content put out by brands - use that to your advantage by including video in your content marketing.
- Disclosing your pricing practices. Consumers are spenders, and they want to know what they’re spending the money on. Explain how you determine product and shipping costs, including any specific calculations or factors. If you have to change the cost of something, be honest about why, think of Netflix telling subscribers “prices are being updated so that we can continue to offer a more variety of TVs and shows.”
- Owning up to past behaviors and fully acknowledging flaws and errors. Instead of waiting for others to reveal any problems or trying to hide them, admit to any mistakes or lapses in judgement or ethics. Additionally, be honest in what remedies you’re taking or have already initiated to rectify any problems. Remember to be entirely truthful about your intentions and plans. Don’t say you’re working on corrective actions if you’re not. To customers, mistakes are acceptable but dishonesty is not.
- Being forthright about what your company’s values are and how you embody them.
Transparency is profitable
It also pays off to be transparent, with 65% of customers likely to stay loyal to a brand they believe to be genuine, and 85% of people are likely to stand by a brand they think is honest during a crisis. Transparency is about being able to see through something - it is clear on both sides. Customers are trusting you to provide them with honest information; trust customers to handle the truth. Telling the truth is also a part of BBB’s Standards of Accreditation accredited business must meet. Demonstrating transparency is important to developing customer trust and loyalty.
Better Business Bureau Serving New Mexico and Southwest Colorado contributed to this article.