Consumers have become more and more wary of providing personal details to businesses online. This can have devastating effects on any company’s bottom line. Perhaps businesses selling financial services and insurance have it toughest. If a customer is not happy about the level of security your website offers, they will simply go to a competitor they trust. So what can businesses that need to process deeper levels of personal data do to build consumer trust?

Auditing

The first thing to do is action a complete audit of your website. Is every page fully protected by current security certificates? Https pages are thought to be better ranked for search engines as well. Now spend some time undertaking the customer journey. Go from each of your landing pages and start to input the data you are asking for. Chances are there are some redundancies. In some places, it is inappropriate and potentially illegal to ask for and collect unnecessary personal data.

Now consider how that data is handled. How is it collated and where is it stored? If you use a third party server, then go through your contract with them to check they are offering the level of security you need. Finally, identify and detail your internal and external processes for handling data breaches and security threats. Now you can start to make the changes necessary to ensure you’re as secure as you possibly can be.

Surveying

You might have undertaken your own audit of your website and form filling. Have you asked your customers how easy they found the process? Asking users of the form whether they felt the questions were relevant to the requirements is important. If they feel the questions are excessive, then you need to consider ways to reduce the number asked. Perhaps they would prefer other ways to verify identity?

Security will be a major concern for users of your website. It’s important to confirm that customers feel confident in your ability to protect their data. This is particularly important for inputting information. When you’ve completed your customer surveys and audits, it’s time to ask yourself some important questions.

Questioning

How much trust do customers need to put into your company to engage with you? Do you believe they have enough faith in your business to be comfortable with your online application and purchase processes? You might perform some marketing research to establish what the general feelings are about your brand in this area. There are many questions you need to answer before you can make changes to resolve any problems.

Researching

Research ways to reduce the amount of time required of the customer to confirm their details. This can help improve customer satisfaction and trust. It might also offer you more security and protection. Services like Jumio’s Netverify can be used on your website to reduce the time spent confirming the ID of your applicants or customers. This can be essential to reduce the risk of loss. Some services are also useful for reducing your insurance premium!

Your marketing research might have identified some problems. This might be in the area of customer relations and brand relationships. Now is the time to research different ways to reposition your brand where you want it to be. You should also consider methods to improve your PR and customer relations to build more trust in your brand.

Implementing

Implementing new services, security and processes can take time to do. There will need to be a period of testing, and you might want to survey users to confirm you’re fulfilling their needs as much as your own. Focus groups can be helpful here to understand the user experience. You might also need to train your customer service teams and install new processes for handling inquiries.

Promoting

Once everything is in place, it’s time to put it all to use. You should actively promote your new system. After all, this is a key selling point for your business. It’s one you’ve invested a great deal of time and money in. It should also set you apart from much of your competition. Your new secure systems can be part of your positioning strategy. It’s time to build that trust in your brand.

Ultimately, you need assurances that your customers are who they say they are. And your customers need assurances that you will make any application or purchase process quick, easy, and secure. It’s about mutual trust. Security, therefore, is paramount, and that responsibility lies with you. The future of online transactions should offer positive experiences for everyone involved. What will you do to make sure of it?