Why successful brands should embrace radical transparency

In today’s marketplace, consumer trust has change into paramount for corporations looking for lasting success. This was demonstrated by a study conducted by Edelman 81% of buyers mention trust in the brand as a decisive factor influencing their loyalty and purchasing behavior. As information sources proliferate, corporations can not engage in opaque practices that obfuscate key details. They must operate with full transparency to achieve customer trust and loyalty.

As CEO of Carbliss, an alcoholic beverage brand, I have witnessed first-hand how radical transparency across all manufacturing and business operations impacts consumer loyalty and business growth. From the very starting, we have had an unwavering open-book approach that has helped cement useful, long-term relationships with our customer base. Below are the 4 criteria and best practices we prioritize to keep up transparency and customer loyalty.

1. Practical dialogue with the client

Today’s empowered consumers can easily see through this disingenuous smokescreen. They expect true honesty from the brands they select on every key aspect, including ingredients, sourcing practices, pricing justification, regulatory challenges and other elements that underpin the products they devour.

One of the key ways to cultivate this culture of authenticity is to interact directly with the vast variety of customer inquiries. Last yr alone, I responded to roughly 8,000 emails from Carbliss distributors, retailers, consumers and fans.

Ongoing, honest dialogue is critical to comprehensively understanding, in an unfiltered way, how customers perceive our brand identity, product features and customer support experiences.

Through raw, uncompromising honesty in these interactions, even when the facts could also be unfavorable or unpleasant for the customer to just accept, we actively build invaluable trust. The easy truth is that you would be able to’t build lasting customer loyalty through automated and impersonal responses or convoluted corporate jargon.

2. Shedding light on complexity

Adopting this level of radical transparency signifies that you sometimes have to be prepared for intense scrutiny from confused, perhaps disaffected customers looking for simpler truths. We have found that the reward is an extremely strong brand status anchored in truth that ultimately breeds sacred trust and loyalty.

At my company, we prefer to indicate details that other brands may hide or attempt to downplay, like the need to make use of “artificially colored” labels on cans regardless that the colours come from natural sources, like the vivid blue of butterfly pea flowers.

We take every opportunity to clarify the nuances of the regulatory complexities that result in mandatory technical labeling jargon. We balance this by reaffirming our core principles of prioritizing high-quality ingredients that we legally devour ourselves and share without hesitation with friends and family.

3. Culture of authenticity

As you grow and scale, it is important to keep up transparency across your team. This may take the type of understanding the intricacies of the product, the runway to profitability, or the purpose of their unique role in the overall strategy. Our employees, no matter their position, have a thorough understanding of the ingredients, sourcing and production methods of our products, so they’ll accurately and reliably communicate this data in their interactions with customers.

Our detailed FAQ content clarifies common misconceptions, from our avoidance of artificial colours to our justification for premium pricing based on operating costs and premium product positioning. While some buyers could also be dismayed by some of the realities we present, we emphasize honesty because we have learned that this is the only path to long-term customer understanding, respect and loyalty.

4. Transparent best practices

For corporations in any industry that wish to foster strong brand loyalty by operating in complete transparency, below are my personal principles:

• Be unconditionally open to all business practices, prioritizing clear, direct communication with customers at every opportunity
• Let your customer interaction teams be prepared to personally reply to every inquiry with unvarnished honesty, not excluding any unpleasant truths
• Thoroughly educate and train all employees on the critical importance of authenticity in all words and actions related to customer interactions.
• Treat each positive and negative customer feedback as an opportunity to display a true commitment to continuous improvement.
• Ensure that each one content and marketing messages accurately and without ambiguity reflect the true nature of your products, services and practices.
• Don’t be afraid to speak openly about the real challenges facing your organization, because it humanizes your relationship with the brand.

Responding to weather conditions to cultivate loyalty

To ensure, this radical embrace of transparency sometimes means facing backlash from those that are dissatisfied with newly released information that contradicts their expectations. Cultivated ironclad trust and loyalty far outweigh any short-term friction. When you act truthfully and hold nothing back from your customers, you attract buyers who share your values ​​and who appreciate your courage and unwavering honesty.

If you are able to foster true customer loyalty and drive sustainability, it is time to introduce radical transparency throughout your organization. Don’t complicate reality; shed light on every aspect of your products, operations and business practices. Walk the truth ruthlessly, even in the face of criticism. Your authentic soul and unwavering integrity will attract passionate brand advocates who align with your values.