Have you recently found yourself questioning the trustworthiness of some of your favorite brands, especially in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic? Airlines, banks, insurance companies, supermarkets, fashion retailers, even makeup brands – they’ve all been under scrutiny.
Restoring trust begins with a professional understanding, a serious acknowledgment, and a sincere commitment to proper improvement. Sadly, empty promises have become all too common, even among once-revered, high-standard and well-known service-oriented brands. To avoid alienating consumers and particularly Angel Customers, businesses must back their words with meaningful actions. An “untrained” trainee or even an incompetent manager blubbing empty apologies over the phone or email would only fuel the loyal customer’s frustration and disappointment.
Regenerating trust demands tangible proof of a company’s worthiness, as “trust is a fragile asset”. Countless businesses have suffered due to trust breaches, and rebuilding reputations takes time and effort. Forbes advises a simple mantra: “Acknowledge, Apologize, and Correct.” Anything less is mere evasion. Discounts, superficial apologies, and hollow explanations only appeal to short-term customers. Authenticity, active listening, understanding the impact on customers, prevention of future mishaps, and ensuring Angel Customers are well cared for – that’s the path to redemption, for the benefit of both.
I can’t recall how many beloved brands, also brands I long-used out of convenience “only, have lost my trust during the pandemic. It is sad. None took the proper measures to gain back my trust. They didn’t even delete my data from their systems despite my requests and boldly kept sending me promotions! It turned out that being an Angel Customer to many brands really had no value to these businesses after all.
Will they ever regain my trust? I don’t think so. Why not? Well simply because THEY never tried the proper way!
Am Lola, a service freak, passionate about high quality and good service. Feel free to share your experience with me in this debate. Join JestaFreak.com now and together let’s make our voice heard.
So true Lola. Who can forget Boeing’s 737 MAX Crisis and the two fatal crashes in the pandemic? The subsequent investigations revealed safety concerns and inadequate oversight. Many customers lost trust in Boeing’s commitment to safety because it became evident that they prioritized profits over passenger safety. My old man worked in aviation and Boeing used to be his favorite. His desk was full of miniatures, he was a really big fan. I don’t think people can trust this aircraft again. At least I won’t.
I am so afraid of flying. If I had the option, I wouldn’t use a plane at all! Lol
Hahah Lol. You sound like my mom 😂
Our long-waited family and friends trip got cancelled with Royal Caribbean during the pandemic. It took ages to receive our refunds back. Same with all friends who were traveling with us. Businesses are so good at charging customers very fast, before using their service, but when it is time for reimbursement, we have to keep calling and following up for months. It was a really frustrating experience for us all and honestly speaking we won’t use them again.
I used to be a big Amazon fan. Long before Covid. I used to buy everything and anything from Amazon that my husband and friends used to call me Amasonia.
But I cannot hide my frustration and my open criticism for allowing price gouging on essential products like hand sanitizers and face masks. Am a marketer myself and I understand businesses greed and sales how it works. But in my view, Amazon allowed third-party sellers to inflate the prices to exorbitant levels, taking advantage of the high demand during the pandemic. Amazon’s inability to swiftly curb this unethical behavior disappointed and angered even long-loyal customers like me. I now have mixed feelings about the brand. If ever anybody cares!
Amasonia!!! What a cool nickname! But do you still buy “everything and anything” from Amazon?
Not really. We discovered some local shops that provide bulk discounts on certain stuff, and it makes more sense for us. I think lot of small shops since the pandemic started to offer interesting promotions, luckily, I don’t rely on Amazon alone anymore. And it’s kind of a bit sad you know?
Oh I know the feeling very well. Do you think these businesses would care if we complained?
No they wouldn’t have cared. That’s why you got my attention on this platform. I would like to have my voice heard. I hope you can help ♥
Aw! Now this is very touching to hear! Thank you @Sonia.Kiminski for your words and trust. In JestaFreak.com we believe that together with consumers like yourself we will eventually make a change. We also look forward to that moment.
😂 You must be a family of creative marketers! I love the nickname 👋
Major food delivery services, such as DoorDash and Uber Eats, faced customer complaints during the pandemic due to late deliveries and unreliable service. With people relying on these services for essential meals and groceries, repeated delivery mishaps eroded trust in these platforms. Lots of businesses here in the US and worldwide took advantage of the lockdown and the pandemic and the need of customers to certain services and they knew that we had no other choice at the time.
I don’t think so. A trust once broken it can never be regained, especially in brands. They don’t seem to bother that much. I had couple bitter experiences over the pandemic. Been couple years, none of my “beloved brands” as you call them bothered to connect with me and to seriously make a change or take action. Very disappointing.