One of the most common goals for businesses is to gain customer trust. Earning the trust of the customers isn’t just simply beneficial for increasing sales or boosting brand awareness. It can impact the overall growth of the company and help it stand out among its competitors. But how can you gain and keep the trust of your customers?
One great way to do so is by delivering efficient data security. Customers trust organizations who handle their data or information properly. And in case you’re not aware, failing to protect your customers’ data can lead to reputational damage. Surely, you don’t want that to happen, do you? Now, let’s dive into the effective ways to better protect your customers’ data and earn their trust.
Create a data privacy culture
First and foremost, you must build a culture of data privacy within the company. This acts as your competitive edge and foundation for earning the trust of the customers. Everyone in your organization should be aware of and practice the data privacy ethics and policies that you want the customers or clients to see.
To begin with, you can start writing down the data privacy ethics that you want to implement and explaining the goals and violations behind them. Make sure to also discuss these ethics with the new hires. It will also make things easier for you if you have privacy advocates or experts to help you out.
Embrace transparency
Every customer wants to know how a particular company uses their data, and it’s your responsibility to be honest with them regarding how their information is being used. Fostering the lack of transparency can build a wall between your company and the customers, making it nearly impossible for you to gain their trust and loyalty. It’s also recommended to inform your customers how their data is protected. Do it in writing. You can tell them about the type of cloud used, the level of encryption implemented, and your action place in case of data breaches.
Some businesses also provide their customers with some kind of value in exchange for their personal details. In fact, in the modern business-customer relationship, transparency can improve brand loyalty and add real value to a product or service.
Focus on privacy by design
It’s a known fact that privacy by design plays a vital role in establishing customer trust as it makes data privacy and protection the focus of your operations. This particular framework is designed to require companies and organizations to safeguard the rights and information of the users through implementing appropriate protection principles. Doing so will help you ensure that user privacy is of top priority. To give you an idea, some of the principles of the framework include being proactive with user privacy protection, building privacy into the processes, and implementing full security on the website or product experience.
Upgrade old network security
If your company isn’t using the latest and highly advanced firewall and network security, you’re in grave danger. If this is the case, it’s best to invest in network firewalls such as Fortinetnext-gen firewall and security solutions that feature unified threat management (UTM) to better protect user data. Keep in mind that hackers are always looking for security vulnerabilities, so it only makes sense that you also find ways to update and strengthen your security. While upgrades do cost money, they can reduce the risk of an attack.
Avoid storing highly sensitive data
It’s never good for companies and organizations to maximize the details or data they can obtain from the customers. Avoid acquiring data that you don’t necessarily need for your operations and processes. Focus on getting information that you need for direct outreach and engagement, and don’t forget to explain to the users how the data will be used and why it’s necessary.
Instead of getting their home phone number and address, it might be less intimidating for the customers if you’ll just ask for their work phone number and address. Also, check if you have legitimate company use before you even request the customers’ details. Doing so will allow you to protect your business from legal claims and ensure you won’t be gathering too much data that you can’t efficiently safeguard.
Keep in mind that when it comes to data protection, you are not only safeguarding your company’s reputation but also the personal information of the people who trusted you with it. Secure your place as a reliable business name by following the actionable steps listed in our guide.
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