The Trust Foundation Understanding trust issues in the digital era.

“Steve Clark had had enough. Weeks after spending $2,500 on a new bedroom set, the bed broke. Workers repaired the bed two months later. Then it broke again. For six months, Clark spent his days leaving frustrated messages with the shop and spent his nights worrying the mattress would crash to the floor. Eventually, one of the managers came to Clark's home in Yakima and successfully fixed the problem.”

“According to a national survey commissioned by the Better Business Bureau, furniture stores, auto dealerships, and cell phone and wireless companies are ranked as the most untrustworthy by consumers. Grocery stores and pharmacies earned the most trust.”

“Zan Deery, spokeswoman for the Better Business Bureau out of Spokane, said there are many factors that can explain the results, from bad experiences to national headlines. But what outweighs the complaints themselves is how businesses respond to them.” Customers can be easily frustrated when the companies they frequent do not respond to their concerns. Responding promptly to customer questions and distresses helps establish a caring and trustworthy relationship.

“According to the survey, several factors are key to gaining consumer trust. People look for superior customer service, truthfulness, dependability and competitive pricing. High charges and poor service will have the opposite effect.”To enhance its trust with its consumers, one furniture company called Fitterer’s Furniture offers free delivery anywhere in the state, and encourages customers to return furniture if they are unhappy with it.

By reviewing the survey results, Deery of the Better Business Bureau said customers and businesses can both learn something. Consumers will learn the importance of doing their research, checking on complaints and investing their money with legitimate groups. Businesses, meanwhile, can streamline their customer-service policies and provide additional staff training, she said.

To better understand consumer trust, the Better Business Bureau and the Gallup Organization conducted a national survey in October. More than 1,200 people were interviewed about the companies they trust most and least, and why. A summary of the findings:

• One in five adult American consumers say their trust in businesses they regularly frequent has decreased in the past year.
• Half of all consumers surveyed say they have a great deal or quite a lot of trust in the companies they regularly use.
• About 27 percent say honesty, truthfulness and ethics are the best ways to gain their trust.
• Good customer service is a prerequisite for gaining trust for one in five consumers.
• Most trusted: pharmacies and grocery stores. Other trusted businesses include financial institutions, home improvement stores and department stores.
• Least trusted: auto dealerships, real estate brokers, cell phone and wireless providers and furniture stores.
• Honesty, dependability, safety and good value are listed as the most important for consumers in determining trust in companies they use most often.
• The companies consumers trusted most did so through competitive or low prices, friendly associates and/or good customer service.
• Consumers say the company they least trusted lost their trust because of high charges and poor service.
• One in six people say they have a great deal or quite a lot of trust in companies that only do business online.
• Given a choice, 67 percent of consumers say they'd do business with a small company over a large company in their everyday lives.

Read the full story here.
For more information on the survey, go to www.us.bbb.org/trustindex