Total Customer Transparency is a Risk I’m Willing to Take. Here’s Why

In the digital era, you have to operate your business as transparently as possible — especially with customers.

Otherwise, you’re at risk of receiving public negative reviews and ratings, the backlash of which could close your business. Instead, treating customers with transparency builds a long-lasting relationship, making them more likely to come back — and bring their friends next time.

Some companies believe being “too honest” is dangerous because it opens you up to a high level of scrutiny. But if you’re operating ethically, then you don’t have anything to hide and your customers will appreciate it.

I’ve only seen great responses when treating my customers ethically, whether that’s my staff at True Blue Life Insurance apologizing for a mistake and owning it, or answering day-to-day questions immediately and clearly. We do everything in our power to make the customer feel like they have all the information they need, when they need it. And this keeps them coming back to us.

Building lifetime relationships with customers comes down to embracing what I call “extreme transparency.”

And with all extreme things, the guiding force comes from the inside.

A company policy of transparency has to start internally.

So, I make a point to be as open as possible about how the company is doing and how everyone fits together. I want to instill honesty in my employees so, in the long run, they’ll pass that along to the customer.

For example, I keep company goals widely visible. Everyone on my team knows how leads are progressing, the conversion rate on those leads, and the overall revenue growth of the company. This keeps everyone on the same page and builds company-wide trust.

Because I want transparency to be passed along to the customer, I make sure my customer service team especially feels that implicit trust. So, no matter what they have to do to be nice, they have my support.

Even if that means taking a loss or owning up to a mistake directly to the customer.

My team feels confident and safe delivering transparency because they know I value it.

If a customer calls and speaks with one of our service representatives, they’re hoping for straightforward answers to their questions. When my team delivers those answers, the customer feels like they can always return with any other problems they may have.

Now, this sounds simple, and maybe obvious, but not every company follows this rule.

AOL, for example, in the days before cable internet, would make customers wait on hold for indeterminate amounts of time. This drove customers off — no one wants to hang around on the phone forever. Then they made the situation worse by making it so difficult to stop service, some customers simply canceled their credit card or closed their bank account rather than have to deal with AOL.

A blatantly opaque operating practice did more than just create a poor customer experience in this instance — it actively drove them away. After watching that happen in real time, I swore to always practice transparency in my businesses.

And I’ve kept to that.

I’ve even gone so far as to open my company up to a certain amount of risk and vulnerability in the name of honesty.

For example, I had an agent enter incorrect information into a customer’s policy. It didn’t change the price, but the customer was concerned they’d been put at risk for a refusal of coverage from the insurers if anything happened.

We owned our mistake. You could even see my team member say, “Yes, that was my mistake” on the transcript. Then, we followed up by fixing the problem and helping the customer make the appropriate changes.

After that, I called and apologized to him directly. Even though we’d messed up, the customer knew he could still trust us because we immediately did everything in our power to resolve his issue.

Some businesses would say this wasn’t the right move, that by admitting we were wrong we could’ve been sued.

But by catching the mistake quickly, admitting we were at fault, and then rectifying the situation to the best of our ability, we were able to not only get the customer everything they needed, but also prove we were still worthy of his trust. If we’d opted to hide the problem, all the claims settlements in the world wouldn’t buy us that level of trust.

And maintaining customer trust is huge.

I believe extreme trust comes from extreme transparency — the kind that makes a lifelong customer. They’ll bring their friends and family to you as well, because they believe in you and trust your work. This is where benefit turns to growth for your company. Transparency grows your business in the long run because it builds your reputation as ethical and honest at a time when far too many companies are silent.

Speak up, be honest, and always be nice. You’ll only grow.

If you want to learn more about what I do, you can visit True Blue Life Insurance. And for more information about building your business, please visit my personal site to read more from me, including my book, The Salesman Who Doesn’t Sell.