Updated 3/2/2022
Transparency in Small Businesses
As consumers have a high demand for safer and detailed products, most buyers prioritize supplier transparency as one of their top requirements. A study reveals that 86% of Americans believe transparency from business is more important than ever before. This is especially true of small business transparency.
Let’s face the truth: an over-saturated market has made things more difficult for businesses to compete and figure out distinct advantages. No matter what industry you’re in, there are always competitors offering the same products or services.
Building Trust in Your Small Business Through Transparency
In this day and age, having great products and services is not enough. Consumers now expect to know more and are predisposed to thinking “locally”. They prefer brands that are willing to share more details and information about products such as who that brand is, how the product is created and manufactured, who is behind the scenes, and whether it is produced by local suppliers.
In other words, consumers value information sharing, which has created a new urgency for buyers to source local suppliers who can deliver the same value.
How does transparency benefit your business, and what can you do to demonstrate that? This article will give you answers.
Benefits of Brand Transparency for Small Businesses
- Brand loyalty: trust is paramount in our personal lives. So are buyers. Once you successfully build trust, it’s much harder for buyers to leave you and go with competitors that don’t offer the same value.
- Increase sales: A survey from Sproutsocial shows that 73% of consumers are willing to buy products that guarantee total transparency. Transparency differentiates your business as authentic, honest and socially responsible.
Best Practices for Small Business Transparency
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Make Information Accessible
Give as much information about your products or services as you can, and put it in a place where your customers or prospects can easily have access. If selling products, you should ensure you label products clearly (health conditions, certifications, ingredients, etc.). The more details you provide, the better trust you’ll gain.
SupplierGATEWAY has one of the largest B2B marketplaces where thousands of buyers and suppliers connect and do business. We enable suppliers to showcase their capabilities and provide buyers with all information they want to know from suppliers.
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Social Proof
The power of social proof has been successfully proven in many cases of building trust and improving customer loyalty. It can instigate the emotional triggers of prospects. Using social proof in reviews and testimonials significantly helps buyers reinforce their confidence and make better decisions.
In the SupplierGATEWAY marketplace, we give buyers the option to leave reviews and comments for those suppliers who they have worked with, as well as have access to all reviews of registered suppliers on the platform.
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Strategic Planning for Your Small Business’s Digital Presence
Living in a digital world, we know the importance of digital presence. Everyone can have a website or social media, but the winners will be the ones who strategically present themselves in the best possible way. Having a concrete plan aiming towards transparency in your digital channels may be a good starting point.
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Be Active On Social
Now more than ever, it’s easier for businesses to engage and communicate with buyers. Choose channels wisely to announce new products, features, updates and promotions. Being active online will get you one step closer to customers, what they think, how they feel and what you can improve.
Proactively listening to your customer’s feedback and quickly responding to every request or comment will be the best way to keep your customer in the loop and improve the engagement rate.
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Openly Share Your Small Business’s Minority Status
Social drives diversity and inclusion business practices internally and externally. In procurement, major companies are actively sourcing new diverse suppliers to strengthen their supplier diversity programs.
We can’t emphasize enough the advantages of being minority-owned and diverse-owned. If you belong to one of these diverse groups, don’t be afraid to become certified and give your business a chance to connect with potential buyers.
The Enhanced Digital Certification™ (EDC) is a fast and inexpensive way for your small business to get certified as a diverse-owned organization while at the same time exposing you to new opportunities afforded by being in the SupplierGATEWAY network.
About SupplierGATEWAY:
At SupplierGATEWAY, we offer a robust platform for suppliers where you can gain access to new business opportunities and connect with customers of all sizes – from Fortune 500 companies and globally recognized companies to your local health system, manufacturer or business. Our easy-to-use app will help you stay connected to the opportunities that could make all the difference to your bottom line. Get started today for FREE!