Instilling Trust: Advice Local’s New Trusted Local Business Seal

Being CEO has its perks, one of those is sharing fun and exciting news with Advice Local stakeholders, clients and friends. But first, I need to shine a light on a serious problem that impacts businesses and consumers alike. As with all innovative products, before you can provide a solution, you must know the ins and outs of the problem. Our story starts like this…

The Trust Problem for Businesses and Consumers

Companies and brands have long partnered together in distribution relationships, with certain stores becoming the go-to location for a particular brand. This practice has continued into the e-commerce world, which brings a unique set of trust issues. These issues often leave brands, businesses and consumers looking for a way to authenticate claims made by sellers. These groups often leverage the Internet to check the validity of businesses and review their practices as a result of:

• Loss of revenue by businesses and loss of trust by consumers, because of the activities of fraudulent product and service providers
• 73 percent of consumers saying they lose trust in a brand when a business listing has incorrect data
• A clouded shopping journey, as a result of consumers, who are looking to make informed but quick decisions, not knowing which businesses are trustworthy

Advice Local is committed to solving problems for our clients; based on the reasons above and further research, our team was able to quickly determine the missing piece to assist customers on their journey. We went to work to create a solution that would boost a business’s trust signal and give consumers a cue that could immediately instill trust in an entity.

In Comes the Solution… and a Partnership

That cue and the solution is the new, first-of-their-kind “Local Trusted Business” Seal and “Local Trusted Brand” Seal. The Seal combines a collection of trust signals to help potential customers easily determine the quality of a business’s information, products and services before acting. It helps consumers and other brands and businesses develop a, hopefully positive, opinion before committing to a phone call, visit or purchase. This Seal gives businesses the power to control the customer journey.

Now I have to keep some secrets, so I’m unable to disclose who our partner is today; however, I can give you a little hint. We’re working with the most trusted name in online privacy, security and business verification services to process and present the “Local Trusted Business” and “Local Trusted Brand” Seals.

For the Consumer

Today, 92% of consumers want experiential insights before engaging in a business relationship. This means most consumers will not move from curious to paying customer without some form of established trust. They turn to review sites, peers in their social circles or social media to help them make major purchasing decisions.

Our proprietary verification & syndication processes merge the power of accurate location data with reviews, credibility, social sentiment, privacy, security and business ethics; this is all available within reach of consumers in local and mobile audiences. The result of the Seal is a new, high-level standard for businesses, so consumers can confidently make immediate, reliable decisions in their micro-moments.

For the Business

Businesses that leverage the power of the Seal show consumers, and possible B2B clients, that they are verified through a trusted third party’s proprietary verification process. This demonstrates a dedication to improving the all-around customer experience.

This Seal sets businesses and brands apart from their competitors by inspiring instant trust from their prospects. Using our local presence management platform to proactively manage their data helps increase their visibility, rankings, traffic, conversions, revenue and makes them easier to find and more attractive to potential customers.

This Isn’t Just a Product Announcement – It’s Your Invitation

Over the coming weeks we’ll share updates, glimpses into the Seal, the name of our partner and when we go live, you’ll be in the first-to-know group.

Be sure and come back each week for #TuesdaysWithBernie.