Customer trust is the foundation upon which all companies are based on. When it is violated, it can be incredibly difficult to recover…but not impossible. Particularly when it comes to software companies, it is critical to retain and nurture customer trust. Scott Arpajian talks about the difficult process he faced when having to recover customer trust for the company Softonic, while also offering three tips on how to facilitate the process.
Scott Arpajian, CEO of Softonic, the company behind the leading global software and app discovery website, brought monumental ameliorating changes to the company. Through Mr. Arpajian’s vast twenty years experience in the tech industry, he mastered the importance of managing a successful download portal while keeping the eye on the ball of customer satisfaction.
Prior to joining Softonic, Mr. Arpajian worked at Disney Interactive, where he developed a greater understanding of the significant role that creating outstanding customer experience plays in a company. His next stint at CNET included co-founding the popular Download.com, and grew it into the largest software download portal.
In 2015 it could not have been imagined that Softonic would become the world’s leading software download and app discovery portal, and serve over 100 million monthly users worldwide. Through Mr. Arpajian’s careful reconstruction of Softonic, he was able to set the company back on track with a refocused vision that set customer satisfaction and trust as the highest priorities.
When Scott Arpajian took over as the CEO of Barcelona-based Softonic in 2015, he faced various issues such as the hemorrhaging of money after the loss of large advertising agreements, the layoff of half its staff and a detrimental decline in its reputation.
Softonic’s issues were mainly rooted in customer mistrust, and the majority were caused by the Softonic Downloader, an adware-supported bundler that would frequently download unwanted software on user’s machines. To complicate matters, the Softonic Downloader was a large source of revenue. Despite that, Mr. Arpajian made the bold decision to discontinue the downloader and focus on repairing Softonic’s reputation, along with the relationship with its customers.
Through the carefully calculated reinvention of Softonic, Mr. Arpajian was able to achieve operating profit winthin seven months after he took over. Through the “Clean and Safe” program, Softonic guaranteed users’ safety when downloading and that promised that only the files they selected would be downloaded. The detailed process Softonic underwent to restore customer trust shows how fundamental it is for companies to continuously work on rebuilding and retaining customer trust. Here are three tips from Mr. Arpajian on how to achieve that goal.
- Vigilance against Malware
In order to secure trust with users, it is highly important for software providers to be continuously vigilant that their offerings don’t include any malware snuck in by hackers or other cyber criminals. Issues with malware are prevalent in companies regardless of their size; even the popular free CCleaner was invaded by hackers as revealed by Cisco in September 2017. As a result, the tainted version of the CCleaner app was installed 2.27 million times, which compromised all the personal computers of the users. It is crucial to grow and maintain customer trust by fostering their trust through constant protection and vigilance against malware. Therefore, it is important to have constant research and analysis of your product, and the immediate patching of any vulnerability encountered. Remember to keep strong control of the supply chain of your software, and verify that opportunities for compromise are minimized.
- Always Select Opt-in Instead of Opt-Out
If you have a variety of complimentary software that can prove to be beneficial, or great customer feedback that encourages this option, then it would be best to offer downloaders an Opt-In option, instead of an Opt-Out one. By providing the consumer with a choice to Opt-In, you are giving them the power to view all the additional software options and select which ones they want to install. This option promotes a more transparent and honest process where consumers are given the power to actively make decisions rather than providing the consumer with extra features automatically that may be unwanted. The Opt-Out model compiles the software and bonus software into one installation, unless the consumer chooses otherwise, which is also difficult since the options are typically hidden from view. Always select the Opt-In model to foster a positive relationship with customers.
- Accept Your Mistakes and Strive for Better
Despite our best efforts and intentions, to err is human. If you are facing a loss of trust because of a malware incident or negative feedback from consumers, it is important to take a careful and appropriate approach to rectifying these issues. First, it is necessary to establish what your value proposition is, and how previous actions left that proposition unfulfilled. The best approach is an honest one that addresses customer complaints and aims to resolve them. Be open with your customers by acknowledging your mistakes, and take the time to repair the trust of your customers. Do not ignore the problem or act as though nothing has happened by deleting comments or delaying the announcement of potential malware until necessary. Seek to remedy the relationship with customers as fast as possible.
There is an endless amount of information accessible to consumers through online searches, which makes it necessary for companies to grow and maintain the consumer’s trust. By building the foundation of your company on customer trust, you’re helping it stand out against competitors and ensuring the continued success of your software product.
Loyalty means to encourage users to return, to choose our business again. The pillar of this link is above all the emotional aspect: creating relationships means establishing relationships of mutual understanding based on feelings. Thus customer satisfaction acquires an exclusive value because it is generated by loyalty. Loyalty is a moral commitment between a person and a company. Its foundation is reciprocity: those who want to create lasting relationships with their customers must embark on a constant path based on their ability to give and generate trust. Confidence creates in people the will to rely on the counterpart, reduces the level of uncertainty of the relationship and puts the consumer in the condition of nurturing specific expectations about the future behavior of the company.
My personal suggestion is to communicate correctly (senplicity, coherence, attention) to align people’s perceptions and expectations and respect what has been said: respect regards the identity of the company, what it says and shares with people, therefore ‘together with its values and its why, what gives strength to the relationship because it supports the emotional part of the relationship.
Good things here. Trust is a tricky beast because it is comparative. If you do things to build trust and every other company is doing the same thing, what you’re doing will not be noticed. You as a company may need to go above and beyond what the rest of the industry is doing. And that is hard. This is why many companies have their customer trust in their vision, their message, or their legacy. It’s way easier to go that route.