I get that people are tricked into purchasing items through spam and that’s why it exists, but it’s so much easier to be a trustful business.

When you insert trust into your business you immediately gain the attention of consumers who are willing to spread your good business moves to their friends, co-workers, and internet friends.

Has anyone ever tweeted their experience with a spammer?

“Hey, got ripped off by a spammer – these pills didn’t make me gain 15 pounds in 2 hours – but you should still try them out!”.

When you treat consumers right, when you really WOW them, you will gain 10x more customers on the back end due to referrals.

My mom recently got her kitchen redone and the contractor she hired gives 1% commissions to people who refer his business to a friend. This is a guy who realizes his business isn’t coming through spam campaigns or tv commercials. His income comes through hard work and making his customers smile when he is done with his work. The 1% commission is just a little push to get the word spread. If he does good work, any money he loses in that 1% is easily made up by new clients.

How Japan Rocks at Trustful Business

I’m looking for a used car so my girlfriend can drive to work. I recently visited the local used car dealership just to see if they had anything in my price range. Due to preconceived notions about used car dealers, I went in expecting failure. Used car salespeople in America are notorious for being human versions of spam – doing anything to get the sale, and not caring how many people hate them.

After experiencing this Japanese used car dealership, I’m 95% sure I’m going to buy a car and recommend any friends to this guy as well. Because he worked hard for an hour and made me feel comfortable, he can sell more cars on the back end due to my referrals.

His Good Business Moves

- He didn’t shy away when an American came in. He tried his best to use the English he learned ten years ago in high school. He supplemented his lack of English with drawings, graphs, and using the calculator. I understood everything about the car I was looking at because he went an extra fifteen miles and made sure I felt comfortable.

- He went out out is comfort zone. The second time I went in, he had written up a one page contract in English with the specifics I needed in order to buy the car. It was more of a guide that made sure – once again - I felt comfortable and that I knew what I needed from him. He realized that buying a car from someone who doesn’t speak my language is a stressful experience and he made sure I felt great about the situation. This is a guy who hasn’t used English in years, and he went out of his way to write an English guide for me. This was brilliant and immediately made me more interested in the deal.

- He immediately made me trust him. I felt so good about the deal and his presentation that after thirty minutes, I got in his car and he drove me to my house to check out my car and see its value. This showed me he was a hard worker and that he truly cared about doing his job well. This kind of stranger danger wouldn’t fly in America, but I felt like this guy had my back. The trust was there and I felt like he cared about me.

Be honest and truthful with your customers. They are 100x more likely to want to give you business if they feel like you really care about them.

Don’t get creepy and write them letters and show up at their house with cookies, but when they are up for it, blow them away with your professionalism. A spam e-mail is deleted immediately, but a good business move is retweeted, e-mailed to friends, and talked about in social settings.

Don’t let your customers delete your message.

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Update Sunday 9 P.M. EST - As of yesterday afternoon, I officially closed the deal on the car. The contract is signed and the money has been handed over. The entire process took a little under a week solely because I trusted the salesman and felt like I was getting a good, honest deal.

And the best part? I negotiated my way to free winter tires – a value of around $200!

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Photo via Boston Public Library

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