Part of the job of any business owner is to help customers form positive associations with the company, and to ensure that they have a positive experience when buying. The problem is, for every factor over which business owners have control, there are five or six over which they have none. Many owners have found, to their dismay, that the goodwill built up over years of stellar customer service and top-notch products can disappear in a moment of bad-tempered behavior from one tired customer service representative.

A company reputation is a hard thing to build and, unfortunately, an easy thing to tear down. As we've all seen, a small group of dissatisfied customers can do a great deal of harm to a company's reputation. And, since this is the age of instant information, it is also harder to keep potential customers from hearing about dissatisfaction or problems. Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can talk to the Internet at large at any time. The customer service mistake you make at 3:30 p.m. could be all over the Internet by 4 p.m.

The problem isn't necessarily in maintaining a good reputation among those who already do business with your company. Your customers know who you are and for what you stand. The problem, or potential problem, lies with the people you've never met, those who may not take the time to find out who you are, and who might believe the first piece of information – positive or negative – that they hear about your company, without qualifying the reliability of the source.

There have been a lot of studies done to determine what factors influence a customer's affection for and trust in a particular company. I've never participated in such a study, on either end, but the things listed below are what my experience tells me are the three factors that influence customer trust the most.

Company Behavior
Do the company actions echo what they say on their website and in their brochures and advertisements? If they say they value customer service, do they provide good customer service when you have a problem? If they say they value honestly, do they answer questions, even negative ones, in an upfront and positive manner? In general, does what they say agree with what they do?

How They Handle Problems
If the product you bought is defective, does the company make things right quickly? Do they honor their return and warranty policies? Do they take criticism in a constructive manner, and really listen to what their customers are saying? Do they make it easy for you to report a problem, and get back to you promptly?

How They Communicate
Is their website all corporate doublespeak? Do you ever get a sense that a real person works for the company in any capacity? Do company employees show up on forums, or is there a company forum on which customers can post? Can you, from reading their publicity, advertising and other corporate materials, get any sense of who runs the company and what they value?

So am I right about this or not? What do you think are the major factors that cause your customers and potential customers to trust or distrust your company? Let me know in the comments.