My friend Creeva posted about Free Software on Craigslist – Should You Trust It? He states,

I’m just trying to point out that there is no such thing as a more trustable anonymous source. It would be easy to compromise a computer by offering free software on Craig’s List and manipulating it before handing it out.

This got me thinking that even free (or commercial) software from what appears to be a reputable provider should be approached with caution. What about a legitimate company trying to get people interested in their software? Should people be skeptical of those sources as well, they are not anonymous? Absolutely they should. So as a software company or software as a service provider (there are so many web applications spring up these days) how can they make their product more trustable and appealing to wary consumers?

Promise & deliver:

Build trust with your customers by making promises and keeping them while exceeding expectations. Sound easy right? Well then do it, put in the hard work to make it happen. It won’t happen overnight and it will happen by some people taking the leap of faith with your brand and products. Make sure those customers love you and your product. Make sure whenever they tweet, dent, blog, whatever about their experience that it will be positive.

Take your lumps:

Let customers provide transparent feedback to your services on your website. People like to trust the input from other people. Take the good with the bad and  allow customers to complain or rave about your product.  Once you get over being upset that they complained, fix the problems they had, make it better and tell the world.

Get a security assessment already:

Pimp your third party audit results, even if you did bad. First of all this means that you have to get your product assessed. Do so by selecting a vendor in your market space that has experience and their word will lend credibility to your brand. If you did bad on the audit tell the world how you will change. Every software product has security vulnerabilities (yes every one d0n’t let those crafty vendors fool you and don’t be one yourself), what you need to be able to explain and demonstrate is that you care enough to do whatever it takes to respond and handle those issues as best you can. Keep this promise at all costs.

When I spoke at Learn About Web 2008 something I tried to convey was the importance that your audience feel secure in your environment. When developing your business consider using the hard work you have put into protecting it and the genuine effort you put forth protecting client data as a marketing tactic. Again, this only works if you actually put effort into developing your security program.

Using items like trustmarks (recognizable representations of some type of effort, service, or guarantee), privacy policies, and appropriate copy in the material your customers receive and your employees are subjected to allows a subtle and controlled feeling to be delivered. Should you get this message wrong your customers and employees might just feel like the below cartoon by Scott Stantis.

Prickly City by Scott Stantis