Ebook
The 4 Actions Leaders Are Taking to Build Customer Trust in Times of Change
Building Customer Trust Begins with Trusted Data
How does data help you boost customer experience and trust? Trusted data is accurate, consistent, and contextualized – enabling confident decisions and successful outcomes. This is foundational because personalized, consistent customer experiences are only possible when your data is trustworthy. And yet, many organizations struggle to get there. In fact, 67% of businesses say they don’t fully trust the data they use to make decisions.
Common data issues include missing fields, conflicting records, outdated information, and siloed systems – sound familiar?
These problems lead to frustrating experiences like incorrect names in emails or irrelevant product or service recommendations – which erode your customers’ loyalty and trust. Not to mention, your brand credibility can also take a damaging hit. One infamous example? major American photography company sent a “Congratulations on your new baby!” email to thousands of customers who hadn’t had a child, turning a data error into a viral social media moment and forcing a public apology.
To deliver the kind of service that keeps your customers coming back, you need to begin with data you can rely on.
67%
of businesses say they don’t fully trust the data they use to make decisions.
2025 Outlook:
Data Integrity Trends and Insights
Building customer trust is critical during moments of uncertainty or change
It’s a difficult truth: customer trust can take years to build, but can be lost in an instant. This is especially true if you fail to respond adequately to crises.
Even the highest levels of customer trust are tested during times of disruption – particularly for regulated industries. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, financial institutions were flooded with inquiries about loan forbearance, stimulus payments, and branch closures. Those that failed to communicate quickly and clearly lost customer confidence almost overnight.
Customers today are facing a new kind of uncertainty amid rising costs, regulatory shifts, new policies, and more. They expect clear answers and helpful support from a business that understands their needs and knows how to solve their problems.
These real moments of truth can make or break long-term customer loyalty.
Today, trust is not only tested by external uncertainties like economic shifts or regulatory changes; it’s also challenged by technological advancements, particularly in artificial intelligence. Customers are increasingly aware and concerned about how their personal data is being used in AI-powered applications.
As AI becomes more prevalent in customer interactions and decision-making, transparency around data use is more vital than ever. Companies must not only handle customer data with care, but also clearly communicate how that data is collected, protected, and applied.
When customers feel confident that their data is being used ethically and responsibly, they’re more likely to trust the experiences delivered – especially during high-stakes moments of change.
So, how exactly is that done in practice? How can you earn and keep trust when it’s needed most? Let’s explore four concrete actions you can take to deliver clarity and confidence in moments of uncertainty.
“A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.”
Paul Romer
Economist, Stanford University
Action #1
Proactively Address Complexity with Transparent, Personalized Communications
Why this matters
Whether it’s a surprise premium increase, new billing format, or regulatory update, your customers shouldn’t have to guess what’s happening. They need proactive customer communications that boosts their comfort and confidence.
Transparency and proactivity are trust multipliers. When you take the lead and explain changes to your customers before they feel the impact, you’ll demonstrate leadership and care. And, you’ll reduce the burden on your call centers.
Blue Shield of California simplifies plan selection
Blue Shield of California used personalized, interactive videos to help members navigate plan options. After watching, 73% of viewers said they were likely to choose a Blue Shield plan.
What you can do
✓ Send clear, data-driven communications before questions arise.
Use data to anticipate pain points like bill shock or policy changes, and get ahead of them.
✓ Speak plainly and show empathy.
Replace corporate jargon and disclaimers with clear, empathetic explanations. This transforms confusion into clarity and suspicion into trust – helping your customers feel a sense of control rather than chaos.
✓ Personalize explanations using data on customer history.
For example, your support representatives may reference previous customer inquiries, complaints, and feedback, to better anticipate needs. This type of context builds credibility.
Action #2
Use Omnichannel Touchpoints to Meet Your Customers Where They Are
Why this matters
Right place, right channel. This is what successful omnichannel communication is all about.
That’s because customers no longer live on a single channel – they’re constantly toggling between email, mobile, SMS, and the web. A successful omnichannel strategy ensures that their experience is connected and consistent across all of those platforms.
When you seamlessly deliver relevant messages to them, regardless of where they’re consuming it, trust grows. On the other hand, inconsistent or fragmented messaging breaks trust, especially when events like regulatory changes or rising premiums are involved.
Scenario
Imagine a customer who begins a support interaction in a live chat and then gets transferred to a phone representative. If that representative has no context and asks the customer to repeat everything, the experience quickly becomes frustrating. What could have been a quick resolution now feels like starting from scratch. The customer feels unseen, and confidence in your ability to help begins to fade.
What you can do
✓ Keep the message consistent.
A policy update delivered via email should match what a chatbot or agent says.
✓ Balance automation with human support.
Automate omnichannel processes where appropriate, but know when it’s time for one of your live representatives to step in to ensure smooth issue resolution.
✓ Coordinate across all channels.
Maintain a record of what was sent, when, and how customers responded. This supports transparency, compliance, and easy access for the teams who need it.
Geoffrey Insurance boost retention
Geoffrey Insurance shared personalized policy information via email and interactive video. The result? 74% of customers felt the company genuinely cared, and retention rose by 12%.
Action #3
Automate and Scale Data-Driven Customer Communications
Why this matters
When change happens, and it always does, you don’t have days to respond – you have hours or even minutes. With the speed of social media, delays or mixed messages can quickly create confusion, fuel frustration, and erode trust.
Economic shocks, regulatory shifts, and unexpected billing changes can quickly cause your customers to panic. And it’s simply not feasible for your team to efficiently reach out to each customer one-by-one.
Automation is how you deliver reassurance at scale – fast.
Whether it’s 500 or 5,000,000 customers impacted by a change, data-driven automation ensures you communicate with consistency, speed, and personalization that acknowledges each customer’s unique situation.
By acknowledging their history, preferences, and needs in these rapid communications, you’re telling your customers, “We’ve got you.” This level of relevance is essential for trust in uncertain times.
What you can do
✓ Leverage unified data and templates.
Automation here saves time, ensures accuracy, and sends a consistent, comforting message whether they’re on the phone with an agent or reading an email or SMS.
✓ Personalize at scale.
Reference a customer’s recent claim, policy status, or billing history in the message.
✓ Track and optimize performance.
Use reporting tools to see what’s working and improve over time.
Companies using Precisely EngageOne bring personalized communications to market
40x FASTER
Action #4
Empower Your Teams with a 360° View of the Customer
Why this matters
It’s clear that fast, thoughtful customer communication is essential to meet expectations in times of disruption.
But what about your internal teams? They can only deliver customer support effectively when they have the right tools – and the right context.
When systems are siloed and data is fragmented, your agents are left guessing. That leads to repetitive questions, slower resolutions, and frustrating experiences on both sides of the conversation.
That’s why empowering your frontline teams is critical. When agents have a complete view of each customer’s journey they can respond with both empathy and precision. This reinforces trust with every interaction.
In addition, empowered employees are more likely to deliver high-quality interactions. According to an IDC survey, 85% of respondents say improved employee experience (EX) and engagement result in “a better customer experience, higher customer satisfaction, and higher revenues for their organization.”
What you can do
✓ Integrate all communication systems into one unified platform.
Equip your agents with a 360-degree view of the customer’s past interactions and account activity – removing the need to toggle between multiple tools when working with a customer.
✓ Use AI chatbots to resolve issues and bring a human in the loop (HITL) when needed.
Let automation handle FAQs and simple resolutions, like billing inquiries or password resets, and ensure complex cases reach a human. Your customers should never need to repeat themselves.
✓ Train for both efficiency and empathy.
Give employees not just data, but guidelines for how to use it to improve tone, timing, and outcomes.
Keep Building Trust, One Communication at a Time
In uncertain moments or times of crisis, customers remember how you show up. The way you respond in these moments directly impacts satisfaction, loyalty, and long-term retention.
Trust starts with a foundation of reliable data. When your data is trustworthy, so are your communications.
With the right technology in place, you can deliver on that promise with confidence. Precisely solutions give you the power to deliver great customer experiences and finally trust your data.
Key takeaways
Personalization begins with trustworthy data.
Accuracy, consistency, and context make communications feel real and relevant.
Clarity prevents confusion.
Speak early, speak plainly, and show customers that you understand – using the data you already have.
Consistency builds confidence.
Whether via SMS or agent call, your message should always match.
Automation scales empathy.
Responding quickly doesn’t mean sounding impersonal – you can rapidly deliver messages that truly resonate with customer needs.
Empowered teams deliver better experiences.
A complete view of the customer enables faster, more thoughtful support.