How to establish an effective franchisee network
Expanding your business through franchising requires...
One way in which franchise businesses can maintain or enhance their brand's reputation is implementing measures to reduce the likelihood of customers becoming victims of scams. Whether you choose to update your social media accounts with useful hints and tips, create blog posts or develop a strategy in which your customers can be confident that your communications with them are really from you, keeping your customers safe is one way to keep them loyal.
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Why care about scams?
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reports that in 2022, the cost of fraud and cybercrime totalled $530 million. This not only affects the victims financially, but it can damage their confidence. In times of economic pressure, the last thing that retailers need is for their consumers to be overly cautious with spending.
Many scammers impersonate known brands, and with the advent of sophisticated technology, scammers can imitate brands like yours, targeting your customers, besmirching your brand's reputation and impacting your bottom like.
To protect your business from the impact of cybercrime, it pays to be proactive, safeguard your personal information, report suspicious activity and protect your vulnerable clients and customers.
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How to protect your customers
The first thing you must do is to regularly search for your brand's name in Google. Scammers will often set up a website that features your brand name, color scheme and even your products. Many of these sites are very convincing and will separate plenty of customers from their hard-earned money before disappearing as quickly as they appeared. If you can identify these sites early, you can report them to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and warn your customers of their existence, minimizing the likelihood of them being victimized.
It is essential to raise awareness among your customer community, alert them to known scams, and tell them how to identify your legitimate website and communications. Make sure they know how to contact your business and remind them to double check that the website they are on is genuine by checking the full URL and the contact information. The payment page should feature a padlock icon in the search bar.
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Advice for customers who think they have been scammed
If you believe that any of your customers may have been defrauded by a business claiming to be yours, take time to reassure the customer that the business has nothing to do with you and encourage them to report the scam to their local police station, bank and any other credit reporting agencies to maximize the likelihood of having their money returned and their bank account protected.
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Proactively engaging with your customers and providing them with useful information on how to stay safe from scams will raise your brand's profile, enhance your reputation, and help clients to feel at ease when shopping with you.
