The Link Between Protecting Customer Data and Protecting Your Reputation

The Link Between Protecting Customer Data and Protecting Your Reputation

Levi Hentges, Vice President/Business Development at SEAM

Customers are at the heart of everything you do in your business. They drive your sales, generate revenue and profit, and keep everything running. Without a good relationship with your customers, your business won’t survive for very long.

What happens when your customers feel that their data is not secure with you? The consequences of poor customer data protection can be catastrophic to your entire operation.

Securing a good reputation by thoroughly protecting your customers’ data is critical to success.

The Rise in Customer Data Collection

Chances are your business has some sort of digital landscape, whether it’s a website or an online payment platform. Whenever your customers visit your digital site(s), you interact with their data in some way. That’s how advertisers track browsing habits and how websites store user account information.

Sensitive information you may collect from customers includes:

• Full names
• Addresses
• Dates of birth
• Phone numbers
• Email addresses
• Payment information
• Browsing habits and clicks
• Personal preferences
• Account information
• Credit reports

All of this information can be used against customers if it falls into the wrong hands. That’s why customer data protection is so important — the consequences of unsecured data are too dire.

Dishonest Customer Data Practices

The problem many customers face today is that businesses aren’t transparent about how their data is collected, stored, and used. Many businesses sell customer data to third parties for targeted advertisements and marketing. If you want to maintain trust between your business and your customers, you need to be open about what you do with customer information.

Building Trust in Your Business

The average internet user is now used to constantly being tracked, monitored, and targeted by marketing. You can set your business apart from the crowd by offering transparent, easy-to-understand information about what you’re doing with their data — and why.

Benefits of Customer Data Protection for Both Parties

Protecting sensitive information maintains trust, building a mutually beneficial relationship with your customers. This can grant you a good reputation as a solid, transparent business that’s worth spending money on.

Avoid Identity Theft

No one wants to fall victim to identity theft, but the selling and repurposing of customer data can cause this. By protecting your customers’ sensitive data, you help them feel secure in their legal and financial matters. This keeps them coming back to your business without stressing about shady data practices.

Good Word-of-Mouth Reputation

The more you advocate for your customers, the better they will speak of your business. Word of mouth is a powerful tool in growing your customer base and increasing profits. Good data protection practices can improve your reputation within your community or region of operation.

Secure Website Browsing and Sharing

If your customers feel their data is secure, they will continue interacting with your business digitally. They may be more compelled to browse your website, fill out information, shop with you online, and even share your site with others.

All of these actions lead to increased revenue for your business. Meanwhile, your customers get to thoroughly and securely enjoy the branding you’ve put in place.

SEAM Services: Secure Data Destruction in North Dakota and South Dakota

Let SEAM Services handle the hard work of secure data destruction and shredding. We offer solid-state and hard drive shredding to protect sensitive data that is no longer in use. We can also shred paper documents onsite at your Sioux Falls location to protect your business and customer information. Contact us for more information today!

Levi Hentges is the Vice President/Business Development at SEAM. He helps clients build and manage their IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) programs to comply with legal, corporate and environmental requirements surrounding their technology devices; including asset recovery and resale, data destruction and secure electronics recycling.