Good question.
Trust does take time, and there are no real shortcuts, but there are things you can do to ensure you stay on the path of trust. Keep in mind, the best trust builder is for someone to give you a good "public review". By that, I mean one of your loyal customers recommending your company to someone else, usually verbally (word of mouth). This "public review" comes from a trusted 3rd party and will often earn you a new loyal customer who will repeat the pattern.
The key is to start the trend and keep it going.
Three tips that work for us:
1) Reward loyalty. Whether it's getting something free after 10 purchases, or a "VIP discount" card, these are the customers that will spread the word for you. They'll tell their friends and family about your company.
2) See mistakes as an opportunity. Mistakes happen all the time. We occasionally ship the wrong item or it's damaged in transit. Customers expect it to be a hassle, but we try to blow them away with an over-the-top response. First be understanding and never blame the customer. Then fix the issue quickly, with the smallest impact on the customer possible, including their time. Then add a "thank you for your understanding gift". Usually, we do a credit on their next purchase. Rarely we come across customers that attempt to "abuse our kindness" with repeated issues. Keep track of the customers that have had issues, and alter your response accordingly in the future.
In many cases, you may take a loss on these orders. That's OK, think of it as marketing costs. That person will actually praise your company more that if nothing had gone wrong at all 🙂
3) Offer only great products. Take the guess work out of getting something good - everything in your store has been approved by you. Your customers should be able to trust in anything they buy from you 100%. You want people to say "you can't go wrong at Iconoclashtic Records". Offer guarantees of satisfaction where you can.
These three things have kept us in business with loyal customers since 1936 🙂
