Credibility: Essential to your success

Often when starting a new business we spend so much time designing the website, learning to effectively sell our product(s) or service(s) we lose focus on the most important aspect of business success, Credibility. Allow me to first clarify my basic definition of credibility; it is your ability to exhibit honesty, knowledge, and dependability to your buyers, online, or through your neighborhood storefront.
Unfortunately, potential customers do not always take the time to evaluate each element of your Credibility and make their decision on a single factor. For instance, most of us have clicked on a link only to be taken to a website which had mixed text, random clipart work, misspelled words, and bold red headlines indicating something like; BEST DEALS ON THE INTERNET! I know when I reach a site like that I “click-off” as quickly as I clicked on, never finding out if the owner is honest or dependable.
Remember your parents telling you to dress and act nice when you are meeting someone for the first time. Why? because first impressions are important, the same goes for achieving success in your business. You can be an expert in your field, but if you or your assistant answers the phone from a new customer as if they interrupted your sleep, or flippantly reply to an email inquiry chances are you will lose the customer and never have the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise, or honesty.
If your business goal is to become successful then evaluate your Credibility by asking yourself:
• Is my website or storefront demonstrating a positive first impression of credibility
• Do I, and my employees, continuously respond to customers in a professional manner
• Are my products high quality, and my services dependable
• Am I honest with my customers – sometimes you cannot provide what the customer needs, tell them you can’t and recommend someone who can
• Do I have a way to measure how satisfied my customers are (If not you need one)
• If I was one of my customers, would I be satisfied enough to recommend my business to others
Remember, it is more expensive to get new customers, than satisfy existing customers. Maintain your Credibility and your customers w!ill come, more importantly they’ll stay.
I am sure to many of you this is not new news. However, sometimes we forget that our credibility is revalidated each time we deal with our customers, suppliers and associates. As an example, say you go to a new doctor and you see several impressive medical degrees hanging on the wall – hung there by the way to purposely build immediate credibility with you. Initially you feel comfortable and assume that someone with so many degrees must be capable, honest and dependable. Wonderful first impression! However, over time you will reevaluate the doctor at each visit based on his/her performance, dependability and honesty. If you decide the doctor isn’t of value, they lose a customer, and if you want to be successful, YOU DO NOT WANT TO LOSE CUSTOMERS! Credibility is an ongoing process, not just a first impression.
Over time, however, you will either build or lose the initial credibility you have in them, based on how well they treat your aliments.Similarly, imagine bringing your suits to a local dry cleaning business that never has your suits ready when they told you they would. I don't think they would be your dry cleaners for too long, and I am sure you wouldn't recommend them to your family or friends. Why? Because of the lack of credibility they demonstrated to you. However, as logical as this may appear too often when buying products, services or getting involved in a business opportunity we do not look for the same level of credibility before we get involved. In the corporate business world they do what is called "due diligence". That is, validate opportunities before they act on them. If big business does it, so should we.
Credibility is also not a onetime event. It is built or lost on every engagement you have with someone family, friends, acquaintances, customers, or business associates. How do your customers and business associates rate your credibility? If things are not going as well as you would like them to, maybe it's time to take a good hard look at whether you are demonstrating that you have the knowledge, skills, and dependability necessary to provide information, products and/or services to satisfy your customers requirements.

[AW Schade (www.awschade.com) is the author of "Stop! Then count to 10before you lose your Time, Money and/or Reputation", an ebook that takes you through the steps of how to investigate and select an Internet Based Business Opportunity. His writings capture the knowledge he has acquired through his successful 25 years in the Financial and Technology Corporate environment. Schade's second book, published 2006, is "Looking for God within the Kingdom of Religious Confusion]



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