On a field trip last week, I came across an interesting conversation with a potential client. “Credibility”. How to become credible to your clients and how to retain your credibility – particularly in business.
Taken from Wikipedia, the dictionary version is as follows:
“Credibility is the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message. Traditionally, credibility is composed of two primary dimensions: trustworthiness and expertise, which have both objective and subjective components. That is, trustworthiness is a receiver judgment based on subjective factors. Expertise can be similarly subjectively perceived but includes relatively objective characteristics of the source or message as well (e.g., source credentials or information quality). Some secondary dimensions include source dynamism (charisma) and physical attractiveness, for example.
Credibility online has become an important topic since the mid-1990s, as the web has increasingly become an information resource. The Credibility and Digital Media Project @ UCSB highlights recent and ongoing work in this area, including recent consideration of digital media, youth, and credibility. In addition, the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University has studied web credibility and proposed the principal components of online credibility and a general theory called Prominence-Interpretation Theory.
According to the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics, professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalists credibility.”
The conversation continued .. the outcome being that credibility within business is a mixture of things. Some of these “things” being the following:
1) Do what you say and say what you do.
2) Under promise and over deliver.
3) Contribute and Value Add.
4) Be consistent.
5) Follow up and make sure your clients are happy.
Reading through the list, you can probably think of another 200 things to add but, in the spirit of keeping things simple, let’s examine the ones mentioned above…
1) Do what you say and say what you do.
In essence, this is pretty straight forward. “I will be there at 5pm” means, that you turn up at 10 to 5 and give 110% while you are there. This is called building credibility through being punctual, but it also spills over into deliverables for your clients/suppliers/staff etc as well. If you say one thing and then don’t deliver or follow through, then credibility is lost and you won’t be taken seriously.
2) Under promise and over deliver.
This forms the basis for each and every successful business transaction – both from a credibility perspective and also from a “customer life expectancy” (more on that later). Commitment and “your word” are two items of business that go hand in hand. If you do what you say, and then deliver what you say you will, you are well on your way to credibility.
3) Contribute and Value Add.
In both business and life there is an old saying. “What goes around, comes around!”. Or, it is other wise be known as “Karma”. There is no other way to really establish your credibility other than to contribute in a meaningful, selfless way.
That’s not to say that your business should become a charity, after all, you are in business to raise the baseline and reduce the variables, thus creating a value proposition to not only your immediate clients, but also to your potential and internal clients as well.
Contribution can be in many forms and given in many ways, but its always best to do it in person, face to face and with a smile. If you can’t do that, then let your customers know that they are appreciated and valued through other means. Remember the 80/20 rule. 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your clientele. (In general).
4) Be consistent
For many businesses, this can be quite difficult. Having worked in a number of small businesses, I often see a large amount of the “headless chook” syndrome or “too many chiefs/not enough Indians” issues which lead to a lot of inconsistency within the internal workings of business – which ultimately reflect back on your interaction with your clients as situations spin out of control and the client heads for the door! .. If this sounds familiar to you, then you need to take a step back and fix it.
Being consistent is not just about being structure and process/procedure driven, it is also about embracing change and building your business on successful, proven methods of growth while being innovative at the same time.
5) Follow up and make sure your clients are happy.
In business, everything is measurable. Success is measurable as is failure. But, if you don’t measure everything, then how do you know if the so called success on paper is actually a benefit to the company? You need a base line to work from and you need to engage your clients from a testimonial and feedback perspective as much as possible. In short – follow up – and make sure you clients are happy.
That’s it for now.
We welcome any and all feedback and look forward to your contribution.
Regards,
Scott Malpass
Director
Aquafruit Media.
Download this document (PDF format)
Credibility – What is it and why it matters!
Credibility – What is it and why it matters!
On a field trip last week, I came across an interesting conversation with a potential client. “Credibility”. How to become credible to your clients and how to retain your credibility – particularly in business.
Taken from Wikipedia, the dictionary version is as follows:
“Credibility is the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message. Traditionally, credibility is composed of two primary dimensions: trustworthiness and expertise, which have both objective and subjective components. That is, trustworthiness is a receiver judgment based on subjective factors. Expertise can be similarly subjectively perceived but includes relatively objective characteristics of the source or message as well (e.g., source credentials or information quality). Some secondary dimensions include source dynamism (charisma) and physical attractiveness, for example.
Credibility online has become an important topic since the mid-1990s, as the web has increasingly become an information resource. The Credibility and Digital Media Project @ UCSB highlights recent and ongoing work in this area, including recent consideration of digital media, youth, and credibility. In addition, the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University has studied web credibility and proposed the principal components of online credibility and a general theory called Prominence-Interpretation Theory.
According to the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics, professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalists credibility.”
The conversation continued .. the outcome being that credibility within business is a mixture of things. Some of these “things” being the following:
1) Do what you say and say what you do.
2) Under promise and over deliver.
3) Contribute and Value Add.
4) Be consistent.
5) Follow up and make sure your clients are happy.
Reading through the list, you can probably think of another 200 things to add but, in the spirit of keeping things simple, let’s examine the ones mentioned above…
1) Do what you say and say what you do.
In essence, this is pretty straight forward. “I will be there at 5pm” means, that you turn up at 10 to 5 and give 110% while you are there. This is called building credibility through being punctual, but it also spills over into deliverables for your clients/suppliers/staff etc as well. If you say one thing and then don’t deliver or follow through, then credibility is lost and you won’t be taken seriously.
2) Under promise and over deliver.
This forms the basis for each and every successful business transaction – both from a credibility perspective and also from a “customer life expectancy” (more on that later). Commitment and “your word” are two items of business that go hand in hand. If you do what you say, and then deliver what you say you will, you are well on your way to credibility.
3) Contribute and Value Add.
In both business and life there is an old saying. “What goes around, comes around!”. Or, it is other wise be known as “Karma”. There is no other way to really establish your credibility other than to contribute in a meaningful, selfless way.
That’s not to say that your business should become a charity, after all, you are in business to raise the baseline and reduce the variables, thus creating a value proposition to not only your immediate clients, but also to your potential and internal clients as well.
Contribution can be in many forms and given in many ways, but its always best to do it in person, face to face and with a smile. If you can’t do that, then let your customers know that they are appreciated and valued through other means. Remember the 80/20 rule. 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your clientele. (In general).
4) Be consistent
For many businesses, this can be quite difficult. Having worked in a number of small businesses, I often see a large amount of the “headless chook” syndrome or “too many chiefs/not enough Indians” issues which lead to a lot of inconsistency within the internal workings of business – which ultimately reflect back on your interaction with your clients as situations spin out of control and the client heads for the door! .. If this sounds familiar to you, then you need to take a step back and fix it.
Being consistent is not just about being structure and process/procedure driven, it is also about embracing change and building your business on successful, proven methods of growth while being innovative at the same time.
5) Follow up and make sure your clients are happy.
In business, everything is measurable. Success is measurable as is failure. But, if you don’t measure everything, then how do you know if the so called success on paper is actually a benefit to the company? You need a base line to work from and you need to engage your clients from a testimonial and feedback perspective as much as possible. In short – follow up – and make sure you clients are happy.
That’s it for now.
We welcome any and all feedback and look forward to your contribution.
Regards,
Scott Malpass
Director
Aquafruit Media.
Download this document (PDF format)
Credibility – What is it and why it matters!