Credibility is the key
Why would you buy something from me if you don’t trust me? If you don’t know me, how could you trust me? How about if you didn’t know how good I was at what I was selling? Or good my product was?
I’ll bet you see lots of pitches from people who make promises. I know I do. If you are like me, you ignore them all. In a way, the more attractive the offer the less likely I am to buy. After all, If something is too good to be true it probably is. Right?
Am I usually suspicious or pessimistic? I do not think I am.
There are two parts of Credibility. Let’s call them soft credibility and hard credibility. In practice, the two overlap and you need both.
Soft credibility.
This is about acquaintance, likability, trust, honesty and integrity.
Hard credibility.
Professionalism, knowledge, effectiveness, value-for-money, efficiency.
Tactics to buy safely:
- Buy something you have bought before.
- Only buy something that is recommended by someone you trust.
- Buy something with a good reputation. Perhaps rely on reviews or trust in a brand.
- Buy something when there is nothing to lose. The product is guaranteed.
Tactics to establish credibility for your product, service, company, brand or yourself.
- If you are selling something, this is the key.
- Give away your product, service or something valuable.
- Network
- Generate content, but to establish credibility, this will be more than the odd post or blog; it must be, valuable, insightful, readable and you need to be persistent. Content is probably best combined with other strategies. Your audience is more likely to listen to you if you are already credible…. Catch 22?
- Can you think of other strategies to establish credibility?