Building credibility in business is one of the most important stages of business development. Truth be told, you cannot reach profitability in your business without first creating visibility to educate your target market so that they know you exist, and then using tools to foster credibility with that market. Raising your credibility factor involves showcasing the expertise that you offer to your markets.
In reality there are hundreds of ways that people sabotage their own credibility, keeping their business small. I want to share the three big ones that I see most regularly in my business practice. If you can master the ‘BIG 3’, you’ll be well on your way to generating massive success for yourself in business.
- Not understanding your role as a salesperson
If you want to succeed in business, you need to learn how to excel at sales. This may be a muscle you personally have to exercise, if you don’t fancy yourself a salesperson. Having said that, sales skills are inherent in all of us, they simply need to be nurtured. Simply put, selling is the emotion management of the other person (the person you are selling to). The function of selling is to identify people’s unique needs and help them achieve their desires. You are the provider of the solution they are seeking, and so, your role is to facilitate the buying process. I see many women business owners fall into the trap of talking about what they do versus telling their prospects why what they do is important to the needs of that specific person. (This applies to both verbal and written marketing communications.)
- Not understanding how people buy
People buy based on an emotional response, and justify their decision with logic later. As a consumer yourself you can feel it when you have an emotional connection with something, and how that influences your decision to buy it. You can also feel it when people are trying to ‘sell’ you something that you don’t need. So, position yourself to tap into the emotions of your target market and sell your services based on filling the emotional need that they specifically have. If you don’t know what that need is, then your first step is to understand your market much better than you do. Your goal is to know your customer inside and out. You should know what keeps them up at night, what they care about, and what ‘good’ looks like when their problem is fixed. Be insatiably curious, ask a lot of questions and listen to the responses – the clues will start to present themselves.
- Not speaking in your customer’s language
You have less than 10 seconds to resonate with your prospective client before they disengage from listening to you or click off your website. The majority of business owners make the mistake of talking too much about themselves, rather than engaging in a dialogue with their customer. The truth is that nobody cares more about your product or service than you do. What people do care about is how your product or service will help them, save them time or money, or make their life easier in some way. So get out of your own shoes and put on the shoes of your target market – what do they care about? What is important to them? What are they struggling with that you can help with? Remember to use their language when you are reflecting your marketing and communications back to them. The more targeted your message is, in answering these specific questions, the more successful your marketing efforts will be. Think of the difference in effectiveness between having a one-on-one conversation with someone, compared to yelling in a room full of people. Your message should be targeted enough to the point where it sounds like you are talking to one person (your ideal client). Don’t make the mistake of trying to be everything to everyone, because in reality you’ll resonate with nobody by following that strategy. Just because your product or service is applicable to everyone, that’s not the way you should be selling it.
I work with women service professionals and early stage entrepreneurs in business services who are struggling to take their business to the next level. If you are looking for support to build a successful business for yourself with predictable revenue and sustainable growth and you are ready to take action to get it done easier and faster than doing it on your own, then I can help you.
The tools that I teach are part of a proven business development framework designed for women entrepreneurs to quickly grow their business to 6-figures and beyond, by working smarter not harder.
Get started today and book your 45-minute complimentary business consultation.