Establishing credibility

Instantly credible

Buyers like to see that you are a solid company with a good track record and are going to remain in business for a long time. But you are a startup – so how on earth can you show that.

Establishing credibility is a bit like presenting yourself well for a job interview.

Here are some of the key things I have seen.

1. Never use your home address – get a virtual address in the city, or an established business centre.
2. Have a professional looking website – don’t just do it yourself. This is key.
3. Get a professional logo – pay a graphic designer to do it – again, don’t just do it yourself.
4. Prepare basic marketing material, plus sales documents such as pricing lists, and contracts.
5. If you don’t have an office, then meet your client in their office or at a café near them.
6. If your car is really crap then catch a cab to your client’s office.
7. Presentations to a crowd are much more effective than one on one sales efforts. People see more credibility when they can see other heads bobbing up and down at a group presentation or seminar. Weird but true.
8. Get a decent set of clothes, even if you are dirt poor and have to eat instant noodles in the rest of your life, for business you should look the part.
9. Don’t overdress - if everything you wear is too expensive then that will put people off. A parallel to this is the personal trainer I saw who drove a Porsche 911 with magnetic signs for his business. I bet he lost a lot of potential customers by doing that – a Porsche is a great car, but he was telling the world that his prices were high.
10. Use referrals to talk to people. Name drop a bit to establish credibility.
11. If one of your staff has more experience in the industry than you, consider taking them along to talk in the language that your clients use about that business.

The list of tips and tricks goes on and I’d be happy to hear any more.