Most people see a credibility gap as the difference between the credibility you possess right now and the credibility you need right now. That perspective is impractical. It’s like working to decide what you should have done months or years before. Perhaps a better approach is to look at your own credibility gap as it affected by time. In other words, when do you need your credibility, in relation to when you start working on it. If you need credibility today, do you have it? If not, how long ago should you have started working on it?

As a practical example, let’s take the current economic situation: a downward slide. When your clients freak out over it, who are they going to call? Who are they going to blame? Who are they going to replace? You?

Let's look at this question a different way. Which of the following do you think will help you most to weather that scrutiny? Your product selection? Your firm’s advertising campaign? Marketing materials? The back office support? Your technical skills?

Unfortunately, none of the things you use to build the operations side of your business will work to improve your credibility. While those things may be important to you, they are likely to be of zero importance to your clients and prospects.

• Bottom line: our credibility is entirely in the hands of other people who don’t know or care about the technicalities or details of your business.
  
  Your clients can take comfort that you are there – but only IF you have already built your credibility with them. If you have not already taken the specific steps to build your credibility in their eyes, you’re already losing the race.
  
• Building your credibility takes time. You can’t do it overnight.
• Credibility is not the result of an event. It is the result of a scientific process.
• You can’t do it by getting a designation or by delivering a seminar.
• There is no silver bullet.

The Payoff - once you have attained credibility with someone, you open the possibility of being embraced by that person, thus launching a client relationship, one that will bring you referrals.

However - in order to do that, you have to learn the steps of the process, then strategically put each one into play. With each step, you increase your credibility a little more. The more you know about the process, the better prepared you will be to create opportunities and improve your credibility.

We’ve identified the four major steps in the process, and the variations of each step. In this space, I will illuminate and explore what the different steps are and how you can put them to work for you.

You can't improve your Credibility if you don't know how. So, want to improve your Credibility? Let us help! Just contact us via our website: www.aboutpeople.com

-- Michael Lovas