The American Heritage Dictionary defines credibility as “The power to elicit belief.”
Credibility is the quality that makes others believe in you, your words, and your actions. Credibility is the gatekeeper quality. expiration of domains . If you don’t first establish credibility and competence with your prospect or client, you will struggle to create anything more than a transactional relationship with that individual.
Your credibility has a major impact on your success in any business relationship. We frequently discuss creating trust-based relationships, but unless you are credible early on, your opportunities to display trustworthiness will be limited.
As client-facing professionals, we all want our clients to trust us. Once they do, we can start doing things for them in order to move the process along. However, until we are deemed credible and competent, why should clients trust us?
Credible people transcend the automatic sense of urgency that permeates much of today’s world by working to identify real priorities and opportunities.
One way to get started during conversations is to establish common ground with questions like:
- “Tell me about how this project connects to the company’s strategy?”
- “What are you personally looking to achieve with this initiative?”
- “How long have you been with the company?”
- Or when all else fails…”Where are you from?”
BUSINESS EFFECTIVENESS TIP
My friend and mentor Max, the famous taxi driver, called this approach “sincere inquiry.”
- First, try focusing on blocking out all distractions like checking your blackberry during the conversation.
- Second, listen intently.
- Third, confirm your understanding and follow up with a question that displays you listened and conveys your interest in the topic.
Credibility begins with taking the time to become interested in aspects of your colleague’s business goals and objectives.