5 Simple (and Free) Ways to Increase Your Credibility with Potential Clients

August 4th, 2010

Bottom line, marketing is all about connection, not about sales. Because the truth is, one sale does not a customer make. The proof of this pudding is in the longevity of the relationship.

To make it truly effective, your overall marketing objective should be establishing rapport and building a relationship with potential clients until they’re ready to become paying clients. And then continuing to be someone they like and trust so they will buy from you again and again.

Credibility is an important factor in the know, like and trust equation. Here are 5 very simple actions you can take today to strengthen your standing with potential clients.

1) Stop using a free email account – I get a lot of email from entrepreneurs and small business owners asking for information about online marketing or signing up for one of my programs. And I have to admit I wince every time I see something from a business owner with the return address at Yahoo, AOL, Gmail or one of the other free accounts.

It practically screams out, “I don’t take my business seriously enough to set up a professional email address.” It’s not very reassuring for prospective clients to find themselves asking for a quote from funnybunny58@hotmail.com. If you’ve got a website, it’s a very simple thing to set up an address through your server. Using an address from your own domain name tells people you mean business (literally).

2) Make the connection personal – While we’re on the subject of email addresses, I see lots of businesses with a contact address like Info@mybusiness.com. I know the reasoning behind this is to appear more professional. But in this case, I think it backfires.

If you’re a solo entrepreneur it’s usually evident from your website that it’s just you on the receiving end. It seems kind of silly (not to mention off-putting) to act like you’re bigger than you are. Plus, using an email with a first name or at least a word more welcoming than “info,” is a chance to add that personal touch that lets potential clients know you’re a real person. (I recommend bigger companies do this as well.)

Along those lines, don’t hide behind the plural pronoun “we” when you’re the only one there. This is another perfect opportunity to make the connection personal.

3) Let us see who you are – I will freely admit whenever I visit a website, at some point I’ll go to the About page looking for a photo of the site owner. And I know I’m not alone in this. Human beings are naturally drawn to looking at faces; it’s coded into our DNA. We want to put a face to a website and see who we’re dealing with.

All other things being equal, I’ll always decide in favor of the company/website that shows me who they are.

4) Be very thorough in checking for typos and spelling – Now I know, as a former elementary teacher, that this is a particular thorn in my side. A friend once remarked, “Those things just jump off the page at you, don’t they?” (And it’s true. I don’t go looking for typos; they find me!)

Not everyone will care about grammatical, punctuation or spelling errors. But for those of us who do (and we’re a bigger group than you may think), it really bursts the bubble of your professionalism and makes us wonder what else you might be lax about in your business.

5) Display your privacy policy – Even though spamming people may be the furthest thing from your mind, it’s still smart to let them know your intentions. A simple “I promise not to give, rent or sell your contact information” will do. Post it on your Contact page and in your Opt In box, or anywhere else you ask for their name and email address.

Details Create the Big Picture

Your business is built on relationships with clients. And the best relationships are built on a solid foundation of trust. Paying attention to the little things that build confidence and credibility along the way makes it easier when it comes time for your potential client to make a buying decision with you.

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Entry Filed under: Heart-based Selling Tips