If you read our work, you know by now that we focus intensely on the psychology of credibility and business relationships.  In that vein, we’re writing a new book on business credibility.

As with all our work, we’re diving deep into the most relevant research and extracting the most effective logic, solutions, skills and processes – specifically for building business credibility today! This post gives you a glimpse at some of the most important information about the most important point – how to make the business case to justify spending time and money to build your Credibility. After all, if it’s not tied to great returns, why bother, right? Here is the first item:

Shorter sales cycle/Higher closing percentage
With high levels of credibility, your customers don’t feel the need to do as much due diligence, checking, thinking about purchase decisions. Trust is already established and this reduces the second guessing and doubt. Ultimately the sales cycle speeds up and the closing percentage increases.

Several years ago, we had a client in Texas who ran a large financial planning practice.  They calculated that they were losing 60% of their prospects.  The problem was, their sales cycle included nearly thirty separate steps and took months to complete.  Most people abort such a long and involved process.  We helped them create a book explaining their approach and philosophy.  That helped enormously.  We also created a large poster that reframed the process so it contained fewer (but larger) steps.  Problem solved. 

If you’re making more sales, making larger sales, and making them faster, doesn’t that mean credibility has a positive impact on your bottom line?

– Michael Lovas

We’ve worked with a lot of individuals and organizations over the years who believed they were credible. Sadly, it’s not what you think that matters. Credibility rests with the other person in the relationship.  It’s about how others perceive you.

The hard truth is, no matter how great your personal integrity or competence, it is not you who gets to determine your Credibility.  In truth, Credibility can only be given to you by other people.  Some people may have had direct experience with you and your credibility.  Others may have only expereinced you through media or by reputation.  Either way, they have gathered impressions and perceptions that influence how they feel about you.

Acceptance of this reality is often a profound experience for business professionals.  They begin by arguing that they are credible and thus should be perceived that way.  Doesn’t matter.  That’s not how it works.

Once you accept this reality and begin to understand the things that influence perception and begin to manage the perception in a positive way, that’s when you can really make a difference in your life and in your business.

Referability is the state of being highly referable or easy to refer. What makes you highly referable or easy to refer? Simple, it’s providing a service that is of high value to the people you want to attract.

But here’s the kicker. It’s not about whether YOU think you offer a valuable service, it’s whether the person you’re trying to attract perceives your service (and you) as highly valuable. It’s about how well you communicate your value.

Now it may seem like we’re splitting hairs here, but this is an important distinction. This distinction flavors your approach to referrals, and it dramatically impacts the results you’re likely to achieve.

Let’s start with a key principle of referrals: Most clients making a referral do so in order to help their friend or colleague, not to help the the person being referred.

At first blush, this may not seem like a profound statement, but it really is. Why? Because many referral efforts fail because they’re focused, whether consciously or unconsciously, in the wrong direction. They are focused on the benefit to the person being referred rather than on the benefit to the referee.

Think about it. When you ask for a referral, what do you say? “Can you share with ME the names of other people you know who might benefit from my services?” Or “I’d really appreciate if you could tell your friends about ME.

What does it mean or look like to shift your focus? It means you focus on what you can do for the friend or colleague referred rather than what the referral means to you. In terms of specifics it means you understand where your value intersects with the prospect’s needs and wants and you can effectively communicate your value proposition, the kinds of problems you solve for people, and where you do your best work.

It means ensuring that your best clients not only understand this but can easily and effortlessly communicate your value to their friends and colleagues. You are far better served employing a “pull” approach where you focus on making yourself a resource that clients will be eager to share, rather than a “push” approach where you focus on collecting names or directing clients to tell all their friends about what a great guy or gal you are.

We (co-author Michael Lovas and I) have written quite a lot about first impressions. In particular the series of subconscious assessments that go on when we first meet someone. We know that the first thing that goes on is the “am I in danger?” assessment.

Every time a stranger looks at you, he or she makes a split-second determination as to whether you are friend or foe. Also among those split second assessments is an analysis of your attractiveness, likeability and credibility.

According to Princeton researcher and professor Alex Todorov, we are “hard wired” to quickly draw these inferences.

“The link between facial features and character may be tenuous at best, but that doesn’t stop our minds from sizing other people up at a glance. We decide very quickly whether a person possesses many of the traits we feel are important, such as likeability and competence, even though we have not exchanged a single word with them. It appears that we are hard-wired to draw these inferences in a fast, unreflective way.”

For more on first impressions, and in particular what people are “reading” to make these assessments, check out our book Axis of Influence – How Credibility and Likeability Intersect to Drive Success.

For more on Alex Todorov, check out All Things Considered, June 9, 2005 – Scientists Search for Winning Look. Forget political polls. Scientists usually can tell whether political candidates will win or lose by testing voters’ reactions to the contestants’ faces. A study in the journal Science shows that voters chose the face that looks more “competent.”

Professor Todorov’s Princeton Website

A recent article called “Managing with Brain in Mind” in the Autumn 2009 edition of Strategy+Business provides interesting insight into the social nature of performance. We researched the threat response for our book Axis of Influence and found that the first stop on the road to credibility and likeability is trust, which means dealing with the automatic “am I in danger?” threat response.

Research available since that time shows us that our friends in the fight or flight department of the brain are alive and well and influenced or triggered by more than just safety. Recent research by UCLA’s Naomi Eisenberger and Matthew Lieberman suggests that the same neural responses that drive us toward food or away from predators are triggered by the way we are treated by other people.

Apparently Maslow had it wrong. Maslow in his “hierarchy of needs” suggested that humans satisfy their needs in sequence, starting with physical survival and moving up the ladder toward self-actualization at the top. In this hierarchy, social needs sit in the middle. But many studies now show that the brain equates social needs with survival; for example, being hungry and being ostracized activate similar neural responses.

Being in this threat response state for any length of time is damaging to both individual productivity and organizational performance. It uses up vital oxygen and glucose from the blood making it no longer available to other functions of the brain such as working memory which processes new information and ideas. This impairs analytical thinking, creative insight and problem solving.

The impact of this dynamic is often visible in organizations. For example, an autocratic manager operating in a carrot and stick mentality triggers a threat response in employees and reduces efficiency, creativity and innovation.

So what can managers do to minimize the threat response and enable the reward response? Here are 3 of the 5 things mentioned in the article:

1. Understand “status” stress and look for creative ways to enable status boosts.
As humans, we are constantly assessing how our status compares to others around us. Research by Hidehiko Takahashi in 2009 shows that when people realize that they might compare unfavourably to someone else, the threat response kicks in releasing cortisol and other stress-related hormones.

As a manager, limit stressful comparisons like forced ranking and 360 degree reviews as well as negative “feedback.” Provide praise and opportunities to learn new skills, two critically important status boosters.

2. Be transparent, open and clear about what’s going on.
When a person encounters a familiar situation, his or her brain conserves it’s own energy by shifting into a kind of automatic pilot. The pattern has been established and minimal energy is taken up. The opposite is true when the brain registers ambiguity or confusion. Uncertainty registers as an error, gap or tension and draws energy away from other functions.

Not knowing what will happen next can be debilitating because it requires extra neural energy. This diminishes memory, undermines performance and disengages people from the present.
Leaders and managers can help create a perception of certainty by sharing business plans, rationale for changes, and by breaking large projects into smaller more manageable chunks.

3. Stop micro managing and let people make their own decisions
A perception of reduced autonomy – for example of being micromanaged – can easily generate a threat response. Presenting people with options, or allowing them to organize their own work and set their own hours, provokes a much less stressed response.

Full article here -http://www.strategy-business.com/article/09306?gko=5df7f

What makes marketing successful today is different from what made it successful just a few years ago.  Control.  Look at nearly ever marketing piece and determind who is in control.  It’s always the marketer.  He decides what to sell, what to say and who gets the message.  The prospect is merely a bit player in the scenario.  Well, that was yesterday.  Problem is, many traditional marketers have yet to realize that those days are dying.

Today, the consumer has all the power.  If they see a marketing piece and are offended by it, that marketer gets slammed all over the internet.  Social media sites are talkiing about this exact point, and they are naming the names of the offenders. 

In the “old days,” marketing managers were king.  They called all the shots and pulled all the levers.  Today, they don’t want to give up that power and control, so they continue to push onward in a dying world.  Here is how it works:

A group of like-minded people gather online.  What makes them like-minded is often their profession – or your target market.  So, let’s say it’s chiropractors.  They gather and exchange information on a Linked In Group.  These Groups are similar to a Master-Mind Group.  If they are your target market, and you have a record of poor service, don’t you think your name will come up when they discuss people and firms to avoid?  At the point of that online conversation, you lost all your control.  Your firm lost all its control.  The target market gained all the control. 

The question for you is:  what are you going to do about it?

In the past few months, I’ve become obsessed with Social Media Marketing. It’s very much like direct marketing (direct mail), but very different, too. I squeezed my brain trying to pinpoint the essence of the difference. This is important because until you get a handle on the psychological differences, you can’t be effective.

Here’s what I’ve discovered:

1. SMM is a totally different philosophy. It focuses on building relationships, not just buyers. This relationship-building process turns out to be the same one we describe in two of our books: Axis of Influence and the 5 Levels of Rapport.

2. Unlike every other marketing medium, SMM is totally dependent on good, clear writing. No graphics, no photos, no colors. Just good writing.

Question: what do you see as the differences?

- Michael Lovas

A few months ago, Pam and I were interviewed on two radio shows:

http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/podcast.php?id=P1329

http://www.contacttalkradio.com/hosts/archives/eldontaylor.html 

During the Duct Tape interview, John Jantsch asked a question about using psychology in marketing.  We explained that the easiest way is to segment your target market by professions.  See, each profession attracts people who tend to have the same personality type.

For example, surgeons are cut from the same bolt of cloth.  They are people who want to be (need to be) the king of the mountain.  They want to tell other people what to do.   The must be able to make snap decisions and be right.  They have the Driver personality type.

Now, knowing that, all you’d have to do is appeal to that personality type to reach them more effectively.  If you approached them in any other way, they would filter out your message.

There are three or four different types of doctors.  Half a dozen different types of business people.  Several different types of financial people.  Each one is represented by a personality type, or a combination of personality types.  If you don’t have a solid understanding of personality types, you will completely miss out on this strategic psychological advantage.  So, isn’t it time to improve your knowledge?

Go to our website’s Store page.  That’s where you can find a description of our book Face Values.  It is the best book on the planet to learn about using types in your marketing and selling. 

Here’s a simple “law” about lying. People don’t know what their behavior is when they lie. During a normal conversation, John might look in all directions, take relaxed breaths, make some facial expressions. The context of a normal conversation is just that – normal conversation.

But, when John is lying, the context changes to abnormal conversation. Here are a few of the differences:

His eyes will focus into a narrow range of movement – if they move at all. A year or so ago, Idaho Senator Larry Craig was interviewed on TV in an attempt to persuade people of his innocence. It didn’t work because his behavior during the interview was so practiced and forced.

His breathing will speed up, as though he’s jogging. That’s because he’s getting excited. He’s found himself trapped in a corner. His fight/flight bell is ringing off the wall.

His facial expressions will become stiff and his eyes are likely to get wide.

That’s for most people – most honest people. We just don’t have lying skills. But, a lot of people do. They are masters at lying and manipulating. If you have to deal with someone like that, don’t worry about catching them in a lie. They’re probably too practiced to make stupid mistakes. So, your strategy would be to avoid pathological liars, or get away from them when you discover their need to lie. Dealing with a liar is a no-win situation for you. This is true if we’re talking about your boyfriend, wife, co-worker or boss. You will always get burned if you deal with liars.

– Michael