Credibility

NOTE:  Like you, we get far too many newsletters that contain far too little value. They come every week and are annoying. So, when we initiated the Inner Circle, we promised that we’d never send anything to you unless it was worth reading. If Credibility and business relationships are important to you, then you will find this issue worth reading.

According to the Harvard Business Review "persuasion" is not about convincing and selling;  it is about learning and negotiating.  Further, it is comprised of 4 steps:

1. Establish Credibility
2. Frame goals on common ground
3. Vividly reinforce your position
4. Connect emotionally

The reason I list all 4 steps is that Pam and I specialize in that exact process.  You can look at it as a simple 2-step process: establish your credibility, then communicate your relevance.  This issue of the Inner Circle deals with that very first step.  After all, if you can't establish your credibility, you can go much farther.  So, it pays to learn how to establish your credibility.  Right?

Experience counts. Our work in Credibility began in 1991 when I gave a speech to the Million Dollar Round Table.  Every one of the questions during the Q&A dealt with Credibility. To verify what created Credibility, I interviewed credible people in different industries and asked them two questions:  1) what did you do to build your Credibility, and 2) what impact did it  have on your businesses. I was astounded – although those people were in different industries, they all gave me the exact same answers.

Since then, we’ve continued working to refine exactly what Credibility is and how you can improve yours. To date, we've mainly used this intel with our coaching clients. Now, the time has come for us to put our collected smarts and experience into print. So, in the new year, we will release our newest book, the working title of which is CREDIBILITY - The Art & Science of Influence Management. It’s written for financial professionals and you will find it to be very specific.

One of the main points in the new book deals with the value of Credibility. I mean, why bother with it unless it gives your bottom line a boost? Right?  Here’s what Roger Dawson has to say about that:

“The cornerstone of your ability to persuade – what it all rests upon is the level of Credibility you have with the other person. When you speak, do they believe you? Unless they do, there is no possibility that you can get them to do what you want them to do.” -- Roger Dawson – Secrets of Power Persuasion

In other words, building your Credibility is not a "warm and fuzzy" activity;  it is a bottom-line focused one. Credibility is important to you because your entire business is affected by it. Where do you think your sales come from?  Where do you think your referrals come from? 

Why is Credibility important? Why would you want to spend time and energy to improve it? Please, don’t only trust me on this. Let’s look at what other people have to say about it:

     Quote 1. “Clients value trust, integrity and Credibility over product or service selection, cost, or even over knowledge and competence, when it comes to choosing financial services providers.” -- Goldman Sachs: The Coming Evolution of the Money Management Industry

     Quote 2. A large percentage of the people who accept a product or service do so, not because they are sure that it will solve their problem, but because they trust the individual who offers it to them, and feel sure HE is convinced that it will solve their problem. -- Cavett Robert, Success with people through human engineering and motivation

     Quote 3. Purdue University researchers Tim Christianson and Sharon DeVaney examined interpersonal relationships between financial advisors and clients. In particular they identified factors that facilitate a client’s feelings of loyalty. Of all the factors examined in their study, communication, by far, had the strongest influence on an advisor’s ability to win a client’s trust and commitment. - Christianson and DeVaney

The point is – Based on those quotes, you now know that you can help your business by proving you’re worthy of trust, and improving how you communicate. Further, mere competence (while important) is not nearly enough. What does that have to do with Credibility?  Based our many years of research into Credigbility, those elements (Communication, Trust and Competence) are 3 of the 4 essential elements of Credibility.  The missing element is Relevance.

One final quote. Advice given that is not specifically developed for the one individual in front of you is by default generic and inappropriate. Advice given that is specific to that person brings relevance into the equation, and relevance is a necessary fundamental of your Credibility. – Michael Lovas, CREDIBILITY

So, with those thoughts in mind, the next logical step for you is to figure out how to improve yourself in the essential elements of Credibility.  How to get started? Look at these Tips:

Tip 1. Communication is entirely based on how the other person prefers to receive it. The basis for this tip is the most basic fundamentals of psychological communication:

1) The map is not the territory
2) The meaning of the communication is the response you get

How can you activate those two fundamentals? By focusing on the result of your communication. Ask a question. Listen closely to the answer. Make a comment and see if the client really received your message. Then, ask another question based on what the client has already said. This way, you’re basing what you say on what the other person says, not on what you want to hear.

Tip 2. To make a sale, you first need to make the emotional sale, then substantiate it by making the rational sale. The emotional sale is made through communication, rapport and psychological connection. Further, your mind is comprised of 90% subconscious – which controls the emotions – and 10% logic and rationality. In other words, if you fill your client communication with logic and data, you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot. But, if you make the necessary adjustments to connect on a more personal level, you’ll be enhancing and improving your potential for success.

How can you activate that? Take the time and make the effort to understand your prospect before you start giving data. It sounds simple, one of the most frequently made mistakes advisors make is to do a "data dump" on their prospects and expect that to be convincing.


In Conclusion. A few weeks ago, Pam and I delivered a one-hour program to the top advisors for Edward Jones at their home office in St. Louis. Part of that program was on Credibility. We were surprised when we saw how animated the audience got when we began teaching them the specifics of how to increase their Credibility as Edward Jones advisors.

When companies call us to discuss training, they always want to know how we can help them specifically. When they see how much experience we have in building advisor Credibility, they get excited. When they see that we will customize a program for them, they get animated and energized. More and more Financial firms today understand that Credibility is the missing step in the sales process. But until now, they had no idea how to help their advisors improve their Credibility.

Your Reward. If you are truly interested in Credibility (and have read this entire piece), you deserve a reward. If you’ll copy this paragraph and paste it into an email to me (michael@aboutpeople.com), I will send you our new report “10 ways to Improve your Credibility.” Be sure to include ALL your contact information!

michael@aboutpeople.com
www.aboutpeople.com