Tools for increasing Credibility. Specifically: 1) How to pre-position your credibility so prospects sell themselves, 2) How to ensure your overall brand (website, print materials, advertising and social media) create maximum credibility, 3) How to enlist "other messengers" to become advocates for you, 4) How to borrow credibility and leverage associations and relationships, 5) How to ensure maximum personal credibility (how you look, speak, and write) Created by Michael Lovas and Pam Holloway authors of Axis of Influence - How Credibility and Likeability Intersect to Drive Success, and The Credibility Advantage - Strategies and Tools for Increasing Business Results.

1. (c) About People 2011. All rights reserved

2. Credibility =
1. Increase sales
2. Shorter sales cycle
3. Higher valuation

3. Trust & [Credibility]
Increase Speed & Lower Cost
Trust = Speed Cost
Trust = Speed Cost
Trust Equation from Stephen Covey - The Speed of Trust

4. What is credibility?

5. Rate Yourself
1 5 10
Haven’t Yet Among the
Established Most Credible
Credibility In My Field

6. Credibility is a cluster concept
• Expertise • Reputation
• Knowledge • Experience
• Trustworthiness • Relevance
• Believability • Confidence
• Integrity • Leadership

7. It doesn’t matter what YOU think.
Credibility is Perception.
It lives only in the mind of other people.

8. It’s not your measure that matters.

9. Credibility is...
The confidence
you inspire in
others to trust
your ability to
deliver results.

10. How do you
communicate
credibility?

11. Tools for Communicating Credibility
1. Association
2. Expert Validation
3. Social Proof
4. FaceMore (not Faceless)
5. Thought Leadership
6. Get in Print
7. The Network

12. 1. Association
You gain or lose credibility based
on the people, brands and
organizations you associate with.

13. Inherited Credibility
Your Industry
You Your Company
Personally
Your Profession
You “inherit” credibility based on your perceptions of
your profession (engineer, sales person, graphic artist),
the company you work for and the Industry you work in.

14. 2. External/Expert Validation
• Research
• Certifications,
Licenses, Awards
• Expert Reviews
• Credible “Mentions”

15. 3. Social Proof
• Testimonials
• Case Studies
• Customer reviews
• Social conversations

16. Research by
Forrester (2008) &
Nielsen (2009) shows:
Most trusted
information source
=
“people like me”

17. “Get someone else
Employ to blow your horn
Other and the sound will
Messengers carry twice as far.”
-- Will Rogers

18. How can you enlist other people
to become advocates for you?
1. INTERNAL: Demonstrate that you’re
worth referring
2. EXTERNAL: Make it easy to do and
rewarding for them

19. Proactive Advocacy
• Pick a natural advocate.
• Provide Meaning/Purpose: “I need your
help to.....”
• Make it easy. “Here’s something you can
pass along”
• Appreciate/Reciprocate. “Your help
means a lot to me. I’d like to return the
favor by...

20. 4. Face More (not Faceless)
• Show how things are
done behind the
scenes
• Show the real people
• Let them speak

21. Meet the folks in Peru
who grew the banana
I ate this morning

22. 5. Thought Leadership
• Global perspective,
local context
• Practical applications
and specific How-to
• The go-to guy for.....

23. Example of Credibility Leveraging

24. 6. Get in Print
• Book
• White Paper
• Article
• Blog

26. 7. The Network
If small or solo, show how you’re part of
a larger network of resources and support

27. YOU Personally:
How to look, speak and
write credibly.

28. Your Personal Credibility
Yes, looks do matter...but it’s not what you think.

29. What does credibility
look like?

30. Who looks more Credible?

31. Who looks more Credible?

32. Who looks more Credible?

33. What does credibility
sound like?

34. The Sound of Credibility
• The lower the pitch, the
more credible the voice.
• Lack of volume equals
lack of credibility.
• Slower speed and pauses
diminish credibility.

35. Credibility Language
It’s like...you I’m an expert in
know....well um... SMO and SEO focused
you might want to do on improving CTR and
some social media stuff. PPC on integrated
Cool, eh? platforms.
Take a look at what
ABC Company says about
how they increased
sales by 50%

36. Credible Language is...
• Simple, visual and relevant
• Jargon-free
• Questions-based

37. Simple, visual, relevant

38. And jargon-free
The more jargon-laden the language, the lower the believability [credibility].
- Pat Thompson, American Institute for Research

39. Ultimate Credibility Tool

40. “We think the best way to seem
smart is to know all the answers,
when in fact the best way to seem
smart is to ask the right questions.”
Dorothy Leeds, The 7 Powers of Questions

41. Example:
Let me show you how much I know
about social media marketing.
Versus
How have you incorporated social
media into your marketing strategy?

42. What does credibility
read like?

43. Credible Writing
• Accurate
• Fact-based
• Objective
• References
• Appropriate level
of detail
• Relevance

44. Distinguish Yourself!
1. Association
2. Expert Validation
3. Social Proof
4. FaceMore
5. Thought Leadership
6. Get in Print
7. The Network
8. Look, sound & write
credibly

45. For more information.....
www.aboutpeople.com