Why should people buy from your company? Sure, you’ll need to have a mix of compelling offers, superior service, value for money, easy access and so forth. But increasingly that’s not enough. Your company may need a ‘personal’ credibility boost to win more business.
At a time when information overload is spiraling out of control…
…we find ourselves filtering the gazillion messages competing for our attention – just so we can function.
And in the process, many of us are reverting to more old-fashioned approaches when making purchases.
- We are relying less on mainstream advertising (aka interruption marketing) and more on word of mouth, direct experience and perceptions to make our buying decisions.
- We are placing greater store on sources of information we trust more – our friends, peers and selves.
What’s the point?
Help prospective customers to place more trust in you as well as what you offer.
How do you engender more trust in your company?
- In addition to offering great products that meet or exceed expectations – consider investing time and energy in your personal brand.
- In the same way that investors place as much (if not more) reliance on their assessment of those seeking investments as they do to what they propose; customers are increasingly drawn to the credibility of the people they buy from.
In fact, for many smaller businesses – the credibility of the promoters of a business and the business are one and the same thing. They are joined at the hip.
Related: A Fine Line:’Personal Brand’ Vs. Personal Achievement
The lines between your own reputation and those of your business are becoming increasingly blurred. Knowing that – boost credibility in your personal brand by:
# 1. Becoming more visible offline and online
- Make it your business to be seen and heard where your prospective customers are.
- Give people reasons to associate you with your company brand and the value you offer collectively.
# 2. Becoming known for something
- Become the ‘go to’ person for topics that matter to your prospective customers and can complement what you want your business to be known for.
- As Dan Schawbel put it during a recent interview in Forbes about owning your brand space:
”The best CEO’s are able to leverage their authentic personality in order to attract attention to their company…A brand personality delights consumers and makes them more interested in what your company sells”.
Put simply – lending your personal credibility to that of your company can make a world of a difference to the level of trust prospective customers may place in your business.
Related: The Rise Of Social Celebrities
Over to you
What’s the best example you’ve seen of personal brand being used to boost the fortunes of a business? Why did this work so well?
Image: “3d small people worshipping to a gold idol./Shutterstock“
