"Who Are You?": How to Develop Credibility Results
By Ray Smilor, Beyster Institute Executive Director

The entrepreneur who launches a new company faces a hidden challenge, one that I find few entrepreneurs are even aware of, much less know how to deal with. Consumed with the search for capital, the recruitment of talent and the development of the product, the emerging entrepreneur often doesn't consider the first question on the mind of a prospective customer: "Who the heck are you!?"

The Heart of a Business Relationship

When a customer wonders - Who is this person? Why should I buy anything from her company? How do I know that she can deliver? - he is really trying to decide if she is credible.

Credibility is at the heart of any business relationship. The ability to inspire belief in oneself and one's company separates really successful entrepreneurs from those who never quite reach their potential. All of us want to work with someone in who we have confidence, someone whom we feel will not let us down. Credibility is especially critical for the emerging entrepreneur about whom the customer may know little or nothing. So how can an entrepreneur develop credibility?

Regis McKenna, the Silicon Valley marketing guru, provides an essential insight about building credibility in his book, The Regis Touch. He points out that an entrepreneur has three ways to build credibility - through inference, reference and evidence.

Credibility Through Inference

Even without personally knowing an individual, we can assume or infer credibility if we are aware of key accomplishments in his or her past. A good resume can go a long way in impressing others. An entrepreneur can build credibility through inference by pointing to facts, experiences and credentials that allow customers to judge her as a competent, informed and knowledgeable individual.

Elements in the entrepreneur that suggest or infer credibility include:

• Academic credentials and degrees. Expertise in a discipline, as shown through levels of education, conveys knowledge about a subject. That knowledge is a basic building block to demonstrate understanding about the activities in which one is engaged.
• Previous successful experience as an executive, manager or entrepreneur. Been-there, done-that experience is a powerful way to communicate that one can do it again. This type of background reinforces the view that a person actually knows what she is doing, since she has done it before.
• A track record of directing completed projects. Having been involved in a key project, whether that be developing a product, assisting in a marketing campaign or overseeing the finances of an initiative, shows that one has demonstrated a skill that can be applied to other projects.
• Ownership of patents. Showing that one has applied for and received patents is another way to indicate the ability to accomplish things. Especially for technologically innovative companies, this can reinforce the perception of having technological know-how.

Credibility Through Reference

A second, and higher, level of credibility is reference. This is what others say about you and your company. This is part of the personal trail that we all leave behind us as we go through life. Those who provide references on you may be others in the company, opinion leaders in your industry, media sources who write about you and what you produce, and customers and suppliers with whom you have interacted. References may take the form of conversations that are part of a due diligence process, articles in newspapers, trade journals and magazines, testimonials from customers who have used your product or service, and awards and recognitions that you and your company may have received.

The more objective the reference, the more believable the impact. I once interviewed a woman for a key position in a start-up company. At the bottom of the resume I noticed that one of her references was a person who had the same last name as she. I asked who the person was and found out it was her husband. When I asked her why she thought he could be a good reference, she replied that he could be totally objective and unbiased about her. I just didn't believe that. I told her that the last thing one should want in a spouse was someone who was totally objective and unbiased. But that is what someone should look for in an effective reference that builds credibility.

Imagine that your company is a movie and you are the star - what would the critics say that you could use as endorsements to promote your enterprise and to encourage others to trust you?

Credibility Through Evidence

The next, and highest, level of credibility is evidence. Evidence includes the quantifiable facts of success - increasing revenues, additional product offerings, expanded market growth, higher stock valuations, expanding quarterly earnings - whatever demonstrates that the company is a thriving enterprise. This clearly takes time to develop. But these proofs can powerfully demonstrate the viability of an enterprise and the credibility of the person who leads it.

Through inference, reference and evidence, entrepreneurs enhance and expand their credibility with customers, suppliers, bankers, investors and the general public. As they do, something remarkable happens - they gain share of mind and not just share of market.

©2007 The Beyster Institute and its authors and their entities. All rights reserved.

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