Building Business Credibility for Increased Sales
Growing a business isn’t easy. Businesses that are successful and continue to grow, establish credibility around their brand with a sense of urgency. Not only does credibility help the brand image, it also leads to increased sales and revenue. Here's 7 tactics to implement in your business!
Growing a business isn’t easy. Every year, around 60,000 businesses are started in NZ and 50% of businesses die within 4 years. Furthermore, only 4% of businesses grow to more than 1 Mil in revenue and less than 1% cross the 10 Mil mark. Businesses that are successful and continue to grow, establish credibility around their brand with a sense of urgency. Not only does credibility help the brand image, it also leads to increased sales and revenue.
All business owners I’ve come across want to build credibility but are often unsure of how to go about it. Consequently they fall back on the traditional way of building business through referrals and word of mouth, which works well for many but limits the pace of growth. If your target market is medium and large businesses, your business brand must be credible and should have a presence in the market. So, what can you do to achieve this?
1. Add Value
Adding value for your potential leads and clients right from the first interaction ensures you are top of mind when they decide to make the buying decision. A value add approach establishes you as a reliable and credible source of knowledge.
2. Collaborate with complimentary service providers
A classic example – one of our clients, a professional service provider in a highly regulated industry partners with several other service providers in complimentary fields, accessing the partner’s client base whilst adding value for their clients. A win – win situation!
3. Engage and support industry associations
Industry Associations are often run on a not for profit model and welcome support from suppliers delivering services to their members. This could be financial support by sponsoring events or support in the form of sharing knowledge at events or webinars for the association’s members. The members, your prospective leads, hear about you through the industry association, a credible channel, and you leverage that.
4. Tap into alumni
Your best advertisement comes from existing and past clients, who love the work you do and say this to others in their networks. Your alumni could include past clients, ex-employees, previous business associates. They have experienced the quality of your products or services and know you well. Don’t hesitate to ask for referrals that you can contact or testimonials you can share with potential clients.
5. Have the right person for the right job
Would you have your accountant pitch your solution to your prospective client ?No – you need to have the appropriate expert do their job to ensure success. Ensure your operational experts are focused on operations and make the space for commercial experts to help build the business. Whether it’s in Marketing, Sales & Business Development (like us!), Finance or another area, the expert’s knowledge and influence also affects your brand, allowing you to leverage their expertise and build business credibility.
6. Maintain consistent messaging across all channels
Too many businesses have an adhoc approach to marketing across channels. Inconsistent tone and messaging confuses prospective clients and leaves them questioning the brand’s credibility. Instead focus on retaining the same tone and consistency of topics across channels.
7. Network, network and network
People buy from people. The more people get to know you and trust you, the more the credibility and the higher probability of winning new business. Don’t shy away from talking about your service/ product and why you believe in it!
Businesses are stepping it up for 2024 and there’s no better time to put these 7 tactics into action! If you have a tried and tested approach to build business credibility in the market, share it in the comments. The team at Ri-Think is always here to help – don’t hesitate to
contact us if you have questions or need sales and business development support!
