The Three Sides of Credibility

by William D. Hoffman

"All Gaul is divided into three parts." These are the opening words written by Julius Caesar in 58 BC in his book Caesar's Commentaries. Likewise, when selling, we must realize that "all credibility is divided into three parts."

Successful salespeople know credibility is an essential ingredient in earning business. Often, though, we don't consciously think about the three different types of credibility that must be established in order to earn business. Failing to consider and address even one type of credibility will jeopardize any sale.

The first type is the credibility of the salesperson. We all know that people will not buy from people they don't trust. Therefore, we must establish our own personal credibility with each person involved in the buying process. It is the only sure way to earn our customers' confidence and trust. The best way to accomplish this is by being open, honest, and up–front with each person we deal with during the selling process. It can be as simple as doing what you say you are going to do within the time frame you promised. Another way to establish personal credibility is to provide potential buyers with a topical agenda for your next meeting in order for them to review and provide input prior to the actual meeting.

The important point here is that you must have personal credibility with a potential buyer in order to get him or her to agree to some sort of commitment at the end of each sales call. By establishing personal credibility you earn the right to ask for that commitment. Otherwise you won't get it!

The second type of credibility is that of your product or service. The reason new products and services usually take a longer time to sell is because buyers need to become comfortable and confident in their performance. A track record needs to be established in order for the product/service to gain acceptance. You must establish the reliability and credibility of your product or service before you can expect to win the buyer's complete confidence. This is usually accomplished through a combination of references, demonstrations, or user site visits.

The last type of credibility concerns the reputation of your company, and it can make or break a sale. You might have great personal credibility with your customer. Your product or service might be recognized as outstanding. But, if the word on the street is that your customer service department is unresponsive, you can easily lose the sale.

To sum up, there are two key things to remember about credibility. First: as salespeople, we must realize that customers aren't going to buy from us just because we personally have credibility with them. They are going to buy only after they are convinced of the credibility in our product or service, our company, and ourselves.

Second: each person involved in a sale will value each of the three confidence factors differently. Therefore, you must learn the relative importance that each person places on each factor and build credibility accordingly.