With many new startups popping up every day, it’s only a matter of time before your business gets lost in the crowd. This is because every established name out there has something new business lack, in particular, credibility.
The very first step to achieve that credibility is, of course, to come up with a professional name using a business name generator. Without a credible name, your business will have a hard time convincing new customer into buying your products or services.
What’s more, stockholders will be even more skeptical before they decide whether it is prudent to invest their money into your growing business. The best way to convince all of these skeptics and eliminate any remaining doubt about your business is by first establishing some credibility and these are the seven ways to do so.
1. Listen to your consumers
Let’s face it, nobody likes it when their opinions don’t matter and their voices fall on deaf ears. As Mike from Bootstrap Business puts it, establish credibility by listening to your customers. Be known as the brand that actually cares. If your target audience thinks something is a really bad idea, consider changing it and let them know you are doing so. For example, just recently EA games broke the record on Reddit by getting the most downvoted post in the site’s history with their post about microtransactions in their new Star Wars Battlefront 2 video game. The backlash was so severe that they have removed micro-transactions completely in the end. Therefore, make sure that your community is behind you or you’ll find yourself with no one to sell your products to.
2. Provide only the best quality products or services possible
Let your product speak for itself. If you offer the best burgers in town, for a reasonable price, it’ll do the marketing for you. Word of mouth marketing is essential for new businesses as this will be the thing that establishes your credibility with your initial customers. Moreover, if you develop a bad reputation at the very start it’ll be increasingly difficult for you to find and retain new customers. Don’t go down that road and offer only the best quality services that you can.
3. Be honest with your customers
There’s nothing worse than blatantly lying to your clients. Eventually, the truth will come out and your credibility will take a huge hit from which it may not recover. If the jackets you’re selling aren’t made of real leather, then say so. If you do, your business will become known for dishonesty and that’s not something that just goes away. In the business world, honesty goes a long way and it’ll do wonders for your credibility with both partners and clients alike.
4. Be reliable
You’re the new kid on the block, you need to prove yourself first. Don’t make the mistake of being all talk and no action. Establish your credibility by consistently being reliable. Let business partners know that they can always count on you to uphold your end of the bargain. For example, reassure them by offering a performance bond to your clients as insurance that you’ll get the job done. In other words, make them an offer they cannot refuse.
5. Get client testimonials
If you’ve been doing business for some time now, you’ve probably come across partners and other business associates on your entrepreneur journey. Chances are they liked working with you and are more than willing to vouch for your good name. Use this to your advantage and put the testimonials of these clients on your website. Just make sure that they don’t have a bad reputation, otherwise, you’ll do more harm than good to your brand.
6. Announce reached milestones
People absolutely love to see progress. Get the hype train going and post about the progress your business has made on the internet. Has your business received a large outside investment? Announce it on your website. One hundredth customer milestone reached? Post it on Facebook and Twitter. Moving to a new office, introducing a new quality management document control and so on and so forth. Whatever it takes to keep the momentum going, just remember to stay positive.
7. Stay active on social media
Finally, get noticed on social media to gain some credibility there as well. Now, this kind of credibility is a bit different but it’s important nonetheless. Social media platforms are a good way to interact with your customers, the main thing is to stay consistent with your tone, so people can get to know you in a sense. For example, look at Wendy’s fast food chain. Their snarky tweets and rough comebacks made their Twitter profile go viral overnight. Now they use this roasting strategy as their social media trademark, it’s what defines them as Wendy’s and sets them apart from McDonald’s and Burger King.
In conclusion, establishing good credibility in the early stages is crucial if you plan on really kickstarting your business later on. Hence, don’t shoot yourself in the foot by offering poor customer service and bad quality products or you’ll just lose the same. Be ahead of your competitors and lead by example.
