Building Trust

Not is a FIXED office building? No formal street shop? You will need to work harder to earn the trust of prospects and customers.

Credibility is one of the biggest challenges that home-based business owners face. If people don’t trust your business, they’ll be hesitant to use your products or services, and you’ll face a lot of scrutiny before closing every deal.

With home office space, credibility issues arise. For example, since home-business owners may have fewer face-to-face meetings with clients, colleagues and prospects, each interaction leaves little room for error.

So how do you ensure that your prospects and clients perceive your business as a legitimate, trustworthy establishment and not a fly-by-night operation? Here are some ways you can establish credibility for your home-based company.

Know Your Customer 

When you’re running a business, you’ll have to interact with different types of people. For example, if you provide home services such as plumbing, HVAC, or electrical repair, then you may have to meet vendors to source their products or materials. You will also have to meet potential clients to pitch your service.

Each of these audiences will have different expectations and different views of your credibility. For example, if you appear to be too simplistic to your vendors, they’ll doubt your expertise and question the value of your business. On the other hand, if you appear to be too sophisticated to your prospects, then they may think you’re out of their league, or that your business doesn’t meet their requirements.

Understand Customers Concerns 

When a prospect evaluates your service, they’re trying to find out if your business understands their problems, and if you are capable of dealing with the complexities they face.

One way to accomplish this is to acknowledge your audience’s challenges and needs. 

Before saying anything about your service, described a day in the life of your business, minute by minute. The customers not only paid attention to what is being said, they will even relate to many of your points. They understand that you could not have gone into such detail about your daily work unless you spent a great deal of time learning about the processes and pain points. Acknowledgement and relating to their work life is the first step towards making them listen to what you have to offer.

Tell a Great Story

Storytelling is one of the most effective ways to build trust. It allows you to capture your audience’s attention, essential to establishing credibility. Each story has a different emotional impact. The key is to select a plot that resonates with your audience.

Here are three plots you can use to motivate your audience:

  • Origin story: How did your business begin? What problems did you face? How has your journey been so far? These stories will portray you as a fighter and inspire your audience to associate with your business.
  • Overcoming adversity: These are stories that threaten the survival of your prospects, or stop them from achieving their goals. For example, if you’re pitching to Realtors, you can talk about the “5 Biggest Threats Facing the Real Estate Industry Today” and how to overcome them. This will help you position yourself as an expert, and pitch your service as a solution.
  • Proof of success: Provide an in-depth story of how you helped a specific client, very similar to your target audience, or a summarized account how you have served x number of customers in your industry. Use customer testimonials to share anecdotes, or present case studies of success stories. You can also include a video interview to bolster your credibility.

Customize Your Personal Story 

People like to work with real people, instead of faceless businesses. Make sure you let your clients and customers know about the actual people behind your business.

According to psychologist Robert Cialdini, we not only like people whom we perceive to be like us, but we’re also likely to find their ideas to be very persuasive. In other words, if people find you to be like them, they’ll trust you.

So, whenever you hear questions like “tell me your story” or “tell me about yourself,” tell them a story that intersects with their own life. For example, if you’re meeting a Cubs fan, show him a photo of you with your kids at Wrigley Field and talk about how you enjoyed the game. On the other hand, if you’re meeting a software developer, talk about your favorite apps and how you use them.

Get Feedback & Improve Your Credibility

When you’re working out of a home office, it can be difficult to imagine how others view your business. So, it’s important to reach out to trusted colleagues that are similar to your target audience, get their feedback and refine your communications. Ask them:

  • What can they recall? If people remember the key information you convey, then their perception will be as desired.
  • How do they feel? What do they feel like after speaking to you, or sitting through your presentation? If they feel confused, find out which aspects of your communication they found confusing, and how you can improve them. Also, look at the non-verbal aspects of communication such as tone of voice and body language to understand how they receive your message.
  • How do they respond? What action do they take after listening to you? It’s not enough to make them trust your business, they need to act.

5 Ways to Build Credibility & Grow Your Home Business.” Latefi Design, 21 Nov. 2017, latefidesign.com/5-ways-to-build-credibility-grow-your-home-business/.

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