Credibility

Who do you believe nowadays? Your boss, your Doctor, your Financial Advisor, the Net, your Travel Agent?

You are about to spend $20,000, saved over some hard years on a holiday of a lifetime, maybe even to the World Cup. That’s a large amount of money that you probably wouldn’t lend to a friend or even give to your financial advisor, regardless of how good the market looks. Yet you are ready to hand it over to a small business owner in your local high street.

Why?

Is it the years of service delivery above and beyond your expectations, starting with the $399.00 Gold Coast special to end up at the $20,000 World Cup holiday of a lifetime? Is it the trust engendered by the small business owner because without your business they would cease to exist? All of the above plus many more reasons that live within the core of credibility built up over many years of a relationship that sometimes makes it feel like the travel agent is part of your family.

In business there is no instant credibility, even with major brands, you constantly need to prove again and again you are someone to trust with the hard earned dollars. Even though your product may always work according to the promise, it doesn’t preclude iconic brands like Apple being one bad innovation or BP one oil well catastrophy away from losing a large slice of its market share? For the small business owner it is a constant fight to stand out from the rest and once they have that bond with their clients, they need to do everything possible to hold onto it.

A recent example comes to mind of an agent let down by an overseas supplier of World Cup inventory, one week out from the start of the games. With over $150,000 worth of airfares, accommodation and game tickets to be replaced before clients became aware of the issue, the skill and dexterity shown by people who value their relationship with their clients above all else was uncommon. The stress the agent put themselves under would make most companies buckle but with credibility and reputation on the line and a promise fulfilled over years of exceeding service levels, mountains were moved to regain the lost content.

People make compromises daily on all sorts of business and life decisions but the one they need to hold the fort on, has to be credibility, for without it, why bother, why are you here and why would anyone want to deal with you?

The clients going to the World Cup will never know how much work and worry went into reinstating their dream holiday because for them it’s all about the promise of delivery and behind that sits unwavering credibility. Their credibility remains intact by virtue of understanding the value of their clients over everything else.


“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” Warren Buffett.