When growing your business from where it is today to where you are driven to take it tomorrow, it´s essential to keep one eye on your profits and the other firmly on your corporate credibility. Both are equally important to the long-term survival and prosperity of your business.

Your company´s credibility – or your own credibility if you are one of its guiding forces – is, in essence, born out of the confidence that you instil in people that you have the practical ability to deliver on your promises. Are you skilled at your craft, knowledgeable about your industry and positioned to be the best at what you do?

Growing your business credibility to a level where it will entice new customers to come to you instead of your competitors is a long and delicate process, but involves the following essential ingredients.

Heritage

How long has your business been established for? Has its history shown consistent growth and quality or were there blips along the way? Who started your business and what was their public image like? The past has a way of holding back the future for some companies, so, when you are growing your business to the next level, make sure your company´s CV is spotlessly clean or find ways of making any less than impressive corporate baggage disappear into insignificance.

Most companies will have something in their past they would not wish to publicise – a product recall, a health and safety legal situation, a poor managerial decision – the art of heritage management when growing your business is to make your failures irrelevant in the face of your successes.

For instance, over the years retail giant M&S have had their fair share of scandals laid at their door – quality issues, squeezing overseas suppliers to reduce costs while they increase their profits, their controversial support for Israel and most recently accusations of “sweatshop” conditions in their factories in India – but even though these were heavily publicised issues, M&S still go from strength to strength. They achieve this by managing their image and, while growing your business, there will come a time when you´ll need to do the same.

Market positioning

The size of your organisation and the market share you command will go some way to suggesting your ability to satisfy a client´s needs. Some customers will wish to work with larger organisations for the implied safety of doing so, whereas others prefer the implied personal touch of a smaller company. When growing your company you must have a good understanding of what your customers are looking for and make it clear that you can provide what they need.

Perception is a very important tool in the quest to establish your credibility. When growing your business from its humble beginnings you´ll no doubt have recognised the importance of using all the tools at your disposal to create the right corporate identity to display to your audience across all mediums. How and what you communicate in everything you say and do will create the impression that your buying public will believe about you. Every employee, letter, advert, website, blog and so on needs to be focused on presenting a uniform message, because credibility is hard won but easily lost.

Prove your ability

The single most important element to establishing your company´s credibility is the ability to prove you can deliver what you say you will. The starting point is competence confidence – do you have all the expected relevant qualifications and memberships for your industry? If you´re an accountant are you ACA, ACCA or CIMA (and so on) qualified? If you´re a surveyor are you “chartered” and a member of the RICS? If you´re an architect are you a member of the RIBA?

From then on it´s all about delivering excellence in everything you do. You need to prove every single day that you are great at what you do and have your customer´s best interests at heart. Credibility comes from the strategic positioning of your corporate identity – in essence, building your audience´s confidence in your abilities to deliver on your promises. When growing your business this is an essential point to remember.

One of the best ways of proving your ability to a potential customer is through the use of testimonials and endorsements. If those you have worked with, or those who are recognised for their own credibility, sing your praises, this can improve others´ confidence in your abilities.

By growing your business credibility you´ll be significantly improving your chances of winning new customers. The preconception they´ll have is that your skill and professionalism outweigh those of competitors with lower credibility levels. Then all you´ll need to do is prove them right – every single day.