Step two is the point at which you have the most impact on how the other person perceives you. And, let there be no misunderstanding – your Credibility is entirely in the hands of (mind of) the prospect. You are at the mercy of his or her perceptions of you. In my experience, this is the point at which many financial people drop the ball.

STEP TWO – GENERATE INTEREST

There are two primary ways to generate interest – show yourself as relevant and attractive. Most people have one or the other, but not both. Most people can make themselves attractive, but few people can show themselves as relevant. Recognize the power of having them both work for you.

The Relevance Factor

Let's assume you are talking with a new prospect. He is smiling, so you know he's feeling safe with you. Now, what will be the topic(s) of your conversation? What questions are you going to ask?

If you don't take time to discover what that person wants to accomplish, if you don't ask insightful questions, then you'll most likely talk about what you want to sell. If what you sell is not in the bull's eye for that client, you're working your way into a hole.

This is the problem many consumers have with producers who sell only one product or one service. Those producers seek to make the prospect relevant to their product, rather than make themselves relevant to the prospect's problem. Until you can prove your relevance, you can't go any farther in the Credibility Process.

Attend to details. Remember that real Credibility is something which is developed over time and must be a priority in everything you do. Unless you approach it in a systematic way, you'll forget about it and go back to how you used to do things. Think of launching a Credibility Strategy that would give you opportunities to:

• Build rapport and a personal connection.
• Prove your relevance as soon as possible
• Show that you really understand the prospect's situation
• Demonstrate your listening skills
• Ask great questions
• Follow through on promises
• Be proactive and show that you genuinely care for your clients

The Attractiveness Factor

For people who are single, attractiveness is the big puzzle, right? A twenty-something in the dating world might approach attractiveness through certain clothing, make-up and pheromone therapy. For business people, it's same thing. Simply determine what you need to do to appear as attractive as possible–in the most appropriate way. You might do this:

1. Buy good china and/or crystal to serve your coffee and Cokes in.
2. Rearrange your office to take advantage of the available natural light, making it shine on you, rather than blast from behind you.
3. Talk with a color consultant to find the colors that make you look the best, and the ones to avoid at all costs. The presidential debates are excellent examples of people wearing colors that make them look good. Ever see a candidate wearing a brown suit?
4. Get a manicure and shine your shoes.
5. Buy two or three high-end or custom-made suits that make you look world-class. You want to look as though you really do deserve high-net-worth business.
6. Go to a really good hair salon/colorist to get help shaping your hair (and beard). Many of us are still wearing our hair the same way we did when we were young. Not only do styles change, but so does the quantity of our hair. Please, no "comb-overs." They make that person look like he's in denial about who he has become.
7. Train your assistant or office manager to read your prospects and build rapport with them.

Insight: Why are those things important? Consider it damage control. It keeps the prospect from forming the conclusion that you overlook details, or that you are careless. Who wants to trust their financial security to someone who doesn't appreciate details?

Build a "halo." When you take care of those details, and go though the effort to make yourself look your best to your prospects and clients, a wee bit of magic happens. It's called the "halo effect." This is a psychological phenomenon also known as "cognitive bias." In other words, when you succeed in making yourself safe, likable and attractive, you initiate a perceptual chain reaction, whereby the prospect infers or ascribes more and more attributes on you.

Some of the pivotal research on the halo effect was conducted by Edward Thorndike. He surveyed military officers by asking them to rate their soldiers. Thorndike discovered that people tend to see others as roughly good or roughly bad, across all categories of measurement. What they don't do is look objectively at someone, "Oh, I give him a 37% on details, 23% on strategic thinking, 10% on credentials and…" Instead, they lump qualities together to come up with an average. "Mike? Yes, he's a good guy."

It works like this: the first traits we recognize in another person influences our interpretation and perception of latter ones. Consider the following perceptions. Obviously, there is little basis in fact, but the perceptions are real:

• Attractive people are often judged as having a more desirable personality.
• Attractive people are also judged to have more skills than someone of average appearance.
• Polite and attentive people are seen as trustworthy.
• Quiet people are seen as timid.
• Strong minded people can be seen as obstinate.
• Overweight people are seen as stupid.

In Conclusion

The study of professional Credibility is a combination of many disciplines: psychology, sociology, anthropology, personal development, and political science. The amount of research is growing, but rarely ever do the subjects and titles relate to Credibility. In other words, it is neither simple nor easy to find appropriate research related to professional Credibility. We've found it because we've spent seventeen years looking for it.

Now you've had a tiny peek inside the Credibility Process. Knowing which steps to focus on can help you improve your own Credibility and take your business up a significant leap.

Your Reward

The next step in the Credibility Process is Connection. It requires you to be able to "read" the prospect. The best book we know of on this topic is Face Values. We know how good it is because we wrote it. Frankly, you will have great difficulty forming a Credibility connection with your prospects until you can "read" them. Buy Face Values from our website during March: www.aboutpeople.com and we will give you a $10 discount. Plus, I will personally send you (FREE) our copyrighted one-page personality survey to help you figure out what your own personality and values are. After you complete the purchase process, be sure to send me an email and include this paragraph.