Mastering Credibility: 5 Steps to Project Professionalism and Drive Small Business Growth

We understand it isn't straightforward, and it takes time to build credibility for your recently created business to start getting more prospects that are not word-of-mouth or family referrals.

So we want to share these five actions that will help you and your small business look more professional and give your prospective customers a clear and strong message that you're formal and care about delivering excellent quality service.

Building your foundation: Essential elements of a professional small business.

1. Develop a professional Website. It's your first point of contact with potential customers and should work as your 24/7 salesperson. Ensure that it is mobile-responsive, has a clear message of how you help your customers, a call to action to capture leads, and multiple ways to reach out to you.

2. Professional Phone and Email. Use the domain name from your website to connect to an email service provider. Consider using a virtual phone system with features like call forwarding and voicemail transcriptions. Record a professional voicemail greeting and ensure you return calls in less than 5 minutes to increase your chances of quoting and getting the job.

3. Marketing Materials. Get professionally designed materials like business cards, flyers, and left behinds, so you can give them to prospects or leave them at mailboxes or front doors. Also, request the digital versions to distribute via WhatsApp to your friends and spread the word to potential customers.

4. Social Media Presence. Create business pages on Facebook and a Google Business Profile to increase your chances of being found in nearby searches; it also builds credibility for your business and provides a platform to communicate completed jobs and request reviews that will help attract more customers.

5. Implement a CRM system. Even if it looks early, use a customer relationship management (CRM) system to organize customer information, track interactions, and manage leads and sales. It will help you show excellent follow-up on commitments, and that will come across as a positive trait because you are on top of things and well-organized with your prospects.

Conclusions.

There are very affordable ways to get all of these things going; by investing time and effort in these critical matters, you are increasing your capabilities, being more competitive, and enabling your small business to achieve sustainable growth in the future.

If you don't know where to start or got hung up in the middle of some of these, give us a call or book some time with us here.