Credibility in the New Normal

 

In this episode, Dr. Angela explores how to create credibility in the new normal. Safety has become a key element in the decisions people make when investing in your program. Learn how to develop that sense of safety and thrive in these challenging times!

 

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Podcast: Download  (30:23, 43.8MB)

 

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In this episode you will learn:

• 3:00 Why do people choose not to buy?
• 6:00 The secret to credibility in the new normal
• 7:00 What does safety have to do with credibility?
• 14:00 How is the new normal impacting competition?
• 22:00 What are buyers looking for now?

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Featured in this Episode

Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim

It’s Go Time by Jill McAbe, click the title  to get Jill’s ebook for free!

Full Episode Transcript:

Hey, welcome back to page up Podcast. I am so glad you’re here because we’ve got a great show for you today, we are going to be talking about one of the most important things you can do as a business leader right now. And that is to establish your credibility in the new normal. Everything has changed your client avatar has changed the problems and the dreams that your customers and prospects have have shifted the languaging and messaging you need to use has changed. And right now, establishing your credibility is essential. So whether that is a brand new business, establishing yourself as someone who can help solve the problem you solve in this new environment, whether that is pivoting a current business that you’re doing something slightly differently or whether you’ve been in business for 20 years, we’ve still got a very different environment.

So right now it matters more than ever to establish or re establish your credibility. I was thinking back to one of my first ghost writing jobs, I was just 23-24 years old. And it was back when China was taking over Hong Kong. Ironically, with everything that’s happening in Hong Kong right now. The book was called finance in Hong Kong 1997. And I got to spend a lot of time getting to know the city as it was going through this massive transition from British rule to Chinese rule under this one country, two systems and the system that’s actually being disbanded right now. And what I learned writing that book wasn’t that my author was the world’s best investment banker in Hong Kong. He was great. It was, you know, he was doing good work. But what he was able to do was capitalize on being the first mover he got this book out right before the transition of power happened. And he was able to generate millions, actually hundreds of millions in revenue by establishing his credibility under this one country, two systems.

How do I safely and we’re going to talk a lot about safety today. How do I safely invest in Hong Kong under this new normal, you’re in the same exact position. where you are right now is in a place where you have an opportunity to establish yourself as a trustworthy authority. Now in any market. There are three reasons why people don’t buy. And if you can establish your credibility in this new normal, you will be able to combat those three reasons and be the leader they trust. So, number one, and I’m sure you’ve experienced a lot of this is that they don’t really understand how awesome your stuff is. They don’t really understand the result they’re going to get from working with you.

So if it’s life coaching, or spiritual work, and you know, this will blow your mind when you see that you’re connected to source and you’re worthy of love. But really, the client is just thinking, How do I stop fighting with my husband? Or how do I get my son to pick up his socks from the living room, right? They don’t really understand that deeper work. And that’s true on the business side, too. Maybe you are a diversity, equity and inclusion expert and your guide your business will be so much stronger if you do that. Tea and I work, but they really just wanna not get called out. Right for for not doing that work so they don’t really want the result. And you’re not establishing the value clearly enough in language that makes sense to them. So that is more important than ever in a new normal. The second reason they don’t buy is they don’t believe in you. They don’t trust you.
Now, a lot of that can be handled with nurturing, developing the relationship follow up, but with everything changing. They not only have to believe in you historically, but they have to believe that you get what’s happening right now. So my investment guy in Hong Kong, it’s not just that he had a 20 year investment business in Hong Kong he had to show I get one country two systems’ is a big deal. I get transition of power from Britain to China makes your investment feel less safe. So here’s how it’s different now. So they need to believe you. And then the third thing is that they must believe in themselves. And I’ll circle back to this later in the episode. But it’s really important that you establish, even with everything changing, you will be able to get them results that they can trust themselves to do the work.

So, right now more than ever, the best way to establish this credibility is to be the first mover and get your book out. If you can get a new book, even if you’ve already written a book, or your first book out in this environment and addressing that new normal, you’re going to have a huge Vantage from a credibility perspective. And we’re going to talk in this episode about why credibility is more important than ever. I’ve got three key pillars of establishing credibility. When we come back, I’m going to talk about that first pillar, which is why safety and security are so important, and why you have a responsibility now to establish that safety and security for your buyers more than ever. So stay tuned. We’ll be back in a minute and I’m going to talk specifically about how you can write a book that’s going to make clients and prospects feel safe, about investing or investing more with you.

All right, we are back and we’re going to dig into pillar number one in establishing credibility in this new normal. Now, the way things have changed, what has happened globally for everyone is a general sense of insecurity. I want you to picture all of your clients in Southern California after an earthquake. You never know when the next aftershock is coming. You’re wondering, should I even live here? My goodness, it’s so beautiful. But is the ground going to shake underneath me again? Wow, there has been a massive period of economic expansion. Up until this point in the US, the way to establish credibility in the past in that period of expansion was about daydreaming, it was about showing what was possible. Now, it is about making it clear that you will not allow your clients to make a mistake. It’s about what I call bumper bowling. It’s about protection, security, safety, confidence that has changed from that massive feeling of expansion.

So I want to share a little story with you about my client, Jill McCabe. Jill has an amazing business up in Ontario helping entrepreneurs as a business coach, and her book, it’s go time came out right at the beginning of the pandemic, it’s given her a huge advantage in being able to drive a whole new client how and also to reignite and activate existing and past clients. Now what her book it’s go time, which is available on Amazon. What her book does is it create boundaries of safety and security.

Her clients very clearly understand, even just by seeing the book, even if they haven’t read the book, that they are minimizing potential investment mistakes at a time where they just can’t make investment mistakes and just don’t feel confident. There are times and we’ve been living in those times. There are times where like, Ah, you know, I could make this investment if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, I’ll do something else. This is not one of those times. And by getting her book out there right at the beginning of the pandemic, Jill has been able to show probably four or five by x her business this year, over last year. And the reason she will have that sort of growth and expansion is her clients feel very safe in the choice to work with her. She’s got a huge resume of experience and that helps that’s featured. But she’s also been able to write and produce a book that hit right as the pandemic hit. And that’s one of the ways you can really establish safety say, I am the lighthouse, I see where we’re going. You can trust my vision, you might not be able to see the road ahead, it might look like a bunch of blind turns. But I can see the road ahead when it comes to this problem. And when you hear Jill’s story, you’ll know why she can offer that safety and security because in her business, she went through some So much turmoil and in her life, she’s had a traumatic brain injury, she has really lived through creating a new normal. And when you read her book, when you hear her speak about her book, it’s very clear. She’s been through this. She has reinvented, whoo, probably three, four or five times. And she can help you reinvent, even if you don’t have that confidence right now.

So when you show up, and it doesn’t matter what your problem, the problem that you solve for your readers is, but when you show up saying, you might not know what this is gonna look like, but I do think about my author with finance in Hong Kong. You might not know what this handover from British to Chinese authority is gonna look like. You might be worried. I’m confident. I know how this is going to go. I’ve taken In the meetings, I’ve been around the block, I can help you through this.

So we want to make sure that we pick for you an area of credibility that you have the confidence in. If you’re shaky at all, if you’re in any sort of imposter syndrome whatsoever, it’s going to be picked up even if it’s picked up subliminally. So your confidence is the number one key down to establishing your credibility. It is an increasingly competitive market and that is not going to change.

So when we come back, we’re going to talk about pillar number two, which is managing competition. We’re going to come back after the break and we’re going to talk about how establishing credibility is essential today. differentiating and positioning yourself, stay tuned quick break and we will be back with pillar number two.

Okay, we are back and we are talking about positioning. Now, this marketplace is an increasingly competitive marketplace. So establishing credibility becomes very important. What you’re going to find with shoppers is they are more selective about who they’re choosing. They are taking a longer time to make a decision. Again, we talked about safety and security in pillar number one. And so part of that safety and security is that they’re doing more comparison shopping And we have to establish not only why they should choose you over doing nothing, which in a period of expansion is our biggest competition is, is doing nothing, but why they should choose you over other people who get the same results now, or similar results or address the same problem.
What I want you to understand as we talk about the second pillar to establishing credibility about the increasing competitiveness and why it’s so important to position yourself is that there is still a lot of money being spent. money is being spent on new things. I know, for us with our business, we’ve bought very different things, but we haven’t stopped spending in the last few months. We’ve just changed how we’re spending and the decisions we’ve made.

So take a quick inventory in your life. Have you made different housing decisions? I know a lot of people spending money right now on movers, I think half of our staff moved. So on movers on moving companies, maybe you are spending money on a deposit or you know, security deposit or down payment for a house that you’re buying or renting. Maybe you have spent money in ways that you haven’t before on building your business. I know a lot of people have been laid off and looking at this current job market. They’ve thought, you know, why go back out there and look for a job. I’ve wanted to start a business anyway. Now is the time to do it. I’ve seen that happen for a lot of people right now. You know what, you’re probably not spending money on our fancy dresses. clothes, or movies or vacations. So our money is moving. It’s not stagnant. It’s not that people are spending nothing, it’s that they’re spending on different things.

So as you establish credibility here, you want to position yourself as something a problem that should be solved now money that should be invested now and on how you are different. How can you differentiate yourself from the competition. Now I’m going to give you my top two ways to differentiate yourself from the competition. And the first one is drilling down into a specialty instead of focusing on helping people through transition missions, like all life coaches are trained to do actually focus in on, let’s say, helping moms whose kids are starting college for the first time, or drilling down on athletes and staying conditioned through a pandemic. And your mindset when team sports are in such a different place. But by actually positioning yourself there’s a book I want you to get if you’re interested in this called Blue Ocean Strategy.

I want you to position yourself in a wide open blue ocean where you can be the best in the world at what you do. That’s the number one thing. So if you think about my Hong Kong investment guy, but he just did investments, he could have helped anyone Anywhere invest. It’s not that different, I’m sure. But what he focused on was investing in Hong Kong at this critical moment of a transition of power in any crisis, there is opportunity. And he put himself right at that intersection. How can we do that with you? Why should they use you? So that’s number one on differentiation is drill down, be more specific. And number two isn’t going to surprise you coming for me the book queen. Number two is to write a book on this blue ocean on your unique approach and get it out there. Quickly. write a book and get it out there fast.

It is an increasingly competitive world and you can and should differentiate yourself by establishing credibility. With a book in a niche where you could be the best in the world, you’re going to have the best chance at getting your message heard in a market where people are spending money, and we want to make sure they’re spending it on you. All right, we’re going to come back and we’re going to talk about pillar number three, and how you can put the final, the final gold star into your credibility in the new normal plan. I’m not going to tell you what this pillar is about because I don’t want you to miss it. But I can tell you this. It’s the most important thing I’m going to teach today. It builds upon safety and security and competitiveness. And without this third leg of the stool, your stool will collapse. So stay tuned, and we’ll be back right after the break.

Listen up because I do not want you to miss this. So if you zoned out while we were on a break, here is when to tune in again, because this third leg of your stool, this pillar to establishing credibility in the new normal is the one that will be the game changer if you get this. Now I want to warn you, a lot of people need help with this step. And if that’s you, definitely make sure you reach out because we can help you with this. But it is required if you’re going to establish credibility. And that is true when there’s any major global transition like this, but this one more than ever. They’re having Been a dramatic shift from aspirational sales to functional sales in order to establish credibility in the new normal. pillar number three is you must establish a clear return on investment. No one anymore is investing in those aspirational dreams that may or may not work. No one anymore is investing in nice to have this is not a nice to have market we will have it again. We’ll be back to nice to have someday. But right now we are in problem solving mode. Nice to haves are taking a backseat and what is happening now is you have to show people Very clearly how any money they invest with you will come back to them at least twofold. I recommend a 10 x return on investment. That’s what we teach our clients.

So the reason I say you might need some coaching around this one is it’s sometimes hard for you to see for yourself, what sort of return you get for your clients. I work with authors that write about divorce. And it’s hard for them, they’re thinking with their hearts. And they’re thinking God, it’s people are having so many relationship problems these days. I want them to be happier in their homes. But they’re not thinking with the ROI languaging required for today’s sales, which is how much is a divorce going to cost you How much will being in an unhappy relationship setback your career? How is your earning potential hampered by being in the wrong relationship?

They’re not thinking about the money that is lost by being in wrong relationship. That’s what needs to happen in this market. When I work with people that do books on weight loss, they’re thinking God, people feel so much better and they look so much better and they’re so much happier when they lose weight. True, but how much more will you spend on health care? What are your deductible costs? How will your weight affect your health if you have a chronic condition or if you got the virus, so putting into context, health and wellness of the cost of not getting into a healthier state More important now than ever. We used to sell vitamins. Now we sell painkillers, we used to sell what’s possible. Now we sell solutions to problems that are more expensive to keep than they are to solve. Now, one of the things that we do with our authors is spend a lot of time on this return on investment piece on really identifying what is the cost of this problem.
So whether it’s us or another coach that can help you with you must be clear on the cost of keeping the problem to your client. And instead of charging for or selling what’s possible, charge what the value of getting out of that pain is. Getting people out of pain is where they’re investing now. So you can think about this, if I go back to your life and what you’ve invested, it’s not that you’ve spent no money the last four months. But the reason you spent money on a new house, the reason you spent money on and maybe job related training, is because you had a critical problem. You probably didn’t spend money on a car or a vacation, why? There’s nowhere to travel, and there’s nowhere to travel. You don’t need a car right now.

So it just wouldn’t be in. This is bad for dealerships right now, but it’s not a great time to buy a car. Even though prices are very low. It’s because people aren’t driving very much. So that’s not where they’re investing. Now, if your car completely broke down and you couldn’t get to the grocery store, you probably would buy a car, but like I know for us, we’ve got a 2016 car, I plan to buy a new car this year and I’m like, I’m not really driving that much. Let’s just let it ride another year or two, I’ll finish paying it off and then I’ll make a decision. So what are you spending money on? And what will your prospects spend money on? VAT is the linchpin, that is the third leg of the stool that makes the stool stand up. And if you’re going to establish credibility in the new normal, before you go off and write the book, you have to really get clear on how can you provide number one, safety and security. How can you differentiate yourself in a more competitive landscape and number two, and number three, how can you establish a clear financial return on the investment, you will ask prospects to make.

All right, those are the three pillars to establishing credibility in the new normal. And when you address these three pillars, and I believe the best way to do that is with a book, you will come at all three reasons why people don’t buy, people don’t buy because they don’t want or understand the results. By having that clear, competitive differentiation, that blue ocean strategy, you will make the results crystal clear in that blue water. Number two people don’t buy because they don’t believe in you.

But when you write a book, you are establishing that safety and security and giving people space to believe in you. And number three, people don’t buy because they don’t believe in themselves to get the result. And when you have that clear ROI That clear return on the investment you’re asking them to make. and case studies stories in your book, to let themselves see themselves. In that case study, you will eliminate that objection about not believing in themselves. So how do you do these three things most quickly and effectively, you get a new book out or you get your first book out.

So if you’ve already got one, now’s the time to write another one. And if you do not have a book, now is the time to grab that market advantage. Just like my hong kong 1997 investing book. This is your moment to turn crisis into opportunity. Really excited to have shared this time with you on today’s podcast. Now is the time to ask establish your credibility in the new normal page podcast changing the world, one book at a time.