Bridging the credibility gap — Kelford Labs Daily

When we spin up a new service offering that’s a little outside our current industry specialty, we can end up with a “credibility gap.”

That is, we know we can offer extraordinary value to our prospects, but our prospects aren’t sure because we don’t have much specific industry experience.

So we might get a question like, “Why should we work with you instead of a provider with more experience in our category?”

And that can trigger anything from imposter syndrome to something like “marketer’s remorse,” the feeling that we stepped too far outside of our chosen lane and we get the urge to backpedal.

But there are two ways to tackle a credibility gap that can remedy those feelings while also putting our prospects at ease:

The first part is to get working on filling the gap.

That is, building the industry knowledge and experience we currently lack. This will take time (and clients!), so while it should start right away, we needn’t wait until it’s filled to pursue our prospects.

No, what we can do simultaneously is bridge the gap.

We want to focus our position and our statements of credibility along a different axis, one in which we are already clearly credible and where we already have confidence.

Don’t short-change the experience you currently have, the value you credibly offer.

Just focus your messaging on a specific part of your existing industry experience that makes you the ideal provider for a particular type of customer within the new one.

The ones who are looking for someone to hire, not despite newness to the industry, but in part because of it.

So when you get a question like, “Why would I work with you if you’re new to my industry?” you can immediately and proudly answer something like:

“Because we do something no one in the industry currently does,” and you point to your particular speciality or focus area.

Or, “We’re new to this industry because we can offer something it’s been deprived of for so long,” and you spell out your unique approach to solving your clients’ challenges.

You leverage your hard-won experience outside of their industry to position yourself as the very thing the industry has needed, but hasn’t yet had.

Your newness becomes your advantage, not your fatal flaw.

Your objective perspective becomes your selling point, not your shame.

You started this service offering because you knew you had real value to offer. All you have to do is remember what that value is, and who needs it most.

The ones who need the experience and expertise you currently have, more than they want the industry insight you haven’t yet earned. Or the ones currently unsatisfied with what the industry has offered and are looking for something new.

And it’s working with those clients that fills the credibility gap completely.

Giving you the freedom to refine or even revise your position to something more specific, based on what you’ve learned about the industry.

That’s how focusing on the expertise you have can lead you to the expertise you crave.

Kelford Inc. shows experts the way to always knowing what to say.