I had transferred to a new factory two weeks early when I was asked to stop in to answer questions from the field service reps. One of the reps, Pierre, was really frustrated that a problem he raised several years early had not yet been resolved. I hadn’t dealt with him at my previous location, so we didn’t know each other, and this is the first time I’m hearing about the issue. My response was “This is the first I’ve heard of the issue. Please believe me, I’ll look into and make sure we get it addressed.” He was less than enthusiastic with my response since he’d heard it for years with no results. Now I’m starting to sweat it, I don’t want these reps to be skeptical of our support or not trust us to fix problems. How do I get him to believe that I will address it and that I find the situation unacceptable? As I looked around the room, I realize one rep I had worked with several times was there. I looked at Mike, said “Hi, how are you doing?” and then asked him “Mike, have I resolved the problems you’ve brought to me over the last couple of years?” He confirmed that I had indeed worked with him to get the issues solved. This bought me the time I needed to investigate the issue and get back to Pierre on what we would do to prevent on-going problems.
Credibility means getting someone to trust you and believe what you are saying. There are times when this must happen in the moment. Since credibility is built on trust it can’t really happen in the moment unless the other person is willing to trust you until proven otherwise.
Here are three tips to help you jump start building credibility in the moment:
It takes time for people to see that you will do what you say and get the results you promise. However, you can build trust quickly which will help you start to build your credibility. As people learn to trust you, see that you know what you are doing, they will listen to you when you speak up.
Learn more on how to build your credibility in Be Brilliant & Be Heard, even when you are the only woman in the group a 4-week course designed to help women grow their confidence, build credibility and be heard.
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