6 Phrases that Kill Your Credibility with Clients

6 Phrases that Kill Your Credibility with Clients. To help you avoid unintentionally damaging your credibility, we've compiled a list of six seemingly harmless phrases that can undermine your credibility and communicate to the client that you aren't fully on their team. In other words, you get so focused on pushing a particular strategy that you fail to see any real evidence against it. The best way to avoid confirmation bias and keep your credibility intact is to focus on new evidence as objectively as possible, and prove the value of your work through clear reporting. 5) "I just don't think that approach is going to work." One of the best ways to establish your expertise and make your client feel comfortable and respected is to know when you don't have the best answer, and let your client make the final call. When you follow up a presentation or assertion with, "Does that make sense?" Not only does this phrase make it seem like you're unsure what you're talking about, it also calls into question the competence of your client -- which isn't a great way to build a positive relationship. Weissman recommends a switch to "Do you have any questions?" What phrases do you avoid using with clients?

Author: Karla Cook / Source: hubspot.com

Establishing credibility isn’t just about asserting your intelligence or expertise.

Real credibility comes from a careful balance of trust, empathy, and good judgment. And it needs to be attentively nurtured throughout your client relationships.

To help you avoid unintentionally damaging your credibility, we’ve compiled a list of six seemingly harmless phrases that can undermine your credibility and communicate to the client that you aren’t fully on their team. Are you guilty of using any of these?

1) “This tactic is guaranteed to boost your conversion rate by 60%.”

Avoid exaggerating or overselling the successes of your services — your clients can smell insincerity a mile away, and it’s sure to turn them off. Presenting them with inflated numbers or unrealistic claims won’t boost your credibility, it will make them question whether you can provide any honest value to their business.

Remember: there’s confidence, and then there’s just plain bragging. Your clients only care about your past successes in the context of how they can directly provide value now, so avoid reading off a laundry list of accomplishments or stats. It can come across as self-serving and out of touch with the client’s specific needs.

Even if you’re not overtly exaggerating, be sure to cut out lofty words like “guaranteed,” or “absolutely.” These can come across as deceptive and pushy, and fail to communicate what your agency can actually do.

Focus on explaining the genuine value of your agency’s services. If you highlight a few proven strengths, rather than a showy list of claims, your client will be more likely trust your expertise.

2) “Sorry I couldn’t get that to you by Wednesday — something came up.”

When your actions don’t align with your words, you end up falling into what Prasad Kaipa calls a “Credibility Gap.”

Avoiding the Credibility Gap starts with setting realistic expectations and time lines on projects, and keeping an open line of communication to alert your clients if anything goes wrong or takes an unexpected turn.

Kaipa explains to Harvard Business Review that the best way to set realistic expectations is to be more aware of what you’re promising. He recommends checking in with yourself regularly and asking, “Am I saying something that implies a promise? What are the odds I can or will actually follow through? How can I articulate my ideas and concerns in such a way as to not raise false expectations?”

If you realize too late that a deadline isn’t feasible, don’t freak out. It’s not unusual for unanticipated issues to arise during the course of a project, but as long as you remain transparent and clearly communicate the issues to your clients, your credibility isn’t likely to suffer.