Credible & Incredible? – *.¸.*♥ღ

written by Denise Kennedy

As I sat in my Strategic Services Marketing lecture, in order to complete my Bachelor of Business Hons Degree in Entrepreneurship, I was strangely challenged by an innocent word play.

Let me fill you in…

We were discussing the various ways one would develop your company’s ‘Flower of Service”, with a view to offering the best functionality for the service or product that customers are willing to pay for. We discussed the various ways you can add value to your customer’s experience while also running an effective and innovative marketing strategy. It is all about the core of your service plus your additional back-up services, which guarantee you the differentiation you desire. The ‘petals’ you develop as part of your marketing strategy are of immense importance, but so are other elements.

So, as the word ‘credible’ was suggested a few times, and we tossed around the idea of creating these added services as a business, I started to think about the word ’incredible’. The Incredible Hulk would never have become the superhero we grew up believing he was, if it were not for his superhero powers to impress and deliver. So in the latest new word of my amazing little nephew/godson, be “CLASS”, be a class person who delivers in an awesome way!

I would imagine every entrepreneur, whether an innovative product designer or a creative service manager, wants to be ‘incredible’. But I am also pretty sure they want to be ‘credible’ too, wouldn’t you?

So how does this translate? Well, I went off on a roll thinking about these two words and their definitions:

CREDIBLE: Able to be believed; convincing. Capable of persuading people that something will happen or be successful. Being capable of being believed; plausible. Keeping your word, being worthy of confidence and reliability. Being of sufficient military capability to deter an attack or carry out an operation successfully: Those of you involved in the marketing world may have heard of the term ‘credibility gap’: this describes the difference between high expectations aroused by unrealistic claims, and the actual performance of a product or service.

So for a moment let’s just switch to my other focus word and see how it is defined.

INCREDIBLE: marvelous, amazing, astonishing, barely believable. It can be described as possessing a rich quality that provokes amazement and awe from your audience or customers.  Others see it as maintaining a quality which is awe-inspiring and astonishing.

If you look at your own person-hood as a brand, do you see yourself as a trustworthy person who delivers credible value to those who do life with you, or are you more concerned about your ‘incredible ways’ than to bother with maintaining a strong ethical stand when it comes to fulfilling what you promise? These questions provoked me, and I considered the many organisations worldwide, who promise a product or service of infinite value to their consumers/users, while failing miserably in their real genuine power to deliver.

As I embark upon a new chapter in my writing career, I am so aware of the importance of being ‘credible’ and ethical, while hungering for the ‘wowness’ of the ‘incredible factor’ also. These are deep questions which should cause us to challenge our core beliefs. I believe it is possible to encompass both of these amazing qualities into our marketing mix, our ‘Flower of Service’, and more importantly our dealings with colleagues, family, and friends on a daily basis. Good petals are only valuable if they are equally as credible as they are incredibly wonderful!

In my current studies, I am seeing many stories of human resource departments having to fire people due to their poor moral standards, ethics or personality traits. It is sad that people who tick all of the boxes in remarkable ways, can fail in the personality department and lose their employable strengths over it. You may deliver incredibly well in your interviews, but turn out to be an awful person to work with every day. Be careful! be credible and incredible.

Denise Kennedy