February 13, 2025 • 25 mins
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First impressions happen fast, sometimes before you even say a word.
Before a client ever books a call, they’ve already Googled you, checked your LinkedIn, and formed an opinion about whether they trust you. The question is, are you in control of that narrative, or is it costing you opportunities?
In a world where trust is harder to earn and easier to lose, how do you position yourself as the expert clients believe in before you even step into the room?
This episode is all about making sure your first impression works for you, not against you. If you’ve ever felt like you have to convince clients to take you seriously, it’s time to change the game.
********
Want to learn your client's biggest pain points in under 3 minutes? Download the FREE Client Insights Generator.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Black Girls Consult 2
podcast.
I'm your host, dr AngelinaDavis, and I wanna welcome you
to the podcast that's dedicatedto helping you build your
consulting business and thrivingin this new era.
So we have been in a discussionabout trust and building a
business in the trust economy.
(00:20):
So this episode is going todive a little bit deeper into
that and move us from what trustactually means in our business
to really talking about how webuild that trust from day one.
Because, let's be real, firstimpressions matter.
They matter more than we wouldlike to admit, and it would be
great if people took the time toget to know us and to
(00:44):
understand our expertise and torecognize our value before they
form an opinion.
But the truth is that decisionsabout your credibility are
being made within seconds,sometimes before you even get a
chance to open your mouth.
Think about your ownexperiences.
How many times have you had aninteraction where it led you to
(01:06):
formulate an opinion that youmay have found out later on down
the road was not accurate?
But, in all honesty, thatinitial interaction, that
judgment that you made, was adetermining factor as to how you
took your next steps, whetheryou work with the person or not,
and that was based on thingslike how they may have responded
(01:26):
to not you, but someone elsethat you're watching.
It could have been whatcomments they made at a meeting.
That may or may not have beenthings that you resonated with.
Maybe it's whether or not youfelt acknowledged or valued when
you were in their presence.
The bottom line is that clientsdo the same thing when it comes
(01:47):
to evaluating us as consultants.
Before they have ever scheduleda call, they've already
formulated their initialimpression of us, and so
oftentimes, if you haven't giventhis a lot of thought, you
could be losing business beforethe conversation even starts.
So today, we're going to breakdown how to build trust before
(02:09):
you even meet a client, becausethis is going to ensure that you
are seen as an authority andthat you are making sure that
your name comes up every singletime as a possible option when
it comes to working with someonewho can provide a distinct
solution in your industry.
Now, before we dive deeper intothis episode, I wanted to take
(02:30):
this moment just to share withyou a tool that has been helping
me save a lot of time in mybusiness when it comes to market
research, as I have beennavigating this crazy industry,
and I'm sure you're doing thesame.
I've had to think about ways toreposition or change and
reframe my messaging so that Iam hitting the target when it
(02:52):
comes to what my clients aremost concerned about right now.
And if you've been doing thesame thing and finding yourself
becoming frustrated because youcan't figure out exactly what
your clients need, then I havethe tool that may help you out,
and it's called the ClientInsights Generator.
This personalized GPT helps youto identify your client's pain
(03:14):
points in a matter of seconds,and I don't mean just very
generic things.
I'm talking about those deepinsights that are from proven
and trusted data sources, and ithelps you to brainstorm some
service ideas that may actuallylead you to making quite a bit
of money.
So if you're interested, justclick the link in my description
(03:35):
and download.
It's free.
It's something I use all thetime and I hope you enjoy.
I started this episode talkingabout how we need to build trust
from day one.
Well, I really should have beensaying how we need to build
trust from day zero, meaningbefore we even have a
(03:56):
conversation or know that ourpotential client or prospect
exists, we need to be thinkingabout how we are showing up,
especially in this modern timeonline, thinking about our
digital footprint.
How are they first coming incontact with our brand?
Because by the time we hearfrom someone, we have either won
(04:18):
or lost business before theyeven made that call.
We just don't know to whatdegree, like we don't know to
what degree we have lostbusiness based upon what they
may have researched, what theymay have seen of us before they
got to that point, especiallyshowing up online.
As a matter of fact, I alwayslike to go back to the data.
(04:39):
When we look at a recent study,it showed that 81% of buyers do
online research before theymake a purchase decision and in
consulting.
That means that your onlinepresence is either working for
you or is working against you,whether you realize it or not.
That needs to be one of thefirst places.
(04:59):
We start.
First, when we think aboutonline presence and being in
this digital space, it's easy tofind information on one another
.
One of the first places thatclients are going to look is
going to be your website.
That's a no-brainer.
So when you think about yourwebsite, you want to make sure
that it's clear what you do andwho you serve and why you're
(05:24):
best at what you do, or does itleave people a little bit
confused?
You have to be honest withyourself when you're evaluating
those things, and I hear a lotof people talking about, oh, you
don't need a website.
A website is not a priority,and while I will say that you
can start consulting withouthaving a website I want that to
be extremely clear.
Consulting without having awebsite I want that to be
(05:48):
extremely clear.
A website does help to buildyour credibility because it is
one of those places that peopleare going to search and they're
going to look for and they thinkabout established businesses
having a website or a presenceonline.
So that is going to be helpfuland something that I always
recommend that my clients worktoward getting.
Now, when I'm working with earlystage consultants and new start
(06:11):
consultants, one of the thingsI like to stress is not having a
very big website that you havespent months and thousands of
dollars trying to create, not atthe beginning, because you are
often going to change yourapproach, your messaging, you're
gonna adapt, you're gonnaiterate and you don't want to
(06:33):
have to constantly be rebuildingthis site.
Instead, something simple likea very streamlined mini site
which will cost you less thanoftentimes $1,500, definitely
less than $2,000 to do is agreat place to start.
You can even start with a freewebsite, like on HubSpot.
The key is that it needs tojust be clear, clean and
(06:58):
professional.
So website is gonna be oneplace they look.
Another place is gonna be yourLinkedIn profile or even other
social sites, wherever you mostfrequently communicate with your
clients.
They're going to go to that asevidence of your business and
evidence of your credibility andstability of your business.
(07:20):
So you want that to positionyou as someone with authority.
You want it to read almost likea portfolio.
You want it to show your work,show your thought process, show
the impact that you've made onyour industry or the things that
your clients have said.
You want that to also be atouch point that works in your
(07:43):
favor.
And they're also going to lookfor social proof.
That's a no-brainer.
That's why testimonials andcase studies are so important.
Those are representative of thepast success that you've had
and so they are going to lookfor that in order to see have
you worked with someone before?
Do they have good things to sayabout you?
They may not always havesomeone that they can reach and
(08:04):
pick up the phone and call andask about working with you.
So they're going to look forthese types of things.
So I want you to ask yourself ifsomeone was to Google you today
.
As a matter of fact, hop onyour computer right now if
you're not driving.
Go on your computer If you aredriving.
Please don't do that, wait tillyou get settled.
And I want you to look yourselfup on Google.
(08:27):
That takes just a couple ofseconds.
And I want you to look ateverything that comes up under
your name and then ask yourselfdoes this screen trusted expert,
or are there some things onthere that will make somebody
skeptical?
Are they going to pull up somethings that are going to make
them question your credibilityas an expert?
Sometimes we're all surprisedwhat we find when we put our
(08:49):
name in.
You have to do this oftenbecause things get published and
posted that you may not havebeen aware of and some of it may
not be accurate.
It is always helpful to take thetime to do a self-audit.
Google yourself, check yourLinkedIn, check your social
sites, go over your website withfresh eyes and see if your
(09:13):
first impression is strong.
That's where you first need tostart Just making sure the
basics are covered.
Now, once you've gone throughthis process and you've looked
and you've checked online, yousay, oh, my website's pretty
good, my LinkedIn profile isclean.
I think it's professionals,representative of me and who I
am and what I do and my socialpresence I feel confident about.
(09:36):
Then the next step is toconsider the impression that
you're making when you firstmeet your client.
Are you creating a positiveconnection?
That is our ultimate goal.
We want to build relationships,and relationships come from
making positive connections andhaving those positive
(09:57):
interactions and being able toresonate with the people that we
wanna work with, and one of themost effective ways that I have
found to do this is to usestorytelling.
Now, most people think aboutstorytelling in business as
crafting something that's superpolished, that's some like
rehearsed narrative, somethingthat you've put together and
(10:20):
honed in the messaging on.
But really, in all honesty, yes, it can be that you can have a
very detailed and polished storythat you want to tell, but most
often is simply about showingpeople what drives your
decision-making, especially as aconsultant who is being seen as
(10:40):
an advisor and someone who isselling expertise, which is
something intangible.
They want to know that you arethe person that they can trust
to give them the proper guidanceand oftentimes, social proof
and testimonials.
While they're great and whilethey are definitely necessary,
(11:01):
they don't do this aseffectively because clients
don't just want to know what youdo.
They want to know why you do it.
They want to understand whetheror not you actually care about
their situation and what they'regoing through and whether
you're in this for the rightreasons.
And when you look in theconsulting space, some of the
(11:24):
firms and the industries thathave fallen under the most
scrutiny have fallen into thosesituations because they were not
seen as caring about theirclients first and foremost.
They were not seen as beinghonest and trustworthy and
willing to represent theirclient's best interests.
So we want to make sure that weare doing those things, and
(11:47):
storytelling can be one of thebest ways, I feel like, for you,
to communicate this information.
You may have heard me even tellmy story before about why I do
the work that I do.
One of the reasons why I'm socommitted to this mission and
goal of increasing the number ofsuccessful women in
(12:09):
entrepreneurial consulting,especially women of color, is
because I have been in thoserooms where I was the only woman
, and not only the only woman,but the only woman of color,
particularly a Black woman.
I felt in those spaces that Ihad to prove myself to be taken
seriously.
And let me be clear before youthink that, hey, that may have
(12:31):
been in your mind or it may justbeen how you were feeling at
that time.
That's not really always thecase.
It was real, it has been realand for me, all I can do is
speak my truth and my livedexperiences.
And because of that, because ofthese unspoken bias in
assumptions and way that myideas were sometimes dismissed
(12:55):
until someone else repeated them, it caused me to not want that
to happen to anyone else.
And also, when I watched thathappen to my colleagues that
also were women or someone froma marginalized group, it made me
feel that even more deeply.
That's a lot of why I do what Ido, because I truly honestly
(13:17):
believe that the industry needsto evolve.
So I'm not just giving you amade up story.
It is honestly what shapes myapproach to how I work, and I'm
sure you can think about whathas driven you into your space.
Why are you starting yourbusiness?
Why are you doing this?
Even if it's for a personalreason, even if it's for the
(13:38):
freedom and flexibility to bewith your family.
People will resonate with thosethings.
So that is what begins to buildtrust being able to not just
communicate what you will do andgive promises and guarantees,
but also for you to bevulnerable enough to share a
(14:01):
little bit about what makes youtick, why you do what you do.
And your story doesn't have tobe some wild client success
story.
It doesn't have to be this hugemajor triumph.
It just needs to show peoplewhat drives you.
They need to know what drivesyou to do your work, and when
they understand what drives you,they will know whether or not
(14:24):
that is something that they canresonate with, if they agree
with, and it puts the power intheir hands to determine whether
or not they want to moveforward.
Because clients can tell thedifference between someone who's
just looking for a check andsomeone who actually cares.
And if you've ever wondered whysometimes less experienced
(14:45):
consultants land these premiumclients while you may struggle
to get noticed, this is part ofthe reason why they may not have
reached your level of expertise, but one thing that they have
mastered is their ability tocommunicate their why and
therefore they win a trust gamebecause it's going to come back
(15:06):
to who do they trust the most.
So if that connection is therewith someone else although they
may not be as experienced as youthe client doesn't necessarily
know that it's that trust factorthat gives them the edge.
So, before your next clientmeeting or before you have their
next call, ask yourself why areyou doing the work that you do?
(15:30):
What drives your decisions?
And then, once you havecomplete and concrete
understanding of that, then Iwant you to focus on
communicating that in a way thatyour client will understand.
Because when clients believe inyour why, then they're gonna
trust your expertise.
But the trust has to be therefirst.
They have to have a reason tocare and if that trust isn't
(15:53):
there, it's going to be hard forthem to buy into the fact that
you are someone that they shouldbelieve in.
Because a lot of what we do inconsulting is based on
leadership through influencepeople to take action.
(16:14):
Through our ability toinfluence them with the
knowledge, the data, thestatistics, the reports, the
assessments, all those thingsthat we're able to do with that
strategy, we're influencingtheir behavior.
We can't force them to takeaction.
Remember that is all of itbuilt on trust.
And then the last thing I wantto stress is that preparation
will make or break yourcredibility.
I have watched the lack ofpreparation literally discredit
(16:40):
someone faster than any scandalcould ever do it Ever Early in
my career, I witnessed firsthanda senior level applicant who
had to give a presentation.
They were doing this as part ofthe application process.
They had to do a presentationin that process to be
interviewed.
This applicant came in withsuper solid CV, strong
(17:04):
credentials.
On paper, their presentationwas excellent.
They were phenomenal and beforethe point that we got to the
Q&A, they would have beenperfect for the role.
They would have been perfectfor that opportunity.
But why didn't they get it?
Because when it came toanswering questions, they froze,
(17:27):
they fumbled, they couldn't godeeper, they gave bad answers
and everything fell apart.
Everything fell apart.
And then, the moment they leftmy colleague and the other
decision makers at the table,they didn't just question the
(17:48):
presentation skills it wasn't aconversation about whether or
not this person just got nervousor whether they didn't do their
best on the presentation butthen everything else was
evaluated separately.
They questioned the entirety oftheir expertise.
They questioned everything andwhat made this more challenging
and more difficult for me isthat this happened, and I knew
(18:18):
in my heart that more thanlikely the nerves got to her
that day, but because of allthese other different factors,
including some preconceivednotions and stereotypes that may
have been at play, she didn'tget the benefit of the doubt,
and when you get down to it, alot of it came down to lack of
(18:39):
preparation, and so that's areality, especially in our field
, in consulting.
If you're not prepared, if youcan't think on your feet, if
you're not anticipatingchallenges, if you can't have
intelligent conversations aboutyour industry, then people are
gonna assume that you don't knowwhat you're doing.
Let me take this a step further, because I don't want you to
(18:59):
think that being prepared isjust about doing research and
making sure you have all theanswers and, honestly, even more
so than that.
It's about understanding yourclients beyond what they put in
marketing materials.
So it's not just about lookingon their website and trying to
figure out whether or not youknow enough about what they say
(19:20):
about their business.
It's about you diving a littlebit deeper and making sure you
have an understanding of what'shappening inside the
organization, beyond the surface, before you go into that
meeting and before you try topitch your services, have you
asked somebody what's happeningon the inside?
Do you know their key painpoints?
(19:41):
Not just the ones that they say, but the ones that they don't
fully acknowledge?
Yet Everyone that's going to sitaround that table, especially
if you're working in a corporateenvironment, has their own
agenda.
Do you have an idea of whateach of those individuals are
thinking?
And then the internal politicsthat may be at play?
(20:02):
Do you know who's really makingthe decision?
Are you talking to the rightperson?
Who has the influence in thatroom?
All of these things areimportant, and when we don't
consider them, it honestlybecomes a roadblock for us.
I want you to start goingbeyond Google.
It means talking to peopleinside the organization, reading
(20:24):
between the lines when it comesto looking at annual reports
and other reports they may putout, and simply being ready to
talk about things in that roomthat maybe your client didn't
expect you to know.
Now, I'm not talking aboutdropping some big bomb a secret,
because we want to make surethat we know we're not making a
(20:45):
big mistake.
We want to make sure we knowwhat we're talking about, but my
point is to be prepared.
My goal is not for you to havea lot of anxiety about knowing
everything.
You don't have to knoweverything.
As a matter of fact, one of thebiggest mistakes that I see new
consultants make is thinkingthey need to have an answer for
(21:07):
everything that is asked.
And there is absolutely nothingwrong with saying that's a
great question.
I love to dig into that furtherfor you and follow up with you.
Or even just flat out, I don'tknow.
Or even just flat out, I don'tknow.
That is not a problem.
What's not okay is making upsomething Just to sound smart.
(21:27):
And listen, I have had a numberof my I hate to pick on my male
colleagues, but, yes, a numberof them will talk off the side
of their hip and they will givean answer that I am looking at
them and thinking to myself nowyou know good and well, that's
not the answer.
Oh, you know we don't do that,but sometimes people feel like
(21:48):
they have to make up somethingjust to sound smart.
They have to find a way to justgive an answer, and that is a
one-way ticket to losing trust.
Bottom line is this If you wantto be seen as someone that is
(22:08):
trusted from the very start, youhave to be more prepared than
the average person.
If you want people to trust you,you have to show up like you
already understand their worldto some extent and if you don't
know it, own it.
It's okay to own it.
Research it.
Come back with a strongeranswer, because trust isn't just
(22:31):
about confidence and beingall-knowing.
Trust is also about beingcompetent competent.
So I'm hoping that you see andthink about all of these things
when establishing trust from thestart.
Thinking about how you'representing yourself on online
(22:52):
storytelling, and understandinghow to dive a lot deeper in
preparation before you meet withclients All of these things
will help build your credibility.
So my challenge to you is thatthis week, I want you to take
one of these steps.
I want you to define your whyand then practice articulating
(23:12):
it often, because the morecomfortable you get with sharing
why you do what you do, themore genuine it's going to come
across and the more trustworthyyou's going to come across and
the more trustworthy you'regoing to sound.
Another thing you can do is doa deep dive on a potential
client before your next meeting.
Go out of your way to try andfind out something that they
(23:34):
didn't tell you up front.
I think you'll be verysurprised how they're going to
respond.
And then, if you don't haveopportunity to do one of those
two things and maybe you knowyour why already start getting
comfortable with saying I don'tknow.
But I'll get back to youBecause I'm sure you're going to
have a question sometime thisweek that is going to stump you,
(23:57):
and it's okay to say that youdon't know.
Look, if this episode hit home,I want you to know that this is
exactly what I help my clientsmaster, because it's about being
positioned so that the rightclients see you as the only
choice.
And when you do that, you don'thave to chase clients.
You don't have to proveyourself over and over again or
(24:20):
lower your rates just to compete.
The thing is, when you are ableto build this level of trust,
then you are ready to shift howyou show up in your industry.
So if any of this resonateswith you and you want to talk
further and chat, feel free toDM me on Instagram or LinkedIn
(24:41):
at Dr Angelina Davis.
But as we move forward to ournext episode, the one thing that
I want to start talking aboutis how we overcome these
different preconceived notionsand skepticism that exists,
especially when it comes to usas women, especially women of
color and consulting and othermarginalized groups.
How do we tackle that and stillbuild the trust that we need in
(25:05):
order to build a bigger andbetter business that truly
thrives?
That's going to be a greatconversation, so I hope that you
tune back in and, until then,make sure that you share this
episode with a friend.
Leave your five-star review onApple Podcasts or Spotify if you
enjoyed this episode or anyother, and I can't wait to talk
to you again next time.
(25:26):
Take care.
Hello and welcome to the Black Girls Consult 2
podcast.
I'm your host, dr AngelinaDavis, and I wanna welcome you
to the podcast that's dedicatedto helping you build your
consulting business and thrivingin this new era.
So we have been in a discussionabout trust and building a
business in the trust economy.
(00:20):
So this episode is going todive a little bit deeper into
that and move us from what trustactually means in our business
to really talking about how webuild that trust from day one.
Because, let's be real, firstimpressions matter.
They matter more than we wouldlike to admit, and it would be
great if people took the time toget to know us and to
(00:44):
understand our expertise and torecognize our value before they
form an opinion.
But the truth is that decisionsabout your credibility are
being made within seconds,sometimes before you even get a
chance to open your mouth.
Think about your ownexperiences.
How many times have you had aninteraction where it led you to
(01:06):
formulate an opinion that youmay have found out later on down
the road was not accurate?
But, in all honesty, thatinitial interaction, that
judgment that you made, was adetermining factor as to how you
took your next steps, whetheryou work with the person or not,
and that was based on thingslike how they may have responded
(01:26):
to not you, but someone elsethat you're watching.
It could have been whatcomments they made at a meeting.
That may or may not have beenthings that you resonated with.
Maybe it's whether or not youfelt acknowledged or valued when
you were in their presence.
The bottom line is that clientsdo the same thing when it comes
(01:47):
to evaluating us as consultants.
Before they have ever scheduleda call, they've already
formulated their initialimpression of us, and so
oftentimes, if you haven't giventhis a lot of thought, you
could be losing business beforethe conversation even starts.
So today, we're going to breakdown how to build trust before
(02:09):
you even meet a client, becausethis is going to ensure that you
are seen as an authority andthat you are making sure that
your name comes up every singletime as a possible option when
it comes to working with someonewho can provide a distinct
solution in your industry.
Now, before we dive deeper intothis episode, I wanted to take
(02:30):
this moment just to share withyou a tool that has been helping
me save a lot of time in mybusiness when it comes to market
research, as I have beennavigating this crazy industry,
and I'm sure you're doing thesame.
I've had to think about ways toreposition or change and
reframe my messaging so that Iam hitting the target when it
(02:52):
comes to what my clients aremost concerned about right now.
And if you've been doing thesame thing and finding yourself
becoming frustrated because youcan't figure out exactly what
your clients need, then I havethe tool that may help you out,
and it's called the ClientInsights Generator.
This personalized GPT helps youto identify your client's pain
(03:14):
points in a matter of seconds,and I don't mean just very
generic things.
I'm talking about those deepinsights that are from proven
and trusted data sources, and ithelps you to brainstorm some
service ideas that may actuallylead you to making quite a bit
of money.
So if you're interested, justclick the link in my description
(03:35):
and download.
It's free.
It's something I use all thetime and I hope you enjoy.
I started this episode talkingabout how we need to build trust
from day one.
Well, I really should have beensaying how we need to build
trust from day zero, meaningbefore we even have a
(03:56):
conversation or know that ourpotential client or prospect
exists, we need to be thinkingabout how we are showing up,
especially in this modern timeonline, thinking about our
digital footprint.
How are they first coming incontact with our brand?
Because by the time we hearfrom someone, we have either won
(04:18):
or lost business before theyeven made that call.
We just don't know to whatdegree, like we don't know to
what degree we have lostbusiness based upon what they
may have researched, what theymay have seen of us before they
got to that point, especiallyshowing up online.
As a matter of fact, I alwayslike to go back to the data.
(04:39):
When we look at a recent study,it showed that 81% of buyers do
online research before theymake a purchase decision and in
consulting.
That means that your onlinepresence is either working for
you or is working against you,whether you realize it or not.
That needs to be one of thefirst places.
(04:59):
We start.
First, when we think aboutonline presence and being in
this digital space, it's easy tofind information on one another
.
One of the first places thatclients are going to look is
going to be your website.
That's a no-brainer.
So when you think about yourwebsite, you want to make sure
that it's clear what you do andwho you serve and why you're
(05:24):
best at what you do, or does itleave people a little bit
confused?
You have to be honest withyourself when you're evaluating
those things, and I hear a lotof people talking about, oh, you
don't need a website.
A website is not a priority,and while I will say that you
can start consulting withouthaving a website I want that to
be extremely clear.
Consulting without having awebsite I want that to be
(05:48):
extremely clear.
A website does help to buildyour credibility because it is
one of those places that peopleare going to search and they're
going to look for and they thinkabout established businesses
having a website or a presenceonline.
So that is going to be helpfuland something that I always
recommend that my clients worktoward getting.
Now, when I'm working with earlystage consultants and new start
(06:11):
consultants, one of the thingsI like to stress is not having a
very big website that you havespent months and thousands of
dollars trying to create, not atthe beginning, because you are
often going to change yourapproach, your messaging, you're
gonna adapt, you're gonnaiterate and you don't want to
(06:33):
have to constantly be rebuildingthis site.
Instead, something simple likea very streamlined mini site
which will cost you less thanoftentimes $1,500, definitely
less than $2,000 to do is agreat place to start.
You can even start with a freewebsite, like on HubSpot.
The key is that it needs tojust be clear, clean and
(06:58):
professional.
So website is gonna be oneplace they look.
Another place is gonna be yourLinkedIn profile or even other
social sites, wherever you mostfrequently communicate with your
clients.
They're going to go to that asevidence of your business and
evidence of your credibility andstability of your business.
(07:20):
So you want that to positionyou as someone with authority.
You want it to read almost likea portfolio.
You want it to show your work,show your thought process, show
the impact that you've made onyour industry or the things that
your clients have said.
You want that to also be atouch point that works in your
(07:43):
favor.
And they're also going to lookfor social proof.
That's a no-brainer.
That's why testimonials andcase studies are so important.
Those are representative of thepast success that you've had
and so they are going to lookfor that in order to see have
you worked with someone before?
Do they have good things to sayabout you?
They may not always havesomeone that they can reach and
(08:04):
pick up the phone and call andask about working with you.
So they're going to look forthese types of things.
So I want you to ask yourself ifsomeone was to Google you today
.
As a matter of fact, hop onyour computer right now if
you're not driving.
Go on your computer If you aredriving.
Please don't do that, wait tillyou get settled.
And I want you to look yourselfup on Google.
(08:27):
That takes just a couple ofseconds.
And I want you to look ateverything that comes up under
your name and then ask yourselfdoes this screen trusted expert,
or are there some things onthere that will make somebody
skeptical?
Are they going to pull up somethings that are going to make
them question your credibilityas an expert?
Sometimes we're all surprisedwhat we find when we put our
(08:49):
name in.
You have to do this oftenbecause things get published and
posted that you may not havebeen aware of and some of it may
not be accurate.
It is always helpful to take thetime to do a self-audit.
Google yourself, check yourLinkedIn, check your social
sites, go over your website withfresh eyes and see if your
(09:13):
first impression is strong.
That's where you first need tostart Just making sure the
basics are covered.
Now, once you've gone throughthis process and you've looked
and you've checked online, yousay, oh, my website's pretty
good, my LinkedIn profile isclean.
I think it's professionals,representative of me and who I
am and what I do and my socialpresence I feel confident about.
(09:36):
Then the next step is toconsider the impression that
you're making when you firstmeet your client.
Are you creating a positiveconnection?
That is our ultimate goal.
We want to build relationships,and relationships come from
making positive connections andhaving those positive
(09:57):
interactions and being able toresonate with the people that we
wanna work with, and one of themost effective ways that I have
found to do this is to usestorytelling.
Now, most people think aboutstorytelling in business as
crafting something that's superpolished, that's some like
rehearsed narrative, somethingthat you've put together and
(10:20):
honed in the messaging on.
But really, in all honesty, yes, it can be that you can have a
very detailed and polished storythat you want to tell, but most
often is simply about showingpeople what drives your
decision-making, especially as aconsultant who is being seen as
(10:40):
an advisor and someone who isselling expertise, which is
something intangible.
They want to know that you arethe person that they can trust
to give them the proper guidanceand oftentimes, social proof
and testimonials.
While they're great and whilethey are definitely necessary,
(11:01):
they don't do this aseffectively because clients
don't just want to know what youdo.
They want to know why you do it.
They want to understand whetheror not you actually care about
their situation and what they'regoing through and whether
you're in this for the rightreasons.
And when you look in theconsulting space, some of the
(11:24):
firms and the industries thathave fallen under the most
scrutiny have fallen into thosesituations because they were not
seen as caring about theirclients first and foremost.
They were not seen as beinghonest and trustworthy and
willing to represent theirclient's best interests.
So we want to make sure that weare doing those things, and
(11:47):
storytelling can be one of thebest ways, I feel like, for you,
to communicate this information.
You may have heard me even tellmy story before about why I do
the work that I do.
One of the reasons why I'm socommitted to this mission and
goal of increasing the number ofsuccessful women in
(12:09):
entrepreneurial consulting,especially women of color, is
because I have been in thoserooms where I was the only woman
, and not only the only woman,but the only woman of color,
particularly a Black woman.
I felt in those spaces that Ihad to prove myself to be taken
seriously.
And let me be clear before youthink that, hey, that may have
(12:31):
been in your mind or it may justbeen how you were feeling at
that time.
That's not really always thecase.
It was real, it has been realand for me, all I can do is
speak my truth and my livedexperiences.
And because of that, because ofthese unspoken bias in
assumptions and way that myideas were sometimes dismissed
(12:55):
until someone else repeated them, it caused me to not want that
to happen to anyone else.
And also, when I watched thathappen to my colleagues that
also were women or someone froma marginalized group, it made me
feel that even more deeply.
That's a lot of why I do what Ido, because I truly honestly
(13:17):
believe that the industry needsto evolve.
So I'm not just giving you amade up story.
It is honestly what shapes myapproach to how I work, and I'm
sure you can think about whathas driven you into your space.
Why are you starting yourbusiness?
Why are you doing this?
Even if it's for a personalreason, even if it's for the
(13:38):
freedom and flexibility to bewith your family.
People will resonate with thosethings.
So that is what begins to buildtrust being able to not just
communicate what you will do andgive promises and guarantees,
but also for you to bevulnerable enough to share a
(14:01):
little bit about what makes youtick, why you do what you do.
And your story doesn't have tobe some wild client success
story.
It doesn't have to be this hugemajor triumph.
It just needs to show peoplewhat drives you.
They need to know what drivesyou to do your work, and when
they understand what drives you,they will know whether or not
(14:24):
that is something that they canresonate with, if they agree
with, and it puts the power intheir hands to determine whether
or not they want to moveforward.
Because clients can tell thedifference between someone who's
just looking for a check andsomeone who actually cares.
And if you've ever wondered whysometimes less experienced
(14:45):
consultants land these premiumclients while you may struggle
to get noticed, this is part ofthe reason why they may not have
reached your level of expertise, but one thing that they have
mastered is their ability tocommunicate their why and
therefore they win a trust gamebecause it's going to come back
(15:06):
to who do they trust the most.
So if that connection is therewith someone else although they
may not be as experienced as youthe client doesn't necessarily
know that it's that trust factorthat gives them the edge.
So, before your next clientmeeting or before you have their
next call, ask yourself why areyou doing the work that you do?
(15:30):
What drives your decisions?
And then, once you havecomplete and concrete
understanding of that, then Iwant you to focus on
communicating that in a way thatyour client will understand.
Because when clients believe inyour why, then they're gonna
trust your expertise.
But the trust has to be therefirst.
They have to have a reason tocare and if that trust isn't
(15:53):
there, it's going to be hard forthem to buy into the fact that
you are someone that they shouldbelieve in.
Because a lot of what we do inconsulting is based on
leadership through influencepeople to take action.
(16:14):
Through our ability toinfluence them with the
knowledge, the data, thestatistics, the reports, the
assessments, all those thingsthat we're able to do with that
strategy, we're influencingtheir behavior.
We can't force them to takeaction.
Remember that is all of itbuilt on trust.
And then the last thing I wantto stress is that preparation
will make or break yourcredibility.
I have watched the lack ofpreparation literally discredit
(16:40):
someone faster than any scandalcould ever do it Ever Early in
my career, I witnessed firsthanda senior level applicant who
had to give a presentation.
They were doing this as part ofthe application process.
They had to do a presentationin that process to be
interviewed.
This applicant came in withsuper solid CV, strong
(17:04):
credentials.
On paper, their presentationwas excellent.
They were phenomenal and beforethe point that we got to the
Q&A, they would have beenperfect for the role.
They would have been perfectfor that opportunity.
But why didn't they get it?
Because when it came toanswering questions, they froze,
(17:27):
they fumbled, they couldn't godeeper, they gave bad answers
and everything fell apart.
Everything fell apart.
And then, the moment they leftmy colleague and the other
decision makers at the table,they didn't just question the
(17:48):
presentation skills it wasn't aconversation about whether or
not this person just got nervousor whether they didn't do their
best on the presentation butthen everything else was
evaluated separately.
They questioned the entirety oftheir expertise.
They questioned everything andwhat made this more challenging
and more difficult for me isthat this happened, and I knew
(18:18):
in my heart that more thanlikely the nerves got to her
that day, but because of allthese other different factors,
including some preconceivednotions and stereotypes that may
have been at play, she didn'tget the benefit of the doubt,
and when you get down to it, alot of it came down to lack of
(18:39):
preparation, and so that's areality, especially in our field
, in consulting.
If you're not prepared, if youcan't think on your feet, if
you're not anticipatingchallenges, if you can't have
intelligent conversations aboutyour industry, then people are
gonna assume that you don't knowwhat you're doing.
Let me take this a step further, because I don't want you to
(18:59):
think that being prepared isjust about doing research and
making sure you have all theanswers and, honestly, even more
so than that.
It's about understanding yourclients beyond what they put in
marketing materials.
So it's not just about lookingon their website and trying to
figure out whether or not youknow enough about what they say
(19:20):
about their business.
It's about you diving a littlebit deeper and making sure you
have an understanding of what'shappening inside the
organization, beyond the surface, before you go into that
meeting and before you try topitch your services, have you
asked somebody what's happeningon the inside?
Do you know their key painpoints?
(19:41):
Not just the ones that they say, but the ones that they don't
fully acknowledge?
Yet Everyone that's going to sitaround that table, especially
if you're working in a corporateenvironment, has their own
agenda.
Do you have an idea of whateach of those individuals are
thinking?
And then the internal politicsthat may be at play?
(20:02):
Do you know who's really makingthe decision?
Are you talking to the rightperson?
Who has the influence in thatroom?
All of these things areimportant, and when we don't
consider them, it honestlybecomes a roadblock for us.
I want you to start goingbeyond Google.
It means talking to peopleinside the organization, reading
(20:24):
between the lines when it comesto looking at annual reports
and other reports they may putout, and simply being ready to
talk about things in that roomthat maybe your client didn't
expect you to know.
Now, I'm not talking aboutdropping some big bomb a secret,
because we want to make surethat we know we're not making a
(20:45):
big mistake.
We want to make sure we knowwhat we're talking about, but my
point is to be prepared.
My goal is not for you to havea lot of anxiety about knowing
everything.
You don't have to knoweverything.
As a matter of fact, one of thebiggest mistakes that I see new
consultants make is thinkingthey need to have an answer for
(21:07):
everything that is asked.
And there is absolutely nothingwrong with saying that's a
great question.
I love to dig into that furtherfor you and follow up with you.
Or even just flat out, I don'tknow.
Or even just flat out, I don'tknow.
That is not a problem.
What's not okay is making upsomething Just to sound smart.
(21:27):
And listen, I have had a numberof my I hate to pick on my male
colleagues, but, yes, a numberof them will talk off the side
of their hip and they will givean answer that I am looking at
them and thinking to myself nowyou know good and well, that's
not the answer.
Oh, you know we don't do that,but sometimes people feel like
(21:48):
they have to make up somethingjust to sound smart.
They have to find a way to justgive an answer, and that is a
one-way ticket to losing trust.
Bottom line is this If you wantto be seen as someone that is
(22:08):
trusted from the very start, youhave to be more prepared than
the average person.
If you want people to trust you,you have to show up like you
already understand their worldto some extent and if you don't
know it, own it.
It's okay to own it.
Research it.
Come back with a strongeranswer, because trust isn't just
(22:31):
about confidence and beingall-knowing.
Trust is also about beingcompetent competent.
So I'm hoping that you see andthink about all of these things
when establishing trust from thestart.
Thinking about how you'representing yourself on online
(22:52):
storytelling, and understandinghow to dive a lot deeper in
preparation before you meet withclients All of these things
will help build your credibility.
So my challenge to you is thatthis week, I want you to take
one of these steps.
I want you to define your whyand then practice articulating
(23:12):
it often, because the morecomfortable you get with sharing
why you do what you do, themore genuine it's going to come
across and the more trustworthyyou's going to come across and
the more trustworthy you'regoing to sound.
Another thing you can do is doa deep dive on a potential
client before your next meeting.
Go out of your way to try andfind out something that they
(23:34):
didn't tell you up front.
I think you'll be verysurprised how they're going to
respond.
And then, if you don't haveopportunity to do one of those
two things and maybe you knowyour why already start getting
comfortable with saying I don'tknow.
But I'll get back to youBecause I'm sure you're going to
have a question sometime thisweek that is going to stump you,
(23:57):
and it's okay to say that youdon't know.
Look, if this episode hit home,I want you to know that this is
exactly what I help my clientsmaster, because it's about being
positioned so that the rightclients see you as the only
choice.
And when you do that, you don'thave to chase clients.
You don't have to proveyourself over and over again or
(24:20):
lower your rates just to compete.
The thing is, when you are ableto build this level of trust,
then you are ready to shift howyou show up in your industry.
So if any of this resonateswith you and you want to talk
further and chat, feel free toDM me on Instagram or LinkedIn
(24:41):
at Dr Angelina Davis.
But as we move forward to ournext episode, the one thing that
I want to start talking aboutis how we overcome these
different preconceived notionsand skepticism that exists,
especially when it comes to usas women, especially women of
color and consulting and othermarginalized groups.
How do we tackle that and stillbuild the trust that we need in
(25:05):
order to build a bigger andbetter business that truly
thrives?
That's going to be a greatconversation, so I hope that you
tune back in and, until then,make sure that you share this
episode with a friend.
Leave your five-star review onApple Podcasts or Spotify if you
enjoyed this episode or anyother, and I can't wait to talk
to you again next time.
(25:26):
Take care.
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