Buyers are sceptical. They’ve had their fingers burned too often. Too many purchases where the invoice beat the promised delivery. Your buyers and referrers want reassurance that you are qualified to deliver the services you offer.
This is not about pieces of paper, years of study or letters after your name though these might be important in some circumstances. It’s about establishing your credibility. This is the theme of our networking introductions in July 2026…
What qualifies/equips you to do what you do?
Did you serve an apprenticeship or follow an accredited training programme? What was involved? What qualifications did it lead to? How have you built on that experience?
Stained glass designer, Zoe Angle, tells us about some of the projects she worked on during her apprenticeship with one of London’s biggest stained-glass companies. It makes her stand out from competitors who started as hobbyists.
Did your career start with a university or college course? How did you turn academic study into practical experience? How does that combination make you the perfect choice for your clients?
Perhaps your work has grown from a hobby or passion project. How did you move from amateur to professional? How does that experience serve your clients?
Have you taken experience gained in the corporate or public service world and turned that into a business? What’s the benefit of your experience to your clients?
What makes you stand out from your competitors?
You are uniquely you. No-one else will have the exact same experience. No-one else will be able to bring your character and personality to their work.
How would you describe your fitness for a role in one, maximum two sentences? Those are the sentences we want to hear. We want to be able to ‘sell’ you to a sceptical prospect in a way that makes them want to have a conversation with you.
Do you have qualifications that many of your competitors don’t? Are those qualifications important to your potential customers? If so we need to know how well qualified you are and that you meet the minimum requirements for a piece of work.
Healer Anita Chakraburtty recognises that, with the range of services she offers, she could be seen as a Jack of all trades master of none, but she has a list of professional qualifications that would put most of us to shame.
How do you stay up to date?
Are you required to undertake continuing professional development? How do you do that? Is continuous learning important to you? Do you have a particular area of interest? How does this benefit your clients?
Can you give us an example of how you have applied your recent learning to help your clients?
Using your testimonials to substantiate your credibility.
Qualifications and experience only go so far in assuaging the doubt of the sceptical prospect. Do you have a testimonial that support what you are saying? If so share it. Most of us are British. We don’t like blowing our own trumpets, but modesty isn’t likely to win you customers. Sharing testimonials will get you round that hurdle.
Your challenge.
You’ll have around a minute to make your introduction. The chances are you won’t reassure us with a winged performance. Take a few minutes to prepare. What are the most important points to include? What will make us sit up and listen?
Here are a couple of examples to get you thinking…
- Did you know that in the UK anyone can call themselves an accountant? But if you are a director of a limited company you are legally responsible for filing accurate annual accounts with Companies House. Wouldn’t you want the reassurance that your accountant is professionally qualified and up to date with all the latest requirements? As a Chartered Accountant with 20 years if experience and glowing testimonials from more than 100 clients I can offer you that reassurance.
- I’ve always loved interior design and have helped family and friends with projects for years. When I decided to turn that passion into a career I realised that my prospects would expect more than an amateur sketch on a vision board so I took myself off to the School of Interior Design to get a proper professional qualification. Since then I’ve had glowing reviews from clients, been featured in design magazines and won contracts to design for a major hotel chain.
I’ll look forward to hearing what qualifies or equips you to offer your services. Now I’m off to think how I’ll sum up 50 years of experience into a minute or so that you’ll want to listen to.
