Episode 36: How ‘legit’ do you look?

A consultant in the US booked a discovery call in with me the other day.

When we jumped on the call I asked her how she had heard about me because she wasn't in any of my lists.

She said that she was looking for help growing her consultancy, did a Google, found a few people and reached out to me because, I quote, I looked the most legit.

At the time, I was like huh. That's clever. I'm going to use "how legit do you look" as a content idea in the future. 

And then my sister and I were looking for a ferry company to take us to one of the islands near Bali.

Becky said to me, I quote, I've done some research and I think this ferry company looks the most legit.

And I was like, Huh. Here it is again.

Even though you would assume that all ferry companies here would be legit - that was obviously something that Becky was looking for when filtering and making her decision.

AND THEN, I was on the phone to a client a few days ago and we were talking about lead generation stuff...

And she said that she needed to spruce up her LinkedIn profile so that it, I quote, looked "more legit" to the people we were trying to contact.

And now, maybe because it's in my Reticular Activating System, I keep hearing this term everywhere.

And it's made me think...

The term "looked the most legit" IS the term people use, themselves, to describe the process they go through when researching and making a purchasing decision.

And I think it's a great shorthand way to describe how buyers behave because it's very much based on feeling.

They don't just read your website.

They scan everything to get a sense of trust and they're stacking up clues as to decide whether you look "legit" or not.

It’s gut feel meets Google.

And in a noisy market, looking legit becomes the shortcut to being chosen.

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So if you want more clients for your consultancy, the question you really need to ask yourself is how 'legit' do you look to people who don't know you. 

And that is what this podcast episode is all about. 

I want us to take this opportunity to take a big step back, look at the way you're presenting yourself to the outside world and objectively question how legit you look. 

Because as we've already discussed, this is probably one of the most effective ways to make yourself look more trustworthy and credible to prospective clients looking for a HR consultant. 

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Okay, so what are the things we need to look at to see if you look legit or not? 

So when I was thinking about the best way to talk you through this, I thought it would actually be better to follow the prospect journey. 

So to that end,  let's imagine that you're a business owner and you're looking for a HR consultant in your area or chosen industry. 

First you'll go to Google and then you'll type in HR consultant near me or whatever and your website will come up. 

So the first thing we need to make sure is that you have a website. 

That kind of goes without saying, but you'll be surprised at the amount of consultants just starting out that ask me if this is necessary or not. 

Okay, so there's two ways your website will appear organically. 

Either as an organic listing which is just how your website shows.

Or within the local pack which is maps. 

As a marketer, what we're looking to do is increase click-through rate to your website in Google. 

For the organic listing, we can do this by making your metadata is as good as it possibly can be. 

That's the title, description and other things that may show on Google when your website appears. 

And then within the local pack, this is very much based upon location but also your SEO in general. 

But the most obvious thing Google are featuring here is how many Google reviews you have. 

So if we just summarise this step, in order to look more legit to people searching for an HR consultant on Google you need to...

1, obviously have a website 
2, have carefully written metadata 
3, have Google reviews 

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Okay so let's imagine that the business owner has now clicked onto your website. 

The first thing they're going to get a feel for is your branding. 

A lot of people underestimate the power of brand. 

For me, brand underpins pretty much everything you do. 

And there's a very famous brand book that describes brand and visual design as the language of feeling which, I think, is very poignant and powerful. 

So to that end, we would need to ask ourselves what feelings are we left with when looking at your brand and website for the very first time. 

This is all about shaping perception, making a strong first impression, and emotionally connecting with your audience.

Both you and I have gone onto a website before and we've clicked straight off it without really giving it the time it probably deserves. 

Why? 

Because something doesn't feel quite right. 

And this is down to their branding. 

So, in order to look more legit to business owner, you need to get your brand right first. 

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Okay, so now the business owner is scrolling and scanning through your home page.
 
They're scanning your headlines. 

They're looking at the images. 

They're looking for evidence that you're a great HR consultant. 

And they're looking for clear actions to do next.  

As a consultancy owner, you have to think about this and give them all of the information and answers they're looking for.
 
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In terms of content, your headlines need to grab their attention, poke the pain and provide a solution. 

In terms of images, they need to see real-life photos of you and your team. 

Consultancy-style photos are awesome for this. 

In terms of evidence that you're a great HR consultant...
 
They want to see testimonials, 5-star ratings, case studies and evidence that you work with lots of happy business owners. 

They also want to see industry stuff... 

So what software companies do you partner with. 

What are your accreditations. 

What thought leadership pieces are you doing. 

And then in terms of clear actions as to do next... 
 
They want to learn more about you from your About Us page. 
 
They want to learn more about your services from your services page. 

And then they want to know how they contact you, via the contact page. 

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If you look at loads of website analytics, this is the typical user journey that people go through. 

They land on your home page. 
They go to your About Us page to check you out more on a personal level. 
They check out your Services page. 
And they then contact you. 

And this is why I want you to feature these sections on your home page too. 

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Okay so let's imagine they've now gone to your About Us page. 

They'll want to learn more about you, your history and what you stand for. 

They'll want to see lovely pictures of you. 

If you have a team, they'll want to see a team bio of everyone too. 

They want to know what skills and experience you have. 

And any other personal information that will help them to believe you're a real, legit person that can actually help them with their HR. 

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When they go to your services page, you ideally want to have an individual service page for each of the services you provide. 

Each service page needs to have information about the service itself. 

How the services are delivered. 

Examples of the services you have delivered. 

And evidence that you've done a great job at delivering those services. 

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And then on your contact page, they need to have clear and easy ways to contact you. 

I know so many consultants still operating off their Gmail or Outlook emails. 
 
So if you're offering email, create a company one. 

Why? Because this makes you look more legit. 

And use a diary booking system etc. 

On this page, also reassure them that you offer a free 30-minute chat without any obligation as they might be worried about getting an invoice. 

You need to give them all of the reassurances they need to take that leap of faith to book in a call with you. 

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Okay, so what I've done here is whizz through the typical journey a new prospect would take if they're looking for a HR consultant via Google and they're checking out to see how legit you are. 

A great action for you would be to open an incognito window, follow this journey yourself and objectively review how legit you look. 

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This is something that I'd LOVE to help you with. 

If you'd like to jump on a free 30-minute call to go through this together, I'd LOVE to give you my perspective and advice. 

And together, we can create a plan of action to help you appear more legit to business owners who might not know you. 

Get in touch and let's book in a call.