The Six Currencies of Credibility is an operating system designed to manage the signals your actions send. This is a valuable marketing tool since a strong signal can slice through the clutter of ad-speak; boosting your company’s credibility and persuading truth-thirsty customers to take the action you’d like them to take.
But a word of caution before you jump in: As with words, signals vary greatly in their ability to persuade. A signal’s strength is dependent on three critical factors:
The Three Factors of Signal Strength:
- Investment - The more you risk or spend, the stronger the signal. The amount of your investment can come from a heavy dose of a single currency or smaller doses of any combination of them. It need not matter. What’s critical is the total perceived investment of your actions.
- Relevancy – The more you address the customer’s felt need, the stronger the signal. Powerful signals always reduce the customer’s uncertainty of making a purchase.
- Exclusivity – The fewer competitors you have mimicking your signal, the stronger the signal. Customers don’t make decisions in a vacuum. Every buying decision involves a comparison of choices. And the exclusivity of a signal is the degree to which you can elevate your business from your competition; helping customers filter out inferior choices.
Imagine if Ford actually gave consumers a compelling reason to “Drive One”; providing every vehicle they sell with a no fine print, bumper-to-bumper warranty that included coverage on wear and tear items such as wiper blades, tires and brakes. No exceptions. No exclusions.
Ford’s smack-you-between-the-eyes warranty would attract customers by appealing to a much stronger felt need than that of price: the desire to own a reliable, maintenance-free car. Ford could then budget for the signal by eliminating the gimmicky, clichéd sales events that every major auto manufacturer finds addictive. They simply wouldn’t have play the discount game any longer.
As for exclusivity?
Most of the bull-headed auto manufacturers would be reluctant to match this warranty; preferring to sit back and wait for this strategy to backfire on Ford. This head start would give Ford plenty of opportunity to capture sales and market share.
What this means to you: The key to persuasive communication – using any method or tool – is understanding the key elements that give a message it’s weight of influence. Actions sending the most powerful and persuasive signals will be those that are exclusive, address the customer’s felt need and have a high degree of perceived investment.
Stay tuned and in future posts I’ll share with you more case studies of signal strength.
Tom is in high demand as a 
