Top 10 Credibility Builders
Legendary “60 Minutes” reporter Mike Wallace once said: “If there’s anything that’s important to a reporter, it is integrity. It is credibility.” The same should be true for every management team. Credibility with The Street – both on the buy side and the sell side – is an extremely important element in a successful investor relations program. In this month’s Top 10 list, we offer simple practices that help build and maintain corporate credibility.
- First and Foremost: Under-promise and over-deliver.
- Make sure your message and metrics are consistent.
- Provide the appropriate level of financial transparency.
- Rip the band aid off: when a problem arises in your business, address it quickly and decisively.
- Stay visible in good times and bad.
- Praise your team when things go well, take the blame when they don’t.
- Don’t sell it…tell it. The harder you sell, the less they listen!
- Make your story simple to understand.
- Admit when a mistake is made; describe what you learned and how you are going to fix it.
- Follow up: make sure you circle back when you don’t know the answer.
Each month, we offer another Top 10 list. Did you miss last month’s list? Be sure to follow us on Twitter or on LinkedIn, subscribe to our RSS feed, or sign up to receive our monthly email newsletter so that you won’t miss a future post.
For more IR advice, download our free webinar – “How Does the Sell-Side Really Look at Companies?” You’ll hear directly from a panel of Wall Street experts on how to best communicate with both buy- and sell-side analysts. View it now.
Bob East co-founded Westwicke is 2006. Since then, Bob has managed the firm’s strategic direction and led Westwicke's healthcare services and HCIT practice. He has worked with companies representing all aspects of the healthcare services spectrum. Bob received a BA in finance from Loyola College in Baltimore.
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