Is your business credible?

If you’re on the fence about whether to jump into having a cheap virtual office with the Hoxton Mix, one of the things that you should recognise as an important benefit is the possibility of having your company address at a prestigious London location.

In one of our previous posts we talked about what credibility indicators your business is using. So before we get to why we think having a London address is one of those key credibility indicators, let’s remind ourselves of the main factors in getting someone to buy from you.

• You are seen as a trusted expert in your field.
• There is a sense of reciprocity between you and your customers.
• Your customers get value from your ideas or from buying your goods.
• You have a visible community of happy clients (ie social proof).
• You are creating scarcity through physical or time limitations and thus triggering desire and action.

Which of these elements are you using to keep your customers coming back for more? Do you know which of these that a “London address” fits into and why?

London has long been a place of “power”, a place where national and international leaders meet and influence how our country is run. It’s a place where the famous come to launch their next big thing and in so doing hope to increase their fortunes. And it’s a place where big businesses succeed (and fail) on a big scale.

The largest businesses in the world have their offices here, and right alongside them, the trendiest and most cutting edge artists make their music or paint their next work of art. It’s become known as a place to achieve your goals and dreams and having an address here in London makes a statement; “I’m here and part of this!”. But it also tells your clients that you take yourself seriously, as a business based in one of the most influential capitals in the world.

As part of those elements we talked about before, you can very often reinforce your status by the presumptions that come with the labels attached to having a London office. At the heart of it, London is seen (regardless of the facts) as a place of success where people with dreams go to make things happen. And even though the statistics don’t paint a pretty picture when it comes to the number of people who go out of business every year, it’s still presumed that as a business able to exist in London you must have a decent level of expertise and ability. On top of this, a physical scarcity/exclusivity is created because not everyone lives in London. It’s not necessarily easily within reach and it’s not easily affordable.

Don’t get us wrong! You need to have the substance to back up your claims but all things being equal, adding an additional layer of prestige through a London address (without the associated costs of a full size office) will put you way ahead of many of your competitors!