What Gives you Credibility?

So, I'm breaking from the VC topic prior to the 3rd part in the series because there is something that bugged me a little bit yesterday.

Does who you work for and what you do for a living increase or decrease your credibility?

I would say that if you are expressing an opinion regarding your industry, it should count for something right? My friend Andy is a partner in a consulting company that specializes in social media marketing. So when he talks about social media marketing, he is more credible even if he is trying to sell me his service than say my sister who is a teacher.

What you do and who you work for should enhance your credibility in your field as it is what you do on a daily basis. For Andy, his credibility is enhanced in a discussion involving social media marketing. His opinions should be more relevant and matter more in these discussions.

So why do I bring this up? The other day I read a post by a family practice physician that was against reimbursement for VC. So, I challenged his position by pointing out studies that indicated it was more effective than he gave it credit for as well other procedures that are reimbursable but have a lower sensitivity than VC. Rather than make a counter argument, he simply dismissed my comments because I work for a company that produces a VC product!! How does this make sense? I've spent the better part of a month researching and trying to understand the validity of this procedure, where the benefits lie, and why it would make sense. Yes, I want to see it approved because it is good for my company. But at the same time, my argument was based on research, patient care, etc. Doesn't this qualify me as having some credibility to my argument?

When you are talking to people, what they do can lend a lot of credibility to an argument, even if they are trying to eventually sell you something. People that are trying to sell actually spend a lot of time understanding their products and services, thus bolstering their credibility. Plus, people try to find things that they enjoy to do, enjoy learning about, and enjoy talking about. You definitely shouldn't dismiss those people.