CHAPTER 4

Likeability

All Things Being Equal, People Buy from People They Like

COMMUNICATION EXPERTS preach the importance of building trust with people in order to build relationships. Sales managers, salespeople, and sales trainers all endorse the importance of trust in winning and retaining business. But here are the hard facts. No prospect is going to trust you after one conversation—and they shouldn’t. You haven’t demonstrated the execution, follow-through, or results needed to really earn trust and loyalty. No client is going to keep doing business with you if they don’t like you (unless you are lucky enough to be the only game in town).

The reality is that likeability is only the first step toward building trust, winning business, and ...

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