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Like Them Before They Like You

For years, you’ve heard us talk about building rapport as a critical first step in developing successful, long term customer relationships.  To accomplish this, we’ve taught our clients to be ‘likeable’.  Why?  Because people prefer to buy from someone they like.  It’s as simple as that.

Let’s face it … it’s not that hard to be likeable. You just have to put a bit of effort into it.  Challenge yourself to come up with a list of 10 things you could do to make yourself more likeable and you’ll discover you come up with 10 fairly easily.

While some may see this as an easy and natural process, others are a little uncomfortable with it.  If you’re one of those who struggle with this stage, here’s a great tip to get you started …  begin by liking them before they like you! 

How does this help?  Let’s face it, we’re all human.  We naturally gravitate toward people who already like us.  It’s instinctive, even for most animals.  So when you start off the sale by liking your customers right away, you’re already half way there!  Get it?

Think about how you approach a customer you already know and have great rapport with.  Now, contrast that to how you approach someone you don’t know and don’t have rapport with.  See the difference?  Can you see which approach makes you much more likeable?

While we’re on the topic, why limit this approach to customers only?  As managers, we can’t possibly communicate or lead effectively if we’re not genuinely likeable.  Our staff will just stop listening.  So make it obvious to your team that you like them right from the start.  This may sound a little goofy at first, but just give it a try and watch how differently they respond!

Simply applying this new twist to a solid selling strategy could be the beginning of something exciting in all your interactions with others.  So be sure to forward this blog to everyone in your company (even your boss!)  … and get them started on not just being more likeable, but liking everyone first!

Blog Authors: Kevin

Kevin Graff

Kevin Graff is the main guy behind all things Graff Retail. A renowned retail expert, Kevin is recognized in the retail industry as a speaker, author and expert trainer. Kevin's main passion is to help retailers drive staff performance.

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