Are You Likeable, and Should You Care?

---

Weekly Selling and Negotiation Wisdom of Jim McBrayer
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

---

People “do” buy from people they like and it’s very difficult for people to buy from anyone they don’t like . . . regardless of the rational reasons for doing so.  People decide and take action based on their emotional triggers and then justify those decisions with reason!  Whether someone likes another is perhaps the most powerful emotional reason people utilize to make decisions.

Malcolm Gladwell informed us in his best-selling book Blink that patients sued their doctors for malpractice because they felt like they had been treated in a condescending, disrespectful manner.  Doctors were sued not so much because of the bad medical treatment but because of the belittlement and hostility that the patients felt from them.  Patients did not like the doctors they sued and did not sue the doctors they liked.  Likewise, Judge Douglas Levine in his book Cardinal Rules of Advocacy, stakes claim that 80% of juries base their verdict on their “gut reactions” to the lawyer’s opening statement, before any evidence was ever presented.  Concluding that they based their verdict on how much they liked the lawyers.  People think by feeling and they are drawn to the people they like.  Therefore, it is essential that we know how to radiate likeability.

How well do you radiate "likeability"?

We like those that are like us.  Similar dress, common background & interest, and shared values equate into a higher degree of trust and comfort.  We need to dress similar to those we wish to connect with and engage them in conversation regarding: their background, business, leisure time, education, pet, kids or anything else you may share in common.  The absolute best method to increase your likeability is to take a genuine interest in the other.  One of Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is “seek first to understand”.  Lose yourself in the other’s perspective.  When someone feels understood, they extend trust to the one doing the understanding.  The more the other believes you understand him, the more similar you become.

The more we truly understand what someone is all about we have a better idea of those areas we have in common and can engage in those discussions.  It’s critical to remember that people decide on emotion and rationalize with logic.  Make sure you connect on the likeability emotion.

---

Jim McBrayer, Sales Training and Negotiation Training Expert
President, Program on Persuasion
Contact: JimMcBrayer@ProgramOnPersuasion.com, 678-610-6509

---

I'd like to welcome! friend and Career Success! Partner, Jim McBrayer, as a regular contributing expert to our blog site. Jim's insights, ideas and wisdom on the subject of Selling and Negotiating -- both of which are key Career Success Skills -- will hopefully resonate with you in your journey to achieving incredible career success.

Andy Robinson, Executive Career Coach
Co-host, Career Success Radio Show
A leading authority on career success; 15-year executive coaching veteran
Contact: Andy@CRGLeaders.com, 239-285-5575

	Receive Our FREE Weekly eZine!

For Email Marketing you can trust

---

Visit the Premier Interactive Career Development Community:

---

Weekly Selling and Negotiation Wisdom of Jim McBrayer
Contributing Expert and Career Success! Partner

---

People “do” buy from people they like and it’s very difficult for people to buy from anyone they don’t like . . . regardless of the rational reasons for doing so.  People decide and take action based on their emotional triggers and then justify those decisions with reason!  Whether someone likes another is perhaps the most powerful emotional reason people utilize to make decisions.

Malcolm Gladwell informed us in his best-selling book Blink that patients sued their doctors for malpractice because they felt like they had been treated in a condescending, disrespectful manner.  Doctors were sued not so much because of the bad medical treatment but because of the belittlement and hostility that the patients felt from them.  Patients did not like the doctors they sued and did not sue the doctors they liked.  Likewise, Judge Douglas Levine in his book Cardinal Rules of Advocacy, stakes claim that 80% of juries base their verdict on their “gut reactions” to the lawyer’s opening statement, before any evidence was ever presented.  Concluding that they based their verdict on how much they liked the lawyers.  People think by feeling and they are drawn to the people they like.  Therefore, it is essential that we know how to radiate likeability.

How well do you radiate "likeability"?

We like those that are like us.  Similar dress, common background & interest, and shared values equate into a higher degree of trust and comfort.  We need to dress similar to those we wish to connect with and engage them in conversation regarding: their background, business, leisure time, education, pet, kids or anything else you may share in common.  The absolute best method to increase your likeability is to take a genuine interest in the other.  One of Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is “seek first to understand”.  Lose yourself in the other’s perspective.  When someone feels understood, they extend trust to the one doing the understanding.  The more the other believes you understand him, the more similar you become.

The more we truly understand what someone is all about we have a better idea of those areas we have in common and can engage in those discussions.  It’s critical to remember that people decide on emotion and rationalize with logic.  Make sure you connect on the likeability emotion.