How to Get People to Like You

Most people want to be liked. It is human nature. It is on a rare occasion that you will find someone that is so outstanding at their craft that people will do business with them in spite of a terrible attitude and grumpy demeanor. The "Soup Nazi" from the sitcom Seinfeld comes to mind. The premise is a soup shop where the owner's soup is so delicious that they will put up with his eccentric, brash attitude just to get some of his amazing soup. Of course, if you break the rules you are met with a stern, "No soup for you!" This scenario is rare and if we want to influence and persuade we must learn to draw people to us and be likeable. In my sales process, I use the word rapport, which in its simplest form is like-ability. Face it. Most of us enjoy doing business with people we like and can relate to. Building rapport is the process of making that connection and finding common ground. On a recent episode of the Monday Morning Memo by Roy H. Williams, he told a great story about Harry Connick Jr. and the advice he gave to the young actor Chandler Canterbury who asked, "What's the secret of being popular? How do you get people to like you?" Harry advised the young man, "The secret of being liked is to always ask 5 questions about the other person before you say anything about yourself. People won't remember what you said about yourself, but they'll always remember what you asked about them." I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ~ Maya Angelou This is practical wisdom that you can use today. Have a great week! Pierce