I Like You!

Robert Cialdini is considered the world’s most famous researcher on human influence. His book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, is required reading for marketing students in colleges and universities. He says that one of the most powerful ways to influence people is through Liking.

You make think that it’s obvious that people buy from people they like, and you’re right.

If that was everything Cialdini had to say on the subject, he wouldn’t be famous today. What was surprising about Cialdini’s theory of Liking was not that people buy from people they like. It was that people buy from people they think like them.

Cialdini tells the story of the most successful car salesman who ever lived. Joe Girard’s performance was so remarkable that he won the title ‘Salesman of the Year’ for GM 12 years straight and was described by The Guinness Book of World Records as the greatest car salesman.

Joe took extreme advantage of the Liking principle. Every month he sent each of his 13,000 customers a holiday card that had the holiday name, his name and one message. It said, “I like you.” As Joe explained, “There’s nothing else on the card. Nothin’ but my name. I’m just telling ’em that I like ’em.”

So, how can you communicate to your customers that you like them? You could do something as extreme as Joe, or you could take another approach that also tells your customers that you like them.

You could treat customers like you treat others you like. You could treat customers like you treat your best friends.

What’s the difference between how most sales professionals treat their best friends vs. customers? Think of it this way.

When you’re together with your friends, do you share data?

No, you share stories.

But when you’re around people you don’t like, do you share stories?

No, you treat the interaction more like a transaction that you want to end quickly, so you don’t share stories.

My question for you is, do you treat customers like they’re people you like or like people you don’t like?

Most sales professionals prepare for a sales meeting by getting all of their facts in order – their I’s dotted and their T’s crossed. In the process, they forget how to talk to customers in the most basic way that humans talk. They forget to tell stories.

Once you start sharing stories as part of how you talk to customers, you’ll see relationships change. Your customer relationships will be deeper and more rewarding. Your customers will share stories back to you.

In the context of sales messaging, you want your stories to tie into the benefits your product delivers. If you’ve ever taken a workshop with Corporate Visions, you’ve heard your consultant use dozens of personal stories. In my workshop, I often share a story about buying a big screen TV. It supports a concept I’m trying to get across and it makes the concept more memorable. What happens though, at the very next break in the workshop?

Students come up to me and share their own experiences with buying a big screen TV. Why? Because they feel like they know me through the story I told, and now they want to share their stories with me.

It changes the relationship from facilitator-and-student to a relationship of two friends talking. The interactions become deeper. The class becomes more valuable. And my ability to persuade grows immensely. All because of a personal story.

By the way, have I told you how much I like you…?

By Erik Peterson, Consultant, Corporate Visions Inc.