2016: The Year of Likeability

How Likeable are you?

I was lucky enough to spend the past week at a conference with some extremely talented Sales Trainers and Sales Managers. We were able to listen to a very empowering message from motivational speaker Walter Bond. He made it clear to me that 2016 will be the year of Likeability.

Defining Likeability:

It’d be easy to define Likeability as how much you are liked by your peers, prospects or customers. There is so much more to it than that. Ask yourself: how much trust have I built with my peers? Do I inspire others in every interaction I have with them? Do I make others better through their interaction with me? Are others rooting for me to succeed?

People do not buy products or ideas; they buy the person that provides them. They buy based on how much they like and trust you.

Improving Likeability

There are two key areas you can focus on to improve your Likeability this year.

• Attention to detail. Be present in any interaction you have. Ask “why” of the person you are talking to. Truly understand the needs of the person you are interacting with, be it in a sales process or general conversation. This will allow others to see that you care, and thus make it easier for them to care about you.
• Execution: execute on what you say you will. It’s easy to spend hours and hours talking about an idea but never actually executing anything. It’s easy to set up meetings with the intention to accomplish something, and realize you have to set up another meeting because nothing was executed. The more you execute on what you say you will, the more trust you will build with those you interact with, and the more they will root for your success.

This year, I am committing to focus on Likeability in every interaction that I have. I will do this by building trust, being present in conversation, increasing my attention to detail, and ensuring I can execute on next steps. What are you doing this year to be more likeable?