Check out my latest column about the above topic here. It sparked some interesting conversation at an event I was at after it appeared in last week’s Biz Monday.
What are your thoughts? Have you heard the phrase people need to know you, like you and trust you? Do you agree it’s over used and/or that it’s not enough in today’s marketplace?
Categories: 4 Pillars of Profitable Networking, Perspective, Success
London
Thats a slippery slope, you may like someone but not know him/her well enough to trust them. For me Trust is earned over years of experience, but I would not need to “like” that person first. I could however grow to like them. Word reflect and convey emotion. Of coarse I am looking at personal reationships in this context, but if you extend that to companies and products or politics, those words can become meaningless drible because of thier over use and by the people using them. Since every product is based on a “need” whether real or imagined, that word ( need) in it self equated with many emotions be it ancst, stress, fear or even satisfaction , Marketing will use words and phrases that will raise thier product above others, words like trust and respect can mean a great deal to us. Most if not all of us, know those words from our parents, ” show respect for others ” and ” trust me i’ll catch you ” these phrases are absolutes. When you were a child, your parents are larger than life and seem to know all, you would never question them.Those words can become an emotion and an emotion will always cause a reaction. Marketing is based on emotion and using emotional words can trigger a sale. Unfortunately if a word or phrase is over used and abused, people become numb to it and it looses it’s emotional value.The word ” Like” is just fillar, barely an emotion, I believe a new word should be used ” RESPECT” oh yeh I forgot it’s not new , we just all forgot it ! what does this word mean to you? you can’t have” trust” unless you have shown and been shown respect!
Hi Allison – welcome back + great article! I have to stand behind you on this one, like you said there is lots of people in my life that I know and like and trust but business-sense is something they don’t have! Definitely knowing, liking and trusting someone is a good stepping stone in a business relationship but it is definitely not the be and end all.
Thanks! Great to see you are still reading! Agreed, great starting point but not enough. If only good business sense were more common.
Hi Hans,
You’re right “trust” in personal relationships I think is so much more of a deeper consideration. To trust someone to do a service for you is a whole lot different to trust someone to be a friend forever. Love the word Respect. Never thought of the “like” being a filler before. I always thought of “know” as the filler. Wonder if you can trust someone to be good at their job, but not like them? If you don’t like them would you still give them the business because you know they can do a good job? Is “likeability” an inherent part of “trust”?