Lesson 1: Become More Likable | Travel Research Online

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Lesson 1: Become More Likable

Sometimes we insist on shooting ourselves in the foot. We complicate this thing called sales and it doesn’t have to be that way.

Today, I will be looking at you as entrepreneurs and not travel agents. When push comes to shove I really don’t care what you sell, I know it’s travel-related, but today I’m talking to you the entrepreneur.

I will start by sharing a story with you. I’m going back a few years when I was selling meetings to a large corporation. It was my first sales call on this organization when the first thing I spotted upon entering the conference room were balloons on a table.
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Here I am, (a salesman) calling on the decision maker with hopes of selling my services when the first thing I see are celebratory balloons. The next thing I focused on was a cake. I asked, “What are you celebrating?”

As it turned out their current vendor had just won an award for the service they were providing. (Our competitor.) We were calling to try to knock them out of the box, trying to replace them with us, an unknown. There are the balloons. There is the cake. There is the applause. This is called bad timing.

I wanted to turn and head for the exit. I said to my boss who was attending this initial meeting with me, “We can’t sell these people anything. They just won an award. What are we going to do?” My boss said, “We’re here, let’s talk to them.” We sat down; we told them what we had to say; we left. To me, it was an exercise in futility.

Two days later my phone rang and much to my astonishment … the client awarded us the business.

As all good salespeople know, when you are awarded the business you stop talking. You graciously accept the business and prepare to put your promises into action. Period!

That decision puzzled me. About a year later, having befriended the decision maker, I asked him, “Dan, why did you give us the business the day after your current vendor just won this award?” He looked at me and he said, “Mike, it was an easy decision. I didn’t like them.” I will always remember his words. “I didn’t like them.”

This is a key selling point. People do business with people they like. If you want to increase your sales, become more likeable. There’s also another point I would like to make. People like people who like them.

So, if you want to get to the point where more people will start liking you, start looking for more things and more reasons to like your customers and to like your prospects. It just could be as simple as that. Stop shooting yourself in the foot.

Primary Message: If you want to be more successful in sales, become more likable.


Mike MarchevMike presents a business-building webinar on the third Thursday of every month sponsored by AmaWaterways. To receive a complimentary invitation send Mike an email with the phrase “AmaWaterways” in the Subject Box. You will also receive a link to the recorded version.

For information on Mike’s 6-Week Online Selling Course, email Mike at mike@mikemarchev.com with the words “sales course” in the subject box.

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