Peter Kozodoy, an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member from New York, is an author, speaker, serial entrepreneur, and Partner/Chief Strategy Officer of GEM Advertising, a full-service communications and marketing agency. We asked him to share what factor most influences his personal and professional pursuits. Here’s what he had to say.
As an entrepreneur, I’m constantly searching for innovative ways to increase business performance. Even so, I was surprised to discover one business improvement tip that’s so simple, I can’t believe it took me years to truly figure out. Author Bob Burg hints at it with his cliché: “All things being equal, people do business with, and refer business to, people they know, like and trust.”
What I’ve learned, however, is that I don’t think Bob goes far enough. I’ve seen — countless times — businesses choose who they know, like and trust even if all else is unequal. In fact, I’ve known purchasers to select vendors that are pricier, provide atrocious customer service or offer subpar products, all because they “like” the vendor.
It’s called bias, and we all have it. So, we can either cry about unfairness, or we can embrace it and figure out how to leverage this basic human tendency.
Unless you’re a known crier (no judgment), we’re going to focus on the latter and acknowledge that likeability is perhaps the most important element of business. Shockingly, likeability never came up in business school. That’s a crying shame (ahem!), considering that I credit 50% of my entrepreneurial success to that single insight. And, I’ve seen it work for so many others, I can’t help but herald likeability as my No. 1 business strategy.
Here’s how I unveiled this strategic gem:
Early in my book-publishing journey, fellow EO member and New York Times bestselling author, Dave Kerpen, offered to teach me the ins and outs of publishing on an hour-long video conference.
Embarrassingly, I hadn’t read his book at the time, but our conversation was extremely helpful, and I was grateful for his time and insight. I distinctly remember wondering why someone of his prestige would spend any time at all coaching a newbie like me.
When I finally read his book, I understood completely. His mantra is to give time and attention to others — no matter how insignificant the person may seem — to build trust and goodwill. And, his strategy was successful, because what did I proceed to do? You guessed it: I became a Dave Kerpen evangelist, telling everyone I knew how wonderful he is. He effectively traded an hour of his time for a lifetime of my support and admiration. And here you are reading about it, now. Clearly, he understands people!
Brilliant marketers like Dave know that purchasing decisions are based on emotion. Period. People make decisions based on their instincts, and then justify those decisions using logic. Always in that order. If you take just one thing from this post, let it be that.
The idea of likeability implies a certain friendliness on the part of the entrepreneur, leader or company representative. And yes, lessons in likeability can be gleaned from a host of books or even a simple Google search.
However, there’s a steep curve between learning about and actually practicing kindness, thoughtfulness, compassion and empathy. This is actually something EO has been able to help me with. Through workshops, Forum meetings and access to peers, we are constantly reminded to thoughtfully analyze ourselves and tread the path to righteous improvement.
During my time in EO New York, I’ve rarely focused on developing my businesses. Instead, I’ve learned that my businesses will only develop at the pace which I develop personally. And it all comes back to the journey toward becoming more likeable.
Ultimately, likeability is one of the most important elements of business success. Fortunately, it’s the one thing we can all improve upon, no matter what business or industry we’re in. Before devoting hours to market penetration, margins and launch strategies, think about leveraging one of the simplest human qualities and solve for that — because it will get you almost 50% of the way to success, all by itself.
When’s the last time you looked at your business and asked, “Is this brand likeable?”
If you haven’t, it’s time.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.