I had an opportunity to talk about Likability on Business Radio WCFO in Atlanta today. Along with being a lot of fun, it was educational too.

The host, Austin McGonigle commented that the primary reason businesses offer their best customers incentive trips is to take advantage of this law of likability (We Like People Who We Associate With Good Feelings) and he’s right.

My first job out of engineering school was working with the Trane air-conditioning company designing and selling commercial air-conditioning systems. During that time I called on many customers, but the customers I remember best (and most fondly) were the customers who went to Mexico with me on an incentive trip.

It’s been 25 years since I worked at Trane Company, and even now when I think of the great time I had in Acapulco, I think of these two customers. Honesty, I don’t think I could name any of my other customers, but I remember the people who I shared my Mexican experience with vividly.

If you have an opportunity to spend some quality time with your customers in a positive or exciting environment, take it. People will associate you with their positive experiences long after the experience is over. In my case, I will remember my customers for the rest of my life … and I’ll bet they’ll remember me too.

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