After years of doing business, studying business, and helping other businesses, one thing has become painfully clear.
People like doing business with people, not “businesses”…
Even in the more formal Business-To-Business (B2B) industries, somewhere along the way, it’s going to be a person making the buying decision.
No matter how formal or rigid their organizational structure appears from the outside, on the inside, it’s still just a whole bunch of people.
So why then do some businesses try to push their corporate identity on their customers…
Or hide the fact that (heaven forbid) they actually have real people working for them…
It’s strange really.
And a bit of a branding paradox.
“Try to look big and corporate so people will trust us, but also act human, so people will like us.”
What history has shown us however is that looking “big and corporate” in order to gain trust has become a flawed strategy.
After all, look at the financial crisis of 2008, where big (and formerly trusted) brands went completely bankrupt.
“Big and corporate” is no longer synonymous with safe and trusted.
Rather, the terms “big and corporate” tend to invoke feelings of being:
- Stale
- Old
- Stodgy
- Slow
- Out-dated
- Irrelevant
- Careless
- And selfish
None of the things you want to be associated with!
So what’s the alternative?
Well, whether you’re a multi-million dollar corporation, a solopreneur, or an up and coming design firm with 5 employees…
You get to decide just how much “you”, you’re going to show the world.
The beauty is that the more “you” you show, the more likeable your company becomes.
- Your customers crave interaction.
- They crave personalization.
- And they crave behind the scenes access and feeling like an insider.
The more special you can make your customers feel by sharing, the more they’ll reward you with their loyalty…
Just like a real friendship should be.
The only way to do this though is to take a leap of faith and to put yourself out there.
You can start by putting your best foot forward first…
But over time you’ll find you don’t need to be so filtered, and your flaws and idiosyncrasies will only help make you that much more likeable.
(As written by:
1. Inc
2. Entrepreneur
3. Fast Company
4. And me…)
Start small, with a personal tweet, an Instagram post, or a blog article, but start today.
Your customers will thank you.
Any Other Ideas?
So now I turn it over to you…
What factors do you think makes a business more likeable?
Leave your thoughts in the comments section below now.
