The reality of business is that more important than anything else, is that people do business with people they like. I'm personally a big fan of Shark Tank, so when I came across a related quote from Barbara Corcoran I knew it was worth sharing – "People want to do business with someone they like. If people like you, they're going to want to do business with you. And if they don't you're going to have an almost insurmountable obstacle to overcome."

       I like Barbara to, and given she's done very well for herself, I think we should run with this by diving into the most acclaimed book on getting people to like you – Dale Carnegie's How To Win Friends and Influence People. As an up front disclaimer, we will most certainly revisit this book again in the future, there is simply to much valuable information to be discussed in one segment.

       Carnegie says "Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language." What a simple suggestion, remember people's names, but how many of us have been successful in doing so? How many of us are great with faces, but each one of them are named "buddy"?

       Now think back and recall a situation where someone remembered your name. I vividly recall a time where there was a gentleman, whose name ironically don't remember, but, a gentleman who I had only met once before that remembered my name when I saw him again. When I say once before I don't mean yesterday, I mean months ago. It felt great. I felt like I must've had such an impact on this person, I was somebody, I mean he knew my name after all this time…

       I know nothing else about this man, but I could only see him in a favorable light from that day forward, If we take some time to remember the people's names you meet and the same experience I had can be had by every one of our clients. Knowing their name is a sign of the value you have for that person, that you appreciate and liked that person enough to remember their name. When meeting people and developing our business that can be HUGE! If we plant the seed with the charm up front and know the next time you see them you'll be able to exponentially grow your relationship by merely knowing their name!

       Here's a trick I used that helped me get over my buddy problem – whenever I meet someone new, when they first tell me their name I pause all other thoughts, look them straight in the eye and smile, and recite their name 5x over in my head. Psychologically, it helps to strengthen the association between the name and their face…works well for me, hopefully for you to if it's something you need to work on.

 

The views of this blog, podcast, and on this site in general are solely those of the authors, Matt Weaver (NMLS-175651) and Zack Lewis, and do not express the views or opinions of Finance of America Mortgage.