A review of this issue’s story about increasing your on-line “likeability” got me thinking about how our off-line business life and presentation is not an extension of our on-line persona, but actually one in the same. And needs to be.

Having a different approach to communicating on-line versus in-store creates inconsistency and doubt in our customers’ minds, which can derail the best pitch, regardless of the quality of the store environment .

We’ve often written about this (and will continue to do so), and about the importance of establishing trust and rapport with the bride early in the selling process. As we all know, we buy from those we like.

But in looking at that axiom, what strikes me as missing is a discussion of the role genuineness plays in building that rapport, versus intention.

We can strive to build trust, we can work on our approaches, we can stress over every word… but if we are not true to ourselves, not genuine in our efforts, we’ll only succeed in continually pushing that proverbial boulder up that hill, unable to make it over the top.

Likeability is important in an emotional selling process… but brides don’t buy from us solely because they like how you do your job… your product knowledge, attentiveness and/or understanding their needs. They are more swayed by how good you are at who you are, not necessarily by what you do.

Genuine… as Webster defines it: free from pretense, affectation, or hypocrisy; sincere… a quality that is the foundation of trust, on-line, off-line, in business, in life.