As a young adult, I owned an old car. I knew the car was in bad condition, but I didn’t want to pay the high price of replacing it. Eventually, I took the car to a dealership for a repair. A mechanic recommended I replace the vehicle. In response I thought to myself, “Of course he wants me to purchase a new car. Selling me a new car is in his interest.”

Without hesitation I rejected the mechanic’s recommendation because I assumed his suggestion was self-serving. I assumed he wanted me to buy a new car because he made more money selling new cars than servicing old ones. Of course, years later I learned the opposite is true, that dealerships actually make far more profits repairing old cars than selling new ones. Nevertheless, I made a judgment about his motive and discounted his recommendation based purely upon my perception of his true goal.

Months later the father of a friend looked at my car. I knew that he tinkered with cars as a hobby, he was a generation older than me, and he was confident when he talked about automobiles. He looked under the hood of my car and said, “Alan, it’s time to get a new car.” I immediately believed him. A week later, I was driving a new vehicle.

Why was it so easy for me to reject the recommendation of a certified mechanic and accept the recommendation of a hobbyist? Of the two the mechanic was certainly more qualified. My actions can only be ascribed to my perception of motive. Th e words of my friend’s father were easy for me to accept because I knew he would not benefit from my actions. My decision to buy a vehicle or repair my old one did not impact him, financially or otherwise.

The mechanic, on the other hand, failed to convince me to purchase a replacement vehicle because I did not trust his motive. He may have been completely trustworthy. In retrospect, he probably was. But I did not know it at the time, and I would not give him the benefit of my trust. I assumed, as most people would, that his recommendation was primarily motivated by his own personal gain.

Herein is one of the key lessons for experts. Your audience will always judge your recommendations based on their assumptions about your motive. If your motive can be interpreted in two ways, it will be interpreted the least favorably. Your audience will not accept your recommendation without considering what you as an expert stand to gain or lose. In fact, they care more about your motive than your knowledge or your skill.

One of the mistakes experts make when offering recommendations is relying exclusively on logic. They assume their audience is rational and will make their decisions based on quantifiable and verifiable facts. Most SMEs don’t even acknowledge that their audience is judging their motive. Be clear to people about what you personally stand to gain or lose. Motive matters. It matters a lot. Motive matters first, and motive matters most.