In social contexts, I view niceness almost entirely as positive. In business contexts, I think you have to be much more paranoid. In business, if the goal is t

In social contexts, I view niceness almost entirely as positive. In business contexts, I think you have to be much more paranoid. In business, if the goal is to make money (usually it is), you generally want to avoid niceties and get to the real questions like: is this other party honest, reliable, has a solid history in their relationships. I see it as a red flag when someone trying to sell something or make money off a relationship with me is focused on how much I like them personally. Salesmen, in particular, try to connect to customers on a personal level with the minimal effort required to do so. And then leverage the positive feelings into a sale. I believe this is unethical and a risk. Especially for people that consider themselves kind. In the context of business, I prefer someone who is upfront about how they plan to make money from or with me and then accurately explains the value or roi they provide. I also have more information about my business than the other person. Maybe I share something that makes the partnership a bad idea from a business standpoint. At this point, I respect people who walk away and stay in touch for when that relationship would make sense.