Episode #297: You Have Three Seconds For An Effective First impression

In our presentation training classes we ask the participants, “how long does it take for you to make a judgment about someone you are meeting for the first time?”. How about you? How long do you take to make a judgment about someone you are meeting for the first time? It used to be people in our classes would say 30 seconds, others would say up to a couple of minutes. Today, the answers are now down to three seconds!

What does that mean for us in sales? We have such a small window to make that good first impression but are we prepared? However are you really planning your first impression or are you leaving it to random chance?

Let’s work on a couple of areas to build that excellent first impression.

Visual

(1) Dress for success because we make 100% of our assumptions about your professionalism, reliability and trustworthiness based on how you look, before we even talk with you. Dr. Albert Mehrabian’s research showed that we need what we say, to match up with how we are saying it, to grab people’s attention with our words. When people see us for the first time, all they have to go on is what they see in front of them.

What does that mean? Let’s use this check list of things not to do. It is hard to argue you are reliable around the quality of your solution, when your shoes are scuffed. They need to be polished to a mirror sheen. The same thing goes for food stains on your clothes that obviously have not been dry cleaned. You want to seem professional, but your hair is messy and your clothes don’t fit well anymore, because you have put on some weight.

For men, I often see an old looking pants belt that should be replaced or it is brown in colour, when they are wearing black shoes. Is this hard to get right? What about when the tie knot is loose and not tight against the collar. Are you really telling me you are great with your attention to detail, when you look like this?

(2) When we meet people, smile first and then bow. That smile says, I am not anxious, in a hurry or nervous, but instead I am confident and professional even before we have exchanged one word in conversation.

(3) Make initial eye contact when you first see the client but for no longer than six seconds. Japan has some distinct cultural perspectives on making eye contact. For a salesperson to make continual eye contact with the buyer may make them feel uncomfortable. Nevertheless make six seconds of eye contact at the very start to form a solid first impression of confidence.

Vocal

Having a friendly tone of voice sounds obvious, but often salespeople get stuck with a “businesslike” voice which doesn’t sound friendly. Also don’t mumble, speak with a lifeless voice quality, be too soft or too loud.

2) Use their name immediately but don’t go crazy and overdo it thereafter. We like the sound of our name and so dropping into the conversation, especially at the start, will be welcomed.

Start with an insightful remark that gets them talking as soon as possible about their business. We might feel nervous and think we have to carry the conversation, but that is not the case. Get them telling you about themselves or the company, so that you can relax and just gauge what type of personality type they are so you know how to interact with them. Are they big picture or detailed in orientation. Are they assertive or rather quiet?

By the way, if there is something new in their office environment, don’t just say it is new, they know that. Ask if this new thing has had any impact on their business or their staff or their customers etc.

When we meet the buyer, the ratio should be 80% of the time the client is talking and we take up the rest. If you find yourself waffling on too much, then shut up and ask a question, to get the spotlight back on them. They have all the answers we need, so particularly at the initial meeting, we want them to tell us what their issues are, so that we can plumb the angle we will need to come back at in order to fix their problems.

These are some things to think about when first meeting buyers. Remember don’t just walk in off the street and simply leave first impressions to luck or chance. Plan them carefully, every time, for maximum effectiveness.