12 Guidelines for creating Good First Impressions
12 Guidelines for creating Good First Impressions
1. Do your research
Do your homework, who are the key people? what are the products? who are their customers? Is there any big plans for the future. Today you can use the Internet to get lots of information about the prospect but its also always worth ringing ahead a few days in advance to gather any relevant insight.
2. Get focused
So the baby was sick and traffic is awful. Take a deep breath, leave your troubles behind and ensure that your focus is entirely set on the meeting.
3. Good time keeping
Plan for unforeseen events like traffic etc and aim to get there with time to spare. Lateness is one sure fire way of killing off any chance of a good first impression.
4. Be Confident
Expect to do business and your words, tone and body language will send out all the right signals. Successful people give off a successful image so even when you are having a bad month, approach every new business encounter in an open and confident manner.
5. Dress to Impress
This is the first visual clue that the prospect gets and making an extra effort will pay dividends. As far as the prospect is concerned If you look sharper than the competition changes are you are sharper then the competition.
6. Keep an open stance
Ensure that your stance is open particularly during introductions. Try to be aware of giving any negative or defensive subconscious gestures such as folding of arms, putting point of sale materials in front of your torso etc.
7. SMILE
The most powerful subconscious tool you have at your disposal is your smile so use it. When you smile at someone, they will smile back and start to relax in your company. Remember, smiling is infectious.
8. Always offer a firm handshake
A firm handshake helps to imply that you are a confidence and honest person. A loose weak handshake says don’t trust me, I got something to hide.
9. Keep good eye contact
Ensure that you keep eye contact when addressing someone and when they are talking to you. Good eye contact says, you can trust me, I’m interested in what you have say because its also important to me.
10. Slow down introductions
When you are introduced, slow down the process taking time to remember the names and positions of the people that are been introduced. We generally tend to rush through introductions and later find we cant remember the names and positions of the people we have just been introduced to.
11. Use first names.
Once the introductions are over, use people’s first names when addressing your audience or asking questions. This helps to quickly build trust with prospects.
12. Be an obvious listener
Good listening skills require concentration, focus and effort. When listening to the prospect, let them see that your attention is directly focused on them through use of eye contact, nodding and by avoiding mental distractions.
The ability to create a good first impression is a potent skill in any business encounter but unfortunately is often not considered important. As with any skill worth mastering, it requires planning, practice and thought and while a good first impression can help overcome later difficulties or objections, a bad first impression is virtually impossible to reverse which effectively means you lose any opportunity to do business before you even start the business meeting.
12 Guidelines for creating Good First Impressions - To learn more about this author, visit Niall Devitt's Website.
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Within the first few seconds of any encounter you are evaluated by the prospect. Your appearance, demeanour and body language all contribute to quickly create a first impression. This judgement happens primarily on a subconscious level and once made is extremely difficult to reverse. The prospect’s subconscious is asking the question “can I trust this person”. Follow these twelve key lessons and learn to influence this judgement in a positive way helping you to make a great first impression.
1. Do your research
Do your homework, who are the key people? what are the products? who are their customers? Is there any big plans for the future. Today you can use the Internet to get lots of information about the prospect but its also always worth ringing ahead a few days in advance to gather any relevant insight.
2. Get focused
So the baby was sick and traffic is awful. Take a deep breath, leave your troubles behind and ensure that your focus is entirely set on the meeting.
3. Good time keeping
Plan for unforeseen events like traffic etc and aim to get there with time to spare. Lateness is one sure fire way of killing off any chance of a good first impression.
4. Be Confident
Expect to do business and your words, tone and body language will send out all the right signals. Successful people give off a successful image so even when you are having a bad month, approach every new business encounter in an open and confident manner.
5. Dress to Impress
This is the first visual clue that the prospect gets and making an extra effort will pay dividends. As far as the prospect is concerned If you look sharper than the competition changes are you are sharper then the competition.
6. Keep an open stance
Ensure that your stance is open particularly during introductions. Try to be aware of giving any negative or defensive subconscious gestures such as folding of arms, putting point of sale materials in front of your torso etc.
7. SMILE
The most powerful subconscious tool you have at your disposal is your smile so use it. When you smile at someone, they will smile back and start to relax in your company. Remember, smiling is infectious.
8. Always offer a firm handshake
A firm handshake helps to imply that you are a confidence and honest person. A loose weak handshake says don’t trust me, I got something to hide.
9. Keep good eye contact
Ensure that you keep eye contact when addressing someone and when they are talking to you. Good eye contact says, you can trust me, I’m interested in what you have say because its also important to me.
10. Slow down introductions
When you are introduced, slow down the process taking time to remember the names and positions of the people that are been introduced. We generally tend to rush through introductions and later find we cant remember the names and positions of the people we have just been introduced to.
11. Use first names.
Once the introductions are over, use people’s first names when addressing your audience or asking questions. This helps to quickly build trust with prospects.
12. Be an obvious listener
Good listening skills require concentration, focus and effort. When listening to the prospect, let them see that your attention is directly focused on them through use of eye contact, nodding and by avoiding mental distractions.
The ability to create a good first impression is a potent skill in any business encounter but unfortunately is often not considered important. As with any skill worth mastering, it requires planning, practice and thought and while a good first impression can help overcome later difficulties or objections, a bad first impression is virtually impossible to reverse which effectively means you lose any opportunity to do business before you even start the business meeting.
12 Guidelines for creating Good First Impressions - To learn more about this author, visit Niall Devitt's Website.
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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