Good First Impressions – A Basic Part Of Business Marketing And Sales
When some people link “modelling” and clothes they think of catwalks and outrageous prices but in this article I do want to talk about clothes and the part they play in creating a Good First Impression (or GFI), so let’s look at some tips for re-modelling your personal presentation and how they can directly affect your business marketing and sales.
Just to sharpen the point: A better personal image can lead directly to a better reception to your sales message, and a better bottom line (of the bankable variety!)
It would be sad, would it not, if you were inadvertently projecting a less-than-optimal personal image and were unaware that this “first ten seconds” factor was producing the closed doors, cold shoulders and poor sales that you hate?
What would cause people to do that to you? How could they be so unfair? Don’t they know that you have a great product?
The answer is, “No, you never gave them the chance to find out because you disqualified yourself in their eyes before you ever got to that point!”
So, how can you check on the image you are projecting in those first few seconds of an encounter?
First Impression – You Only Get One!
It takes somewhere from six to 30 seconds for most of us to form a first impression of another person and, if you survey a cross section of people, two out of three will tell you that they believe (even ‘have proof’) that their first impressions provide a reliable indicator of the personality, ability and trustworthiness of the person in question – and that could mean of you!
In those first few critical seconds your prospective clients decide:
1. If they like you
2. If they trust you
3. If they want to do business or spend time with you.
That is a fact for which you will pay dearly if you choose to ignore it when making first contact with prospective new clients, making the mistake that this first encounter is all about “your product”!
So, how do you project the best possible personal image so that you get the greatest number of opportunities to at least gain a hearing about what you do, from new clients?
Why Bother?
The answer is as simple as the one to this question: If you are going to gamble in business (and don’t we all) do you want to stack the deck for you or against you?
Sure, there’s more to delivering in business than a nicely cut suit or a well matched pair of shiny shoes but the point here is that, two times out of three, you won’t get the chance to demonstrate your actual ability to deliver if you don’t pass your perceived worthiness test – your “first impression stage”.
So what does it take to get past that first hurdle and on into the real game, where you get to sit down with the client, ask some questions about a few of their real problems, and dazzle them with your ability to really solve them!
Personal Image Building
Our suggestion is you talk to an “image coach” – someone with a practical and professional background in guiding others in business to be able to put their best foot forward every time – to create a sufficiently favourable impression to open the doors and gain at least the first hearing with the decision makers.
It’s a fact that people who are perceived as bright, verbal and attractive get past that first hurdle easier and more often, and then go on to make more money and to become more successful than those who are not so perceived. Note I said perceived, which implies that it’s more about presentation than substance at this stage of the encounter.
After that point you’re right: Substance does start to outweigh presentation (but never entirely!)
Not all men can shave a Brad Pitt face and not all girls can drape a well-maintained Elle McPherson figure (and, let’s face it, it takes a lot of time and money to keep looking that good!), but we can each present a better version of ourselves than we often do. And Yes, that may take a bit of time and money to achieve.
So, what are we investing in here? To me it looks like we’re investing in a shot at more business – and that’s a legitimate (and probably required, business expense)! So, let’s see what it takes to do the same thing with yourself that you do almost without thinking with your products and services – let’s look at good packaging!
Research by one image consultant (appropriately named Jump the Q) tells us that 70% of buyers will pay a 20% premium for a well-packaged product over what they’d pay for a product with a lower level of presentation – in fact, 40% will pay an even higher premium based on packaging alone!
If you consider yourself a “product” – at least at the initial encounter – let’s see what we have to do about your packaging to gain you that 30% premium; that’s 30% more opportunities and/or a 30% better price, on deals!
Is Poor Personal Packaging Costing You $$s?
Over time, we’ve found that there are a surprisingly few simple things you can do to improve the first impressions created by you and your staff in your chosen marketplace.
They include:
1. The outside wrapper (your store, website, stock displays and literature)
2. The inside wrapper (uniforms, clothing and dress standards)
3. The soft centre (attitude and intent)
4. How we stack up (posture, deportment, movement, shape)
5. How we present (grooming, hygiene, body decoration, style)
6. How we sound (voice, language, vocabulary, accent)
7. How we feel to others (touch, contact)
8. How we relate (rapport, attention, focus, engagement, empathy)
9. What we know (product knowledge, awareness)
10. Our skill (everyone wants to deal with ‘a nice expert’)
Every one of those items is under our control and capable of a vast range of execution – from appalling to enthralling. Does it make sense for each of us to learn how to take each one of them to the top of the range? Does it make sense to teach our team to do the same?
We don’t have room for them here, so if you’d like to pursue this line of thinking just ask me for our “First and Lasting Impressions – Ten Tips to Creating Them” and I’ll share them.
