Make first impressions last/Texas Realtor

May 2001

You know first impressions are important. Every day, you make judgments on people and businesses based on just a few pieces of information delivered over the briefest period of time. So why do you continue to take for granted the first impression you give to others? These tips will help you focus on the details that let others know you are a true professional.

by John R. Graham Is it true that no one gets a second chance at making a first impression? By definition, yes. Perhaps a better question is whether it’s possible to overcome a bad first impression. Well, anything is possible.

Are first impressions really that important?

Think of your own experiences. Ever have a substandard meal on your first visit to a restaurant? Did you go back? How hard is it to sell a home with a dead tree dominating the front yard or an overwhelming pet odor that greets you at the door?

Making judgments on the limited knowledge gleaned from a quick first impression may seem difficult to defend. Yet, studies support the extensive influence of first impressions. Consider, for example, one research project. Conducted by Jennifer Humble and Barbara Bremer. The objective was to evaluate the extent that dress and physical appearance affect the quality of social interactions.

Using a retail store setting, the researchers discovered that the sociability of the clerks was significantly higher when interacting with a well-dressed actor than when interacting with a poorly dressed one. Other studies suggest that facial expressions, gestures, glasses, personal coloring, garment style, and makeup can play a key role in forming impressions. As Humble and Bremer conclude, "Individuals tend to make intrinsic judgments about a person based on external cues."

Nowhere are the consequences of first impressions more important than in your professional life. A positive first impression is equally significant for you as an individual professional and for your company.

Even though we acknowledge the role a first impression can play in signing on a new client or closing a sale, we often "come up blank" when it comes to the factors that go into creating this impression. A few questions may make the point:

Why are we often satisfied with a one- or two-color brochure, even though full color is known to attract far more attention?
Why do we use Dear Homeowner on letters even though a personalized letter receives more attention?
Why do we persist in using "cold calling" even though we are personally turned off when we receive such calls ourselves?
What is the impact of a 30-year-old logo or a logo designed by an amateur? What type of impression does that make?
What is the subtle effect of using a heavier-weight paper for letterhead verses a thin but far less expensive paper?
What impression do customers have when you respond to requests immediately instead of a day (or days) later?
What is the impact of a projected presentation typed with black letters on a white background vs. one that is professionally designed with a PowerPoint-type program?
How does image advertising influence the perception of customers and prospects?
What effect on readers does a newsletter have that looks like an ad and contains self-serving material?
How effective is a Web site in attracting customers when every page is company-focused vs. one that provides visitors with helpful information?

Clearly, business is about impressions. The psychological literature is filled with examples of studies verifying that misjudgments can result from incomplete or misleading information.

In one such study, for example, a group was asked to memorize a list of words that included terms of praise, while another group was asked to memorize a list that included scornful terms.Then, both groups undertook an ostensibly different task in which they read an ambiguous news story about a young man. When questioned, the first group was much more positive about the young man than were those in the second group, presumably because the positive words they had memorized came to mind and vice versa.

There are implications in this that can be serious in business. On the one hand, taking steps to shape customer expectations and perceptions can be extremely beneficial, as a company like Nordstrom knows so well. Even those who have never shopped at a Nordstrom store have a positive impression of the company. The story is quite different these days for Firestone.

Here are a few ideas that may help make a difference in the way you actively foster appropriate, positive impressions:

Be painfully clear about how you want to be perceived. What impression do you want to make? Think about United Parcel Service. No matter how bad the weather, UPS trucks are clean. And the drivers are always neatly uniformed no matter how hard they have been working. UPS knows that the way it looks on the street and at the door influences how customers rate its service. But it all starts with a precise description of how you want to be perceived.
Take every positive and negative message seriously. What do customers like—and what do they dislike? If there are disconnects between what you say and how you perform, someone is getting a confused message—and that means the wrong impression. Negative messages should never be ignored, even though they may be way off base. What’s behind the misconception? How did it happen? And what can be done to change it?
Be clear in your understanding of what the customer is thinking. Although it’s not easy, it’s necessary. An insider’s perspective is out of the question when it comes to impressions. For example, what message do people get from your logo and printed materials? It might be worthwhile holding a focus group and asking customers what they think when they see it. Also, ask them what they think about when they think of you and your company.
Capitalize on every uniqueness. How do you differ from the competition? What are you doing that they aren’t? These don’t need to be major differences to make a difference in the mind of the customer. One dry cleaner with 40 stores emphasizes what the company calls "Ready-Today" service instead of the common "Same-Day" day service. By making a somewhat common service distinctive, it has made a difference. These become impressions that influence how customers "see" a company.

Acting as if impressions are unimportant is never an answer. The demise of Montgomery Ward is a good example of what happens to a company that made no impression on the customer. Wards failed to give customers a reason to go to their stores. As a result, customers no longer thought of Wards stores as buying destinations. On the other hand, Kohl’s stores have found a niche in the highly competitive department-store market by combining name brand merchandise with discounted pricing, and they have attracted consumers using this merchandising strategy. They crafted the right impression.

There are other impressions, too. Firestone’s failure to respond quickly to the tire crisis created the impression that the company didn’t care or was stonewalling the issue. Even when the company came forward with its commitment to make good on every tire, the initial impression may have caused the public to doubt the company’s sincerity—and, more importantly, to question the quality of the company’s other products. It doesn’t have to be a matter as serious as tire failures, either. How–and how quickly–do you handle problems and mistakes?

Perhaps Amazon.com is enjoying the biggest payoff for making the right impression on customers. Although the value of its stock has suffered during the demise of the dotcoms, the company’s reputation remains undiminished. It stands out in the dotcom pack due to the quality of its customer service and relentless public relations efforts.

There are other companies, too, that understand the value of making the right impression. W.B. Mason, a large office supply dealer in the Northeast, continually strives to make an impression that places it ahead of the competition. Their deliveries, for example, are so fast they seem to be in real time! Place an order and it’s at your office in a few hours. That sends a powerful, indelible message: this company has its act together. No sales literature is needed because the impression tells it all.

With so much riding on that initial encounter, the right first impressions are the last thing you want to forget.

John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing services and sales consulting firm founded in 1976. He is the author of The New Magnet Marketing (Chandler House Press) and 203 Ways To Be Supremely Successful In The New World Of Selling (Macmillan Spectrum). Contact him at 617/328-0069 or j_graham@grahamcomm.com.

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