You Have 3 Seconds to Make a Good First Impression

Did you know your client is sub-consciously either raising or lowering their defenses based on their 3-second appraisal of who you are? What can you do to make sure their impression of you is of a professional who is open and caring? Instinctively they will decide if you are successful, confident, cocky or being fake friendly just to sell them something.

Your client will sub-consciously be reading your body language. Greet your client by clearly giving the impression you are happy to meet them. If this is difficult for you, say to yourself, “I care about who you are.” This means having a genuine smile on your face, full eye contact and a warm handshake for everyone who is in front of you, including children. Don’t forget to thank them for their time.

Salespeople talk to clients in one of three ways. Most salespeople talk to clients like they would talk to a stranger, keeping them at a distance. Some talk to a client as family, which is too casual and familiar. One major key to your success is learning to talk to your clients as if you are talking to a friend.

At the same time you are paying careful attention to their body language and their personality style, using the Getting To YES Without Selling personality matrix. If your client is a couple or a group of people, the personality matrix will help you quickly discover what the power structure is.

Small talk creates rapport by establishing friendly common ground and allows your client to become increasingly comfortable with you. This is when they will decide if they like and trust you and want to do business with you.

Continue small talk until you feel their defenses are lowered to a point where they aren’t afraid to listen to what you have to say about your product, at least five minutes. Gain their trust by sharing about yourself.

For more information on this topic, go to www.LynnPierce.com

Lynn Pierce, The Success Architect ,has been helping entrepreneurs and sales organizations take their business to the next level for over 25 years. She is the creator of the program “Getting to YES Without Selling, The YES System”.