It’s What You Don’t Say That Counts First

As I make the move from the world of big-quota, corporate sales & marketing and into my new career as a real estate agent the immediate future presents what seems to be a million proverbial irons in the fire, all requiring my immediate attention. So, why is it that as I prepare for my new career I get hit with thoughts like this; “What car should I drive, how should I dress and what else should I do to make a lasting first impression when I meet with new customers & clients?”

If 25-years of face-to-face sales experience has taught me anything it’s that a good first impression is more than just important, it’s an absolute decisive factor which can have a massive impact your success. In any business, your first impression on a new client is the cornerstone for the foundation on which everything else rest upon.

We’ve all heard the old adage of, you’re judged when you meet a new person for the first time by your appearance, right? From the style of your hair, what you’re wearing to the whiteness of your teeth it’s an unfortunate human trait that people subconsciously make assumptions, immediately upon meeting someone.

We can forget about the 7 second rule when it comes to making a good first impression. Experts in psychology have now found that many assumptions are being made much faster than seven second and they have labeled this process, “thin slicing.” This newly uncovered method has shown that hundreds of deciding factors are made in less than one second of meeting someone for the first time.

Even faster than single second “thin slicing”, research conducted by Princeton University has shown that many significant traits including trustworthiness are decided on within 100 milliseconds of meeting a new person. Even when groups were provided with additional time in which to study a subject, decisions on some of the traits may differ but their initial verdic regarding that of a person’s trustworthiness don’t waiver.

Now, talk about putting your best face forward. An independent study preformed in 2014, suggested that a perceiver can accurately gauge the real intelligence of men but not women, by only viewing their face. Other studies have shown that your perceived more intelligent by the amount of eye contact that you maintain with your conversation partner. Even wearing glasses and being aggressive in how you speak significantly is correlated with the perceived IQ of an individual.

When you break down the old 7 second rule, only 3 seconds or 45% of someone’s first impression regarding things like confidence and successfulness are based on verbal factors. This leaves 55% to include things like how you look, what you drive, how you walk & hold yourself and what you’re wearing.

“Hi, Mr. and Ms. So-&-So, it’s great to meet you. I’m Sam Matheny.” That was 3 or 4 seconds and in that short sentence I’ve already accounted for 45% of my first impression. Working in real estate most of time my first impressions will be made non-verbally as my new customer pulls up to a listing or as I pull into the driveway of a potential client. This means I need to plan for making a strong impression based heavily on my first appearance only.

I’ve personally done the home buying and selling dance more than once and my first opinion of an agent was significantly based on their appearance. From their advertising strength, how they present themselves to their dress, it’s something that all successful agents know; People like to do business with others that they perceive to be successful.

It’s a fact that in real estate referrals can be a make or break for an agent’s success. Getting these referrals will be based on your past performance but even before you walk through the door and put out your hand for the first-time people will have already decided a lot of things about you base on your appearance.

In business, even the trivial things such as the fit of your suit and polish or lack thereof on your shoes can subconsciously factor into a decision regarding the best person for the job or who to award a deal to.

While we may not agree in entirely with the entire premise behind some of these finding there are aspects of subconsciously made assumptions which have been proven reliable time and time again. Maybe we should listen to and give more consideration to what our “gut” tells us when we meet new people?

When it comes to being successful in business, our first impression may not be the be all end all for a deal, but good or bad that impression is what we all make first. So, why wouldn't we want to start out by making the sales process easier and nail that first impression, telling your customer or client that you are trustworthy, intelligent, hardworking and successful before you even say a word?