There is a well-known saying: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”
Research and our everyday experiences remind us of the truth of this statement. First impressions are quick, powerful and lasting, which is why it’s so important to do everything you can to make a good one.
First impressions are really important at BNI because you often only have a small amount of time to introduce yourself and your business. This time of year is especially an ideal time to work on improving the impression you give when you first meet people because there will be new visitors coming in to check out your chapter.
How can I improve the first impression that I give?
Follow these five tips to make a better first impression at BNI:
- Think about your appearance: Looking fresh, polished and professional in your appearance – it’s the foundation for any good first impression. Whether we like it or not, looks matter a great deal. Remember you represent your business; you are the brand and your appearance is a big part of this.
- Make sure you seem trustworthy: We value trustworthiness over confidence when creating impressions. We create more positive impressions of those we believe to be trustworthy. There are many things we can do to establish a sense of trust right off the bat: One is to let the other person speak first in your networking time and third can be done by simply by asking them a question.
- Set an intention: Goals matter in meeting new people as much as they matter in other areas of life. Take a moment before you attend your meeting to ponder what image exactly you hope to project and who this week you’d like to talk to further. As you get ready, or when you are driving over, think about what kind of interactions you want to have and the type of referrals you are looking for.
- Keep your eyes on the prize: You’ve probably been told somewhere along the line that making eye contact is a signal of sincerity, but according to the latest research it also makes you seem smarter!
Don’t go too far with the eye contact though – if you lock on and don’t let go, people will likely assume you’re a bit strange!
- Pay attention to how fast you’re speaking (and watch your ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’): Studies show increased speech rates lead people to assume the speaker is more competent. Slower speakers are rated as being less truthful, less fluent and less persuasive. Research has also shown that people who ‘um’ and ‘ah’ a lot are assumed to not know what they’re talking about.
In business, as in social situations, first impressions are crucial. Giving a bad first impression can lose you the confidence of prospective customers and clients and even cost you business. The first impressions you give a customer or members at BNI will set the tone for your future business relationship and shows that you are professional and prepared. By following these five guidelines you’ll be in to create a good first impression every time.
