I want to tell you three stories about first impressions that happened in the last week.
First, my friend Freddy was MAD. You see Freddy took his wife's car into a dealer last week and had a terrible experience. The worst thing for the dealer was that it was Freddy's first time and if they were trying to make a good impression on a new customer, they failed badly. Not only did they forget to pick up Freddy at the promised time, Freddy had to call them three times over the next two hours before he made other arrangements to use another car to pick up his kids.
After he picked up his wife and had her drive him to the dealer to get the car, he brought it home and upon backing it up the next day found oil on his garage floor that had leaked out of the car. Finally, on top of that, his windshield washer fluid was low despite the fact he was charged for "shop supplies" that were said to be included.
Secondly, I was working with a new client this week and walked into his business. My first impression was that he was closing. There were empty spaces on the shelves, product looked dated and the walls were badly in need of paint. I wasn't surprised that his sales were declining, I was surprised that he was confused about why it was happening.
Thirdly, I was giving a presentation on DISC where I asked participants to tell the people around them what their impressions of them were. The people in the groups had known each other for six months but one woman was shocked because her colleagues thought that she was scary. They had this impression because in the first week of meeting them she had done a skit where she was apparently very realistic in her depiction of someone who was terrifying.
First impressions are hard to overcome. Whether we meet someone initially or come in contact with a business for the first time, what we experience can bias our expectations of the relationship. That first encounter can sour us to further experiences or have us longing for more of the same.
Unfortunately when it comes to a bad first impression in business, all the money we spent in marketing and advertising to lure that ideal customer to us has gone to waste. It can be very expensive for a company that messes up with a customer as the dealer messed up with Freddy. Not only did Freddy have to go back to the dealer to get the issue dealt with, but they were forced to send someone to clean up the oil in his garage. They had to offer him a number of expensive incentives to ensure that he didn't file a bad survey score.
Getting things right the first time is often more complex than it seems. When we have lots of moving parts in our companies, there are lots of things that can go wrong. Having systems of checks and balances in place to ensure that when people come in contact with us, they get the customer service that they expect takes considerable thought and energy. After years of building up a business, employees without the proper hiring and training can make mistakes that can ruin our business in months.
So what must we do to ensure that our first impressions are lasting and positive?
Successful companies start by asking some serious questions. What are all the things that need to happen to get the result from our clients or customers that we desire? What are the steps we need to implement to ensure that things get done? What policies do we need to initiate and enforce to ensure that our employees are accountable and consistent? Who is going to be responsible for tracking the end results and how are we going to measure that success?
Unfortunately many companies spend more money fixing their mistakes than setting up the systems that could prevent them. This costly mistake not only hurts the bottom line - each and every time that errors and poor first impressions are made - but it further reduces the long term value of the company by raising costs and reducing profits.
We have all made bad first impressions at one time or another in our personal or professional lives. Businesses do the same.
Freddy was impressed by the effort of the dealer to repair their initial impression, but we don't all get that second chance. It's so much easier to do things right the first time than to pick up the pieces later.
Dave Fuller, MBA, is an award-winning certified professional business coach. If you haven't met Dave, he would like to make a good first impression on you. Email dave@profityourselfhealthy.com and he will set up a time to talk to you.
