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Newsletter>
Making A Good First Impression
January 5, 2006
When you first meet a person, your goal is to get them to:
1. like you; 2. trust you; and 3. want to listen to you.
Once they've gotten the basic idea of our business, they'll
need to like and trust you enough to want to do business
with you.
To help people to like you, you must be likable. That's
pretty simple. Develop the traits you admire in someone you
deem as being likable. Chances are someone you consider
likable is already somewhat like you, so this shouldn't be
too much of a stretch for you.
It's human nature to like people who are like us or who we
recognize as complementing our personality styles. People
tend to like others who smile, make eye contact, are
courteous, and are interested in them. These traits make
those with whom you come in contact feel as though they are
important to you. Making others feel important is critical
to establishing successful relationships — both business
and personal.
To begin building trust, establish common ground. If you're
a fan of the same sports team, if you have children the
same ages, or if you belong to the same community service
organization, they'll see how much you are like them. Most
people trust and want to do business with people who are
like themselves. Seek areas of common ground by asking
questions about their business or something in their local
area.
It won't hurt, if in conversation, you are able to tell
them stories about other people in the business who are
succeeding. Edify your upline. Be careful not to sound like
you're bragging. Use the term “we” as in “we, Agel” when
relating information about other partners in the business.
That way, if they're even the least bit shaky on their
opinion of you, they'll build faith in Agel and the fact
that others are succeeding. You should ALWAYS use THIRD
PARTY at every given moment to keep things duplicatable,
and build credibility.
If you're making a telephone contact, you won't be able to
see their office or home environment, so you must stay away
from personal topics until you get a cue from them that
it's something they'd want to talk about. Stick with
industry knowledge or local topics of interest at the
beginning.
Look and listen for ideas of what's important to this
person. If you don't see or hear anything that you would
feel comfortable asking about, don't become anxious. You
don't want to create an awkward situation by looking like
you're struggling to come up with a subject. In business
situations, you can always ask about the neighborhood or
good local restaurants. If you visit a prospect at their
home, mention the landscaping, the general style of decor,
or a painting hanging on the wall. Avoid the weather unless
there's some unusual weather phenomenon occurring. It's
just too trite.
You should also dress accordingly. To sponsor sharp people,
you must become a sharp person. Your dress should reflect
the type of people you intend to sponsor. When people see
you - they form an impression. That's why we always suggest
business casual. Showing up for a meeting in cut offs and
sandals won't help you sponsor many people (unless you're
trying to sponsor surfers).
Meeting someone in a neutral location, such as an elevator,
an office lobby, or in line at the grocery store can be
handled nicely with a sincere compliment about an article
of clothing, an item the person is carrying, or a simple
question. A good starter question for other than the
grocery store could be, “What brings you to this building?”
The more prepared you are to handle first meetings, the
more relaxed you will be. And, the more relaxed you are,
the fewer awkward beginnings you'll encounter.
 
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