First Impressions of Credibility - What Face to Wear

Every person you approach experiences an emotion, and logically, he or she expresses that emotion. Where? On the face.

Good news for you, most people do not know what facial expression they wear when they greet someone new. That includes you. If you want to make people feel comfortable and special, you need to give them a warm, open and sincere face. But, what does that look like?

Way too many sales people wear a frown at the moment they meet someone new. Because we wrote a book on reading people (Face Values), we understand that the frown is the sign of an Analytical personality type. But prospects are unaware of that. They think a whole host of things: indigestion, trouble at your home, business slump, federal investigation, computer crash, or worse. The expectation given by that frown is anything but inviting.

So, the question is, what face should you be wearing when you meet someone new? There are two answers. First, look into the face in front of you and wear that same face. Doing that will tell the visitor that you understand his or her state of mind. Second, start with a smile in your eyes, then adjust to wear the same face as the other person. The smile buys you a little time to make the adjustment and it gives a welcoming first impression.

Imagine the visitor's eyebrows are lowered and he's biting his lip. What would you assume from that? Probably that there's something troubling him or her. It would then be reasonable that you would say, "You look like there's something on your mind. Is there anything I can do to help?"

The psychological strategy here is to match the visitor's face. Sounds easy, but it's not. When I teach this little skill in seminars, I direct the audience to match all my own facial expressions for a few minutes. They find it almost impossible to do. Especially the more analytical people in the audience. Analytical people seem to have an inability to move many facial muscles. If you can't move your face, you can't match the visitor's face, and if you can't do that, you miss out on the most powerful tool in your relationship-building bag of tricks.

In Closing. Credibility is the result of a complex process. You have to purposefully put the process into play, and you need to know how to use the specific steps and elements inside the process. But, just why is credibility important? Because the American business has taken a gut punch - a rapid and catastrophic disintegration of credibility. And, it directly affects anyone in sales.

Consumers (or investors) see the horror stories in the media. They know the country is in a sad state. And, they associate you with it. After all, you are a representative of it, right? So, while you are likely to be a paragon of competence and honesty, your target market now lumps you in with the industry's problems. That means you need to learn how to fortify and build your credibility. And, you need to initiate a Credibility Strategy like yesterday! Where to start? Start with your face!

If you like what you see here, you'll love what we can do for you in real life. Find us at: www.aboutpeople.com -- Michael Lovas