Do you know how long it takes to make a great first impression? If you’re looking to attract more real estate clients, it’s important to know that people begin to judge you within one-second* of your first encounter. That isn’t very long to make a winning first impression.
Making a great first impression is critical to any potential business relationship. So what can you do to ensure that your first impression is positive and impactful?
Check your Posture and Body Language
Your posture says a lot about you. The way that you carry yourself conveys your level of confidence, and whether or not you’re open and approachable, or standoffish and intimidating. When you throw your shoulders back, lift your chest, and hold your head high, you’ll present yourself in a more powerful way, and you’ll start to feel stronger, too.
Changing your thoughts can improve your self-esteem, and when you make a strong physical presentation, you can also boost your thought patterns. This is as true of a confident walk as it is a firm handshake.
Make eye contact, smile, nod your head, and demonstrate that you’re giving your undivided attention to the people you’re meeting. Crossing your arms is an obvious sign of closed body language, but other less obvious habits can also weaken your presentation. When you sit, be particularly careful not to slouch or close yourself off.
Learn to attune yourself to the people that you’re with. Practice body mirroring. This easy psychological trick has been shown to make the person you’re in company with feel more at ease with you.
Practice Impeccable Hygiene and Grooming
We live in a world that favors those who are more attractive. This may seem unfair, but we each have the potential to improve our appearance. Invest in a success wardrobe; you don’t have to have a large wardrobe but make sure that what you do wear fits you well and is of good quality. Develop a love of ironing. Use deodorant and wear cologne or perfume, but not too much. Carry some with you in your car or bag to freshen up between meetings. Always carry breath mints, and even a toothbrush. Make a habit of checking your teeth and your breath after each meal and beverage—especially coffee! Visit the dentist regularly and take steps to whiten your teeth. Keep a comb or hairbrush with you.
Learn to Make a Strong Introduction
When you meet someone new, be assertive with your introduction. Affirm their name by repeating it for your own memory as it helps you to absorb and remember it, but also to make the person feel acknowledged.
Without forcing it, it can be a nice gesture to compliment the person in some way if you’ve naturally noticed something positive about them, whether it’s a good handshake, an attractive article of clothing, or a nice name.
Make a habit of asking questions of other people to show that you’re inquisitive and genuinely interested in knowing them.
Always Have your Professional Business Card Ready
A professional, high quality business card should be ready at your fingertips at all times. Keep them with you in the car, in your suit jacket pockets, and if you’re in the habit of changing bags or purses, make sure that you have plenty of cards in all of them so that you’re never caught without it. At SureFactor, we specialize in quality, cost-effective business cards for real estate agents. We have business card templates ready and waiting for you from all of the real estate companies so it’s easy to plug in your credentials with just a few clicks, and it’s easy to restock your supply so that you never run out.
Be Fastidious About Following Up
Though people start to formulate their opinion as soon as they meet you, that doesn’t mean that your work is done—far from it. You can reinforce the positive impact that you made upon your first encounter by making a swift and friendly follow up. If you’ve taken their direct contact information, follow up with a nice email telling them that you enjoyed meeting them and mention an aspect of the conversation that you had to reinforce that you were paying attention. Look them up on LinkedIn and send them a connection request, and also make a point of liking and/or following their business page on other social media channels.
NB: Please be clear on one point: if you met someone under business circumstances, you should not send them a personal Facebook request unless you met through a mutual friend. Stick to LinkedIn and email for the one-on-one connection, and only use Facebook for liking their business page.
Taking Ownership
While you can’t control every aspect of the circumstances under which you meet someone new, you can control your own person. When you follow these five tips, you’re sure to make the positive first impression that will help you to win more real estate clients. With confident posture, affirmative body language, and impeccable grooming, you’ll always present yourself to the world in the most powerful way possible. Your assertive mastery of the that first conversation, accompanied by your professional business card, will be easy to recall when you send them your professional follow up.
Do you have additional tips or tricks that help to make a positive first impression, or an anecdote about an impactful first impression that you’ve experienced? Please leave a comment. We’d be curious to hear about it.