How Do You Behave in Public?

You only have a few seconds to make a positive first impression on someone.

Let’s face it – within moments of meeting another person we have often already determined whether or not we want to work with them.

Here are, what I believe to be, extremely simple steps to creating trust in meeting someone new:

1) You must look and act like someone who is ready to do business.

2) Then, it’s important to behave in such a way that generates positive feelings in the other person. Doing so will get that person to like you.

3) Once they like you, your continued behaviors will determine whether or not they will trust you.

When they trust you, they will often do business with you.Sounds easy, right? Apparently not.

A few years ago, Chris (my husband and business partner) and I were on an early morning flight home from St. Louis. The flight was filled with professional men and women in suits…the business crowd. Any one of them could have been a potential client. Yes, the world can be that small.

Sitting next to Chris was a middle-aged man in a suit. He was obnoxiously clipping his fingernails.  We were seriously worried Chris was going to get hit by “nail shrapnel.”

Let’s apply this scenario to the steps I just outlined:

1) He is not acting like someone who is ready to do business.

2) He is behaving in such a way that is generating negative feelings for me.

3) The likelihood is I will never grow to trust this person because I don’t even want to meet him!

Am I being too extreme?

Around the same time period, I was on a flight home from Edmonton. I sat next to an Executive VP of a large Fortune 500 company and we chatted for hours about sales performance and he booked training with me soon after. Would he have decided to work with me if I was clipping my nails or demonstrating other repelling behavior? Probably not.

You must always be aware of your public appearance, especially when you’re in close proximity to potential clients. If you’re demonstrating repelling behavior…you’re going to repel customers!

Have you come across other blatant negative behavior? Share them with us in the comments below!