YOU & YOUR HEALTH
First impressions
MAKING A GREAT FIRST
IMPRESSION It takes us just seven seconds to make our initial judgement about someone. Making a good first impression can help build rapport with a new client and help us win repeat business…
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E are, by our very natures, judgemental. We need to be. We need to recognise people or behaviours that threaten us, or that may be able to help us in some way. At first it was biological - being able to sum up a stranger quickly meant we could identify a potential mate, a potential rival, a danger to us, or someone whose position in the social hierarchy was markedly different from our own. These judgements are right around 76% of the time, so we tend to trust our gut instincts when we meet someone new, whether that’s socially or in a business context. Just as we sub-consciously judge
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HOLISTIC THERAPIST 2021
those we encounter, so others judge us. People have expectations that their holistic therapist should look healthy and be happy – a positive example of someone with their life sorted out. Making a good first impression will help you gain and retain clients more easily.
It’s all about perception You may be the world’s best holistic therapist, you may be a kind and charming person but, when it comes to first impressions, it’s the way others perceive you that matters, rather than who you really are. That sounds harsh. It’s certainly not fair, but it is the reality of the situation
and applies in both work and social contexts. We not only decide if we like someone in the first few seconds, but also that first impression stays with us. In the USA, surveys suggest this failure to make a good first impression on a new client – the feeling that you are personable and ‘get’ them and their issues straight away – results in half of all clients not returning for a second session. Creating a positive first impression matters more when businesses are restarting and we are trying to rebuild our clienteles. The saving grace is that we have control over the first impressions that we make on new clients.
Thin-slicing Thin-slicing is the mental snapshot we take of someone on first meeting. We instantly – and it can take under a second – make assumptions about that person’s confidence, likeability and competence. If you want to know more about this,
holistictherapistmagazine.com
