Best-selling author, business expert and motivational speaker Tim Sanders is currently featured on Oprah.com
The following is an excerpt from his article, "5 Ways to Make a Great Second Impression":
You don't get a second chance to make a great first impression…or do you? Tim Sanders, motivational speaker and author of The Likability Factor, says the all-important second meeting is what could get you the job, land you the client or solidify a new friendship.
Recently, I was invited to meet with an important CEO for a second time. In our first meeting, we hit it off like old friends and he remarked that my insight into his business was spot-on. It would be easy to assume that because our rapport was strong that our second meeting may lead to prosperous rewards—a consulting job for me and a highly connected friend in my network. However, instead of thinking, "This will be a piece of cake," I knew that I needed to spend some quality time preparing for our second meeting.
In my research, the second impression is just as important as the first. We put too much weight into the first impression and assume that's all that counts. We get lazy, thinking that the encore performance is a freebie that will obviously turn out well, "because we dig each other, right?" Don't kid yourself. You will never win someone over completely with one great meeting.
In relationships, business and social situations, I've found the second meeting to be the hardest of all. This is especially true when the first meeting went well. While psychologists are right that a first impression that is extreme, be it positive or negative, sets the tone for a relationship, it doesn't define its boundaries or potential. Subsequent encounters determine the real quality of any relationship. Yet, sadly, we don't train people for this. When the second meeting goes so-so, others cool off, making it hard to ever have a third one.
Read the entire article at Oprah.com.
Tim Sanders is avaiable to provide a potent, motivational message at your next event. For more information, visit PremiereSpeakers.com/Tim_Sanders.
