Why are first impressions important? Top 5 breakdown

We’ve all heard about the importance of first impressions, but do you know just how important they are when it comes to your customers? The reality is that the first interaction a customer has with your brand is a moment that heavily informs their future actions, whether that happens in a store, on your website, or in your help center. 

Make a great first impression, and 72% of your customers are likely to spread the word to six or more people. Solid first impressions also create the foundation for long-term loyalty. However, if things don’t go well right from the start, you’ll have to work hard to correct a negative first impression. But don’t worry. You can take steps to make a great first impression.

Start customer relationships by making great first impressions, and you’ll see the rewards well into the future. Here’s how:

When you weigh why first impressions are important, remember how quickly they occur. Research has shown it can take as little as a tenth of a second to cement a first impression. That means it’s critical to plan for those initial moments and do your best to make an amazing first impression. This is how to make a good impression when you meet someone face-to-face:

• Speak slowly and clearly
• Be conscious of body language 
• Be courteous
• Avoid interruptions
• Listen actively
• Make eye contact

These tips go a long way toward reliably winning over customers in person. But there’s a lot of other ground to cover that can make a stronger and even longer-lasting impression, whether you’re meeting in person or in a digital landscape.

After all, a customer’s first impression of a company might form when they visit the company’s website. In industries like healthcare, for example, many consumers do online searches before settling on a provider. Online shoppers search for better deals, free shipping, or the look and feel of a brand that resonates with their values. They use websites, ads, and other customer reviews to inform their decisions.

Your customer might already have exposure to the competition, too. This means you need to give the same level of attention to every element of your company that is customer-facing, just like you would with a customer who is interacting with you in person.   

Here are a few psychological reasons that impressions matter, so being thorough is critical to portraying your business how you want your customers to perceive it.

The halo effect

One of the reasons first impressions are important is that people tend to make generalizations based on them.  So, a positive first impression is a fundamental step in making the halo effect work in your favor. The halo effect is a cognitive bias in which people see one good trait in another person and then make additional positive judgments about the person as a result.

The halo effect means that making a good first impression can help you build positive momentum to create a good relationship and maintain it from that point onward. Customers will often generalize other positive traits in your company as a result of that first interaction.

But there is a negative companion to the halo effect, too — the fundamental attribution error.

The fundamental attribution error

The fundamental attribution error describes the phenomenon in which people attribute intent to the actions of another and use that attribution to make generalizations about the other person’s personality.

For example, if a customer visits a store on a day when the customer service desk happens to be very busy, and they have to wait for a while, they might assume that they’re not a priority for your business.

And they can easily extend their fundamental attribution error to your entire company just because they assume having long wait times means your company doesn’t care about its customers. They have the evidence through their own experience to support their assumption. 

It’s further proof of why first impressions are important: Negative first impressions can be difficult to overcome. 

Dale Carnegie was a legendary people-skills guru and the author of the internationally acclaimed book, How To Win Friends And Influence People.

The reasons why first impressions are important were obvious to Carnegie, so he spent a lot of time experimenting with the best way to reliably make good ones. Carnegie had lots of ideas about how to make a first impression in the business context, but he held six rules above all others, which include:

1. Become genuinely interested in other people
2. Smile
3. Remember that a person’s name is to them the sweetest and most important sound in any language
4. Be a good listener and encourage other people to talk about themselves
5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests
6. Make the other person feel important, and do it sincerely

His rules might seem simple to put into practice, but in reality, they’re actually quite difficult to master. To help bridge the gap between theory and practice, Carnegie recommended that his readers practice abiding by the six rules in private rehearsals before trying to use them in high-stakes conversations like the ones you might be having with new customers.

For example, if you’re trying to improve the first impressions your customer service representatives make on your customers, tread with caution when it comes to rule four. Rather than encouraging customers to talk about themselves, a sales rep could ask a series of narrow questions designed to prompt the customer to describe their needs in greater detail.

Even when you and your team understand why first impressions are important in business, sometimes people make mistakes when communicating with customers despite best efforts. Rather than expecting perfection, it’s best to have a plan in place for when things don’t go exactly how you imagined. After all, we’ve probably all made a bad first impression by mistake.

Luckily, it’s possible to change a negative first impression over time. It might sound obvious, but one surefire way to correct a bad first impression is by consistently doing things that meet or exceed the customer’s expectations. Again, easier said than done, but if you strive to go the extra mile, you’ll probably see progress when it comes to how much the customer trusts you.

A bad first impression makes customers expect that you will underdeliver, so over-deliver and then over-deliver some more. Turn the (genuine) charm up to 11 every time you interact with them.

Keep these principles of why first impressions are important as you meet prospects and customers and build relationships on a strong foundation:

1. You only have moments to make a first impression.

2. The halo effect can help you build goodwill for future interactions.

3. But the fundamental attribution error can be difficult to overcome. 

4. Making a good first impression in business takes practice.

5. Good first impressions can help create brand ambassadors. 

By emphasizing why first impressions are important with your team and why overdelivering if your business has made a negative first impression, you’ll eventually have a base of impressed – and loyal – customers.

Zoom’s customer experience solutions help support teams provide accurate, personalized, and prompt resolutions that drive brand loyalty and increase customer satisfaction. Learn how our virtual agent and omnichannel contact center can help you impress your customers the first time, every time.