“You have exactly one opportunity to make a

great first impression.”

T

he way a sale begins will often determine the outcome. If
you start on the wrong foot you can sour the customer’s

frame of mind and erase his willingness to do business with
you. Yet few salespeople—not sales professionals—concentrate
on developing a great first impression. This first impression
begins before you speak a single word to your customer. As a
customer enters the store he does a quick visual scan. He spots
the salespeople and records his first mental picture. That means
that whatever you happen to be doing at that precise moment
will influence his first impression. Let me paint a scene for you.

It is a typical morning. The store has just opened and you

and your co-workers are standing around the sales counter
trading war stories or discussing last night’s television show or
sporting event when a customer walks in.

What’s your first physical reaction? If you are like most peo-

ple, you probably realized that everyone stops talking and looks
at the customer.

The customer now has several pairs of eyes on him and feels

like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. You real-
ize your error and you and your co-workers feel as if you have

c h a p t e r t h r e e

Greeting Your

Customer