The First 7 Seconds

By Jared Smith

I was standing at the tenth tee box wondering why I was still on the course; during the first nine holes I had lost eight balls: six in the bush, one in the water, and one over the roof of somebody's house. My dad was with me, and he kept saying, "you had the right idea" after each stray shot. I kept telling my inner voice to stop swearing at him.

As we prepared for our drive off the tenth tee, a really, really, really old man with a cane, a severe limp, a crooked leg, and a bulbous nose shuffled over and asked us, "Mind if I join you young fellers?" Upon seeing him, my first thought was, this guy must be in the Guinness Book as the oldest man on earth, and then, there's no way in hell he's going to be able to swing a club, and then, awesome, he is going to make me look really good! Hunched over, he could hardly lift his head high enough to make eye contact. His irons were 1946 Sam Snead Specials. Dad glanced over at me and raised his eyebrows a bit, as if to say, oh boy, this is going to take awhile.

Old Sam Snead (which is what my Dad and I now call him) lumbered up the steps of the tee box, planted his tee, dropped his cane, grabbed his club, and—to our utter shock and sheer amazement—launched his ball 275 yards with his three wood, over the fairway, over the sand, over the pond, past the trees, and onto the green about six feet from the pin.

WOW! We couldn't believe our eyes and were amazed for the rest of the day as he schooled us in the game of golf. He drove a ball on 15 so hard that it clipped the wing of a crow, killed the crow, and continued for another 45 yards, landing just next to the green. On the back nine, strutting around in my $325 custom designer golf shoes, I lost seven more balls and shot a 58. Sam shot a 39.

Finally, my point: In the midst of the clutter of people we meet on a daily basis, our minds have become extremely adept at making quick generalizations. The experts are saying that the people you meet will form a lasting impression of you in less than 7 seconds. And, unless you are Sam Snead, this impression could be very difficult to break.

Now, this is powerful information for people in the business of building relationships. Every time you meet someone new, they are going to place you into a category in less than 7 seconds. New people are forming an impression of you before you even get a chance to pick up a club and show off your swing. Is this fair? No. Is it nice? No. But it's the way it is. So, what can we do about it?

Make the first 7 seconds count. Whether the impression is made through your Web site, your receptionist, a letter you send to a prospect, your proposal, your business card, an event that you host, how you eat your lunch, the shirt on your back, or the firmness of your hand shake, that first 7 seconds could make or break your ability to form a lasting relationship. It's a huge opportunity to do something outstanding.

What can you do to improve the impression you make in that first blink of an eye? Build a "first 7 seconds inventory list" of all of the things people are exposed to during the first 7 seconds of meeting you or being introduced to your business. Then, carefully dissect each one of them, discover and plan how you can improve them, and then make them remarkable.

However, keep in mind that mistakes are made during those first 7 seconds—and they're made frequently. So, be careful of your own generalizations and assumptions. Invest more than just a few seconds in passing your judgments—keep in mind that it takes some juries months to come to judgments, and they have all the facts clearly before them.

In the end, people like old Sam Snead will continue to amaze us all and challenge assumptions. But keep in mind that, in the business world, unless your strategy is to be the corporate equivalent of Sam Snead, it is important to create a positive, lasting impact in those first critical seconds.

Contact Incite Solutions to build a powerful and effective first 7 second portfolio.