Can I trust you?
First Impressions: A Catalyst for Customer Impact
Do you remember that first date?
Or maybe that important job interview?
Or maybe that time you met your boy-or-girlfriend’s parents for the first time?
Introducing — first impressions! For some this is easy, but for others it’s terrifying. First impressions set the stage for every other relational interaction that follows. So, representing the value you have to offer as best you can the first time will not only help you get your foot in the door, but, more importantly, it will pave the way forward in what to expect long term. Ode to the joys of tailwinds of good report over headwinds of grinding forward.
So, we’re going to look at:
1. The role first impressions play in relationships
2. The role first impressions play in the brand-to-customer relationship
3. Establishing trustworthiness through first impressions with design
The role first impressions play in relationships
The role first impressions play in this relationship journey is in trust building. This can be built (or destroyed) in two major ways: 1) Through word-of-mouth, which relies heavily on how trustworthy the person referencing you is 2) Through the power of … wait for it … perception. If word-of-mouth is non-existent or the person referencing you isn’t trustworthy, perception is what you have left to leverage and gain another person’s trust, so that is what we’ll be focusing on here.
Think back to the last person you met. Without realizing it, you took in a ton of information through how the person looked, talked, smelled, gestured, etc. — right?
This assessment via our perceptions goes beyond descriptions. While verbal communication is important, body language — a person’s looks, smell, gestures & mannerisms — is just as important, if not more so, than the words themselves.
I’m sure it’s no surprise to you how often people are unaware of their own nonverbal communication cues. Young kids are the perfect example of not being aware of their own body language.
The other day my four-year-old daughter was hiding behind my legs, clinging on for her dear life, while introducing her to a buddy of mine. I asked, “Winnie, are you afraid?” Still hiding, Winnie replied with a muffled voice, “… no.” This was followed by a dad-struggling-to-be-compassionate grin from me.
The funny thing is, you don’t just grow out of it. Little do we know that this has the power to position us towards accidentally coming off as being something not fitting for the moment. Commence headwind!
The other day I unintentionally came off as being crazy judgmental. Apparently, my curious facial expression was mistaken for being very angry and defensive — aka judgmental.
It wasn’t my intent, but it happened, and there was no taking it back. I came to this realization from a mutual friend a whole week after our interaction. I felt like an ass because I actually like the guy.
The distorted message evoked in that impression served kind of like a veil. It prevented that person from seeing me and my true intentions. Rewriting his conclusions about me would require some confrontation. Depending on how offensive that impression was, gaining that person’s trust has now become an uphill battle. Yay.
Relational uphill battles are not easy to restore. It’s very emotional. I’ve lost an opportunity to be trusted, and from here on out, I’ll have to work doubly as hard to earn it.
Although uphill battles are inevitable, there are ways to avoid them. Just as easily as first impressions can go against you, first impressions can also break down unhealthy biases and defenses with new hopes of setting a foundation of trust.
You get a relationship, they get a trustworthy friend . Win win! In business terms we call this customer loyalty.
The role first impressions plays in the brand-to-customer relationship
How do these first impressions apply to the world of business and brands? To start, at the center of most, if not all, businesses are emotional and at-times irrational people. The way an individual acts within the business reflects to a watching world more on the business’s brand than on the individual himself.
With that being said, we can draw the conclusion that a business’s brand should be thought of as if the makeup of the entire business were a person. From here on out, we’ll refer to that person as, “The Brand.”
The Brand talks, he takes actions, looks a certain way, and the general makeup of people within the business give him a personality. People outside of the business interact with the Brand.
If you have a business, how is your brand being perceived? Although important, I’m not just talking about the aesthetics here. More so, how are people experiencing the brand as a whole?
The discipline of the Brand is to cultivate a perception that matches closely with what he is promising. The point of this discipline is to avoid being perceived in such a way that deters trust from potential customers or stakeholders.
Larger companies may be able afford to take a blow from a missed opportunity, but it’s not so true with small businesses and startups. At BLDR cultivating a strong internal and external perception of the Brand is one of the fundamental layers for any new venture we work with.
Many founders today still expect to be successful, profitable, or acquired, by building an effective solution. But, if the solution doesn’t tap into the customers’ or stakeholders’ emotions, if it doesn’t meet them where they’re at, the solution is bad and it will fail.
We have to speak to our customers emotions—we must! Charles Chu unpacks this a bit through leveraging the principles of ethos, pathos, and logos.
Chu explains that, “…the worst possible way to persuade someone to trust you is to start with a logical argument” (logos).
Unfortunately, in the startup world that’s exactly what many founders lean on, and it produces (as a whole) a minimal, not viable product. Don’t misunderstand me here though, the logic is incredibly important, but it’s incomplete if that’s all you got — people aren’t as rational as you think. Although the solution makes sense to them on paper, after a customer experiences the half-baked MVP, the impression taken away is that of frustration.
So, what does it look like for a Brand to put his best foot forward?
Establishing trust through first impressions
1. Start with caring
This sounds obvious, but we’ve actually got to care about people. Caring about somebody other than yourself is where great service starts. This is what fuels strong relationships.
Caring positions us to be empathetic about others’ needs. We can’t be empathetic with someone we don’t care about. If you try, all people will perceive is you trying to manipulate them. The opportunity to care for someone starts with that first impression. Is the whole company on board, or is this care fragmented? The customer will know.
Here’s a blind date example:
Blind Date
The Brand is picking up Jane Doe at her home. Emotions. . . are in the air (imagine it). There is a risk being made here — it may not be a good fit, but hopefully it is.
Ultimately, expectations are set and the instant they see each other, the impression is being made.
The hope is that the expectations that were set will not only be met but exceeded. Again, a good impression is a reflection of the Brand caring. It takes everyone within the company working together to facilitate this
The outcome is a reaction that produces delight rather than frustration. To understand delight, we can’t dismiss the emotional human factor.
2. So, numero dos lead with emotion, aka design
Although we’d like to say we are rational creatures, and we are, we often make a lot of irrational decisions throughout the day based off of our emotions. And our emotions matter. To cater to them, we design!
And of course, the aesthetics are important, but it’s beyond that. Another way of looking at it is that design is:
- Hospitable — it is literally, the enjoyment of experiencing authentic, hospitable, service. Thinking of a person’s needs and pains, big and small, so that they feel safe, cared for, or needed.
- Empathetic — it is emotionally engaging with people where they are. Listening to your customers. Bearing with their frustrations, fears, and concerns.
Design helps us to emotionally engage with our customer. With it we’re able to help set up ideal expectations for the future of the relationship.
With the blind date example, Jane Doe has high hopes, and she’s anticipating the opportunity to get to know the Brand. If the Brand does very little to accommodate Jane with his appearance, demeanor, etc,. as soon as she opens the door to meet him, she’ll be let down.
This situation befalls a Brand all too often, positioning him in a tough spot (aka uphill battle, headwind, going against the grain — suck).
3. Combat perception
We must cultivate a perception that matches up with any anticipated promises our customers may have.
Here’s where we press into the aesthetics of the Brand. Looking at a logo or experiencing a product or service for the first time is similar to how we assess people for the first time.
We need to be good and presentable not by our own standards, but by our customers’ standards for what they’ve experienced already in the world today. We need to meet them where they are — this is an empathetic design mindset.
According to Princeton psychologists Janine Willis and Alexander Todorov, who did a study on first impressions from facial appearance, our initial first impressions take no time at all —as fast as a tenth of a second!
When it comes to retaining potential customers, the small things matter. The more we understand who we are serving, the more informed we are in caring for their needs. This is good hospitality. And, the cycle begins!
As in many arenas, first impressions are crucial for web page content. Regardless of the quality or credibility of content, a poorly designed or aesthetically unappealing web page will likely produce a negative impression of credibility — Robins and Holmes 2008
So, where do we start?
Strive to delight customers at every angle. This starts with caring and intentionality through design. Our customers will set up expectations for how this brand-to-user relationship will work. So, do your best to avoid the uphill battle of earning trust, and set both your customers and the Brand up for success!
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