From the course: Cold Calling: The First Seven Seconds

Why does it matter?

From the course: Cold Calling: The First Seven Seconds

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Why does it matter?

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- So, why does this matter? If you mess up in those seven seconds, then you'll have another chance to win them over, right? Well, you might, but it'll be very hard. There was a Harvard communications study in which they discovered this seven seconds phenomena. And they found that we, as humans, make our judgment on a person in just seven seconds. We based it on a few simple things, like what the person is wearing, how they hold themselves. If they identify with any groups that we do or don't associate ourselves with and so on. But on the phone, we don't have the same luxury as being judged on looks. If we're wearing a perfectly tailored suit, or we're wearing some old, dirty pajamas the prospect can't see us. So instead they imagine what we look like. And you've probably done this too. If you speak to a customer support rep, or someone you've never met in-person only over the phone, then you imagine their face, and them talking, and maybe how they dress. And you can only get that from what you can hear. Their tone of voice, the words they use, the volume they speak at, how quickly they speak and so on. But we also use the same information to judge them as a person. Are they nice or rude, intelligent or stupid, hardworking or lazy, authoritative or submissive. So we need to think about how we might be perceived when we're speaking to prospective clients over the phone. How would you like to be seen? Confident, in charge, reliable, able to add value to their business. You need to think about this, because they'll be looking for a type of person too. They don't want to be bothered by time-wasters, unreliable people, or untrustworthy salespeople. They want to be speaking to people who add value to their business, people who are confident in their product, experts in their field and consultants who can help solve their problems. Now, another thing Harvard found was that it takes seven more interactions to overcome that first impression, seven. If you call a prospect and they think you're unreliable, a time-waster, or won't add value do you really think they're going to give you seven more opportunities? It's very unlikely. So this is why that initial interaction is so important. We need our meta message to the prospect to be, "I can add value, I can help you solve your problems. "And I am someone you want to be dealing with."

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