Almost daily I receive at least one phone call from some agency wanting to sell their website building services, triggered by domain registrar information. I have developed a way to quickly get to the point and waste less than 30 seconds of my or the caller’s time. I understand the caller is doing their job, I try to do mine. All is professional and we can both go on with our work.
Just this morning though, I was triggered… As I picked up the phone, I was greeted by “Can I speak to the business owner over there?”, in a way that demonstrated disdain for those picking up the phone. I could only respond “Over there?” and annoyed I put the phone down. No opportunity to quickly align on the purpose of the call, share our expectations, and go on with our day. No opportunity for the caller to learn and improve. No opportunity for this company to ever sell any service to us.
First impressions rarely make a relationship, but they can break one.
Relationships are built on trust and every interaction can either strengthen that foundation… or gnaw away at it. Treat every interaction as a first impression and maybe the relationship is strong enough to handle a bad episode.