Trust First Impressions: They Help Increase Sales

New findings published in the Journal of Marketing show that trusting first impressions can help to boost sales. 

The study results show that salespeople can rely on first impressions perform significantly better than those who analyzed more. 

"Salespeople can make accurate intuitive judgments of a customer's needs, and those judgments can significantly increase sales," study authors Zachary R. Hall of Texas Christian University, Michael Ahearne of University of Houston, and Harish Sujan of Tulane University, said in a news release. "In fact, when a salesperson deliberately rethinks first impressions of a customer, he or she might lose a potential sale."

The study looked at four mounts of data from several mattress stores across the U.S., with researchers measuring two variables: "intuitive" judgments and "deliberative" judgments of salesperson. "Intuition" was then determined by how accurate the salesperson was ranked in order of each customer's top needs before interacting with him or her. 

Findings revealed that sales people who did not deliberately rethink their first impressions or "intuitive" thoughts performed consistently better than those who analyzed and revised their intuitive judgements. 

"The study showed that while skilled deliberation is useful, overthinking can reduce performance. Results also show that empathy improves intuitive accuracy. By encouraging salespeople to focus empathetically on a customer's posture and physique, as well as their tone of voice and concrete emotions, empathy training holds real promise for improving intuitive accuracy and overall sales," researchers concluded.

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