Now, the next step. Someone greets you and graciously offers you a cup of coffee, but when it arrives, you're handed a Styrofoam cup. Doesn't that shatter the illusion? Doesn't it imply that you're as disposable as the Styrofoam?

Your office environment should make every visitor the star in a play about the ultra successful and the incredibly interesting. It needs to be designed around making each visitor feel extremely comfortable and special. So, go to a discount home furnishings store and buy some nice crystal or china. If you want people to come back, make your office environment comfortable and inviting.

• Law firms use Doric columns to symbolize longevity. They also pay attention to having the right end tables, chairs and lighting that will capture their essence – expensive.
• Accountants dress carefully and conservatively by conscious design to communicate they are methodical and attentive to detail.
• Investment firms use leather portfolios to symbolize prosperity.
• Ad agencies and marketing firms show awards and creative expression.

Consciously or subconsciously all of those people are managing first impressions to raise the level of the visitors' expectations. What does your office say about you? Too many of the insurance and financial offices we visit say, "industrial, middle-class, hard-working but unsophisticated." Is that any way to greet your next high-net-worth client?

First Impressions – Your Face

Here's the situation – a prospect walks up to you. Stop right there. What does your face say right then?

Most people do not know what facial expression they wear when they greet someone new. If you want to make people feel comfortable and special, you need to give them a warm, open and sincere face. But, what does that look like?

We've seen way too many advisors wearing a frown at that moment. Because we wrote a book on reading people (Face Values), we understand that the frown is the sign of an Analytical personality type. But prospects don't know that. They're thinking a whole host of things: indigestion, trouble at your home, business slump, SEC investigation, computer crash… The expectation that frown gives is anything but inviting.

So, the question is, what face should you be wearing? There are two answers. First, look into the other person's face and wear that same face. Doing that will tell the visitor that you understand and are sympathetic to his/her state of mind. Second, start with a smile in your eyes, then adjust to wear the same face as the visitor. This buys you a little time to make the adjustment and it gives a welcoming first impression.

Let's say the visitor's eyebrows are lowered and he's biting his lip. What would you assume from that? Probably that there's something troubling him. It would then be reasonable that you would say, "You look like there's something on your mind. Is there anything I can do to help?"

The psychological strategy here is to match the visitor's face. Sounds easy, but it's not. When I teach this little skill in seminars, I direct the audience to match all my own facial expressions for a few minutes. They find it almost impossible to do. Especially the more analytical advisors. They seem to have an inability to move facial muscles. If you can't move your face, you can't match the visitor's face, and if you can't do that, you miss out on the most powerful tool in your relationship-building bag of tricks.

In Closing

Credibility is the result of a complex process. You have to be proactive and purposefully put the process into play, and you need to know how to use the specific steps and elements inside the process. That's what our book and our training and coaching teach you.

OK, so just why is credibility important? Because the financial industry has taken a gut punch – a rapid and catastrophic disintegration of credibility. And, it directly affects YOU, here's how. Consumers (or investors) see the horror stories in the media. They know the industry is in a sad state. And, they associate you with it. After all, you are a representative of it, right? So, while you are likely to be a paragon of competence and honesty, your target market now lumps you in with the industry's problems. That means you need to learn how to fortify and build your credibility. And, you need to initiate a Credibility Strategy like yesterday!

Your Reward

This article is taken from our book Credibility & Likeability. It took us about twenty years to develop this material. It is the best work we've ever done! And, it is literally unlike any other program in existence! In the past months we've been teaching it to Met Life, Wachovia and Edward Jones.

If you want to learn the specific skills and steps to build your credibility and become more likeable, let us help. If you'll contact us directly, we'll see if we can get underwriting for your firm, or find a discount for your personal coaching. But, please do it right away; it's far easier to build Credibility than regain it.

Great News! Our book Credibility & Likeability has been accepted for publication by Morgan James Publishers of New York. It will be available at all major book stores!