People Buy People First

Dale Carnegie talked about it.

     Napoleon Hill mentioned it.

          Earl Nightingale spoke of it frequently. 

Brian Tracy, Denis Waitley, and countless other success gurus have talked about, promoted, and preached this idea and it is still true.

People Buy People First.

Earl Nightingale called it “The First Four Minutes.”  We have anywhere from 30 seconds to four minutes to make a good first impression. 

I imagine that this is not the first time you’ve heard this thought.  And I can assure you that it will not be the last time you hear it.

Just this week, I was in a store when a young man walked in asking for employment. 

He was wearing baggy basketball-type shorts, black tennis shoes, and a pull-over tee-shirt that had seen better days.  As I sized this young man up, I quickly decided that he probably didn’t stand a ghost of a chance for a job with this particular retail store. 

Did this young man have marketable skills?  Was he teachable?

We will never know, and if he doesn’t learn some simple principles like “People Buy People First” then he will forever be looking at the sad end of an endless trail of job rejections. 

His dress spoke loud volumes long before he reached the area of the store where I was so that I could hear his request of the sales clerk. 

He didn’t understand that employers buy people first, and then they buy talent, experience, and a person to fill a job. 

And so do your customers.  They buy you and then they buy the product you represent.  But, they are buying you first, or not.

I’ve spoken with managers and owners of business establishments who hire men and women.  Here is what they say.

-Look your best.  Dress up rather than down.  That doesn’t always mean a suit and tie, but appropriate  

  slacks, shirt and shoes do make a huge statement. 

-Don’t bring your best bud with you to the interview.

-Do bring a pen to write with.

The number one things most hiring managers want to know is this, "Can you make a positive contribution to our enterprise?"

And they get their first impression largely from watching and listening to the person in front of them. 

People buy people first.