How first impressions of a customer impact effectiveness in an initial sales encounter

First impressions of others affect both the content and outcomes of a varie ty of interpersonal encounters. In sales encounters, a salesperson's first impressions of a customer provide a starting point for probing customer nee ds and for adapting to those needs. This implies that salesperson effective ness in an initial sales encounter is associated-at least in part-with a sa lesperson's first impression of the customer The reported quasi-experiment is the first study to explore empirically the connection between salespeopl e's first impressions, their cognitive structures, and sales effectiveness in a single, initial series encounter The results provide an intriguing gli mpse into the dilemma salespeople face in trying to establish the basis of a relationship while achieving short-term sales outcomes (sg., closing a sa le, satisfaction).