Doing the Placido Domingo - The things you can't take back : why first impressions count

I played chess with my son tonight. He's just learning so I let him get away with things. He makes a move, I say "really....you sure about that....take a moment...look around ...what might happen?". He stops, he thinks, he sees the potential outcomes and he says "oh I take it back, I take it back". And of course I let him. He rethinks and makes another, better move.

If only life was like that. If we got to see and live out the consequences of our actions but then be able to press the rewind button and "take it back" would we make better decisions? Would our learning be augmented?

Translating this into the world of financial services, our clients experience us making that first move. That move stays with them and it is something that we can't take back.

Sometimes that first move takes placed before we have even met our clients. The first move is they way the receptionist answered the phone when they first made their inquiry.

The first move is the look of our website, the information pack that arrives in the mail, the look of the carpark, the front door, the waiting area, the smile at the front desk, the coffee, the ornaments, the client testimonial book, the photos, the awards, the uniform, the music playing or not, the channel on the TV, the magazines in the stand, the flowers be they artificial or real.

It's the first handshake, the first words we utter.

What PCE are talking about here is because you do not get a second chance at a first impression then preparation matters. When Paul Keating in his address to the Canberra press gallery on 7 December 1990, talked about doing the Placido Domingo, his message was widely misconstrued and misquoted.

In paying tribute to Chris Higgins, Prime Minister Keating spoke about those people who when really serious about what it is that they are doing then they truly are a participant.

And to be a participant you need to master what it is that you do and be a performer. Each first impression is that opportunity to be on stage and shine knowing that because you can't "take it back" that you don't get second chances that you get up on stage prepared, polished, with experience with practice and with belief.

It is PCE's belief that there are unfortunately in this industry and many other service industries a few too many as Mr Keating pointed out "voyeurs".

For financial services this extends from financial planners, insurance agents, BDMs, executives and underwriters.

People who daily go through the motions. Who never replay back the moves, the decisions they have made, the way they have engaged with people and realise that they could have done it better and that yes indeed there is room for growth and improvement.

These people damage relationships irreparably and damage brands and the most important brand they damage is their own.

Go back to that chess board, have a look at the moves you've made. Reset the board. Try again, think ahead, practice, practice excellence, look at things from another's perspective and change those first moves into ones that are lasting positive impressions that build brands, build relationships and in this industry change lives.