First Impression

My workplace offered customer service training earlier this month.  In addition to reminding us of those customer service skills we already knew and teaching us some new ones, we were told the following statistics:  You have three seconds -- just three seconds -- to make a first impression.  When someone assesses you, 55% is based on your nonverbal communication, 38% your tone of voice and only 7% your actual words.  Therefore, a friendly, genuinely smiling countenance goes a long way toward making a good first impression.  It made me wonder if people have always assessed one another in just three seconds or if that is a product of our ever-quickening society where we have shorter and shorter attention spans.  As I thought about what we learned in that training, I realized that the greatest thing someone can do for another in a first encounter is to be genuinely present to that other person.  Call it respect, call it customer service, call it whatever you want, but I call it honoring the other person and that's the right thing.