Design an offering that grabs customers at first glance

“Trust your first impression,” so the saying goes. Indeed, many studies have shown that the first moments when a potential customer is faced with an offering – whether a product or service – are decisive in the purchasing decision. If this initial contact goes badly, enormous efforts must be made to make up for this bad impression, while if things go well, the sale is already well in hand!

In this context, companies have every interest in focusing carefully on the first impression created by their offering. Yet, the problem is not so simple. How to know what goes through people’s minds in the first few decisive seconds? What attracts them? What bothers them? Is it a question of details or the overall impression? What must be changed to obtain the desired effect?

The publications that we have selected attempt to respond to these questions and provide suggestions on creating an offering that will charm people immediately, and may sometimes even "sell itself." They emphasize three messages in particular:

– Observe customers under real-life conditions to understand how they really perceive your products: surveys often provide only a partial or biased vision.

– Work on overall perception as well as the details that influence the judgment of customers in contact with your offering.

– Never forget the need to make a good first impression when designing your offering.