I had just finished a productive meeting with a new client, the CEO of a residential services company. Our project was off to a good start, and we were both very pleased. After a brief discussion about the next steps, we stood up, shook hands, and ended the conversation. It was a textbook example of a good conversational exit.
I stopped in the restroom on my way out of the CEO’s office and, as I was exiting, he walked in. We mumbled a few awkward words of acknowledgement before I departed. The encounter seemed to dilute the impact of the good ending we had experienced just a few minutes earlier. This erosion isn’t surprising, because research has shown that our very last interaction serves as a strong memory placeholder.
Good endings matter, especially in situations like business meetings, job interviews, and dates, where you are tying hard to leave a good impression. Fortunately, accidental endings are easy to avoid if you follow three simple rules:
1. Leave the premises. Many accidental endings occur where mine did—in the bathroom closest to the room you just left. Take these faux-exits out of play by exiting the building entirely after your meeting or interview concludes.
2. Schedule follow-on meetings by phone or email. The next most likely place for an accidental ending in a business context is at an assistant’s desk. If you need to schedule a future meeting, call or email after you’ve left instead of doing it on location.
3. Drive away before checking your messages. The third most likely place for an accidental ending is just outside of a meeting room while you are engrossed in your smart phone. Resist the urge to retrieve your messages until you’re away from the place where you had your meeting, interview, or date.
To seal a favorable ending, get all the way out of the conversation. Take a page from Elvis’s playbook and leave the building to avoid accidental endings.
Originally posted on mouthpeaceconsulting.com.