Sheesh.

I recently received two LinkedIn requests to connect, one from a representative of a well-known insurance company and the other from a financial planner at a well-known financial services company. In the first application, the representative told me that the insurance company notified him that my construction company is eligible for a special program that grants an immediate discount.

Sounds great; The problem is that I don’t have a construction company.

Twice I asked him to tell me who at the insurance company notified him. He finally replied with “no one notified us”, even though in the original message he was “notified by that my construction business qualifies for the discount.

On the second request, the financial planner told me that he works with some LonniePacelli.com employees and would love to walk me through his investment process.

I have two employees; me and my wife, who confirmed to me that she is not sitting on a wad of cash and investing without my knowledge.

I asked him which LonniePacelli.com employees he worked with. She responded and weakly blamed an autoresponder she used for other customers. He apologized for the inconvenience, but the fact that he gave a false excuse did not convince me.

I am not intentionally disclosing the names of the companies or people who sent me connection requests; there is no need to do that. Receiving these two messages made me think more about these types of requests and the impression they left on me. With the financial services request, the financial planner blamed technology and didn’t take the time to review a very short LinkedIn message before sending it to me. With the insurance application, the representative flat out lied to me when I pressed him for an answer.

Careless financial planner. Suspicious insurance representative. Not worth my business.

It can be argued that the careless financial planner simply made an honest mistake. It may be so. However, the financial planner was proposing that he manage my money. Do I really want someone to monitor my savings and not even take the time to read a simple LinkedIn message before sending it? Sorry, but no luck. The first and lasting impression he left, though he apologized, was of someone who doesn’t pay attention to detail. It’s not a good impression when a money manager leaves.

Now at the insurance representative. After he saw that I wasn’t leaving, he sent me a reply that directly contradicted the original message he had sent me. So, not only did he send me the first fake message, but when he sent me the second one, he didn’t even bother to read what he sent me first. Why the hell would I trust someone with my insurance needs who doesn’t answer, and then when I push him to answer, he gives me mixed answers? Unlucky.

None of these individuals considered not only the negative impressions they left on me as individuals, but also the negative impression I now have of the two represented companies. I’ll probably forget the names of both, but I won’t forget either company.

The point here is simple. Do everything you can to make a positive first impression. If something goes wrong (which it does occasionally), own up, apologize, and ask for a second chance to make a great impression. Humbly admitting your mistake can work in your favor and help you get the result you want. Just don’t let your lasting impression be sloppy or gloomy.