A friend was flying from San Francisco to Los Angeles. After a delayed takeoff, the plane had to make a stop in Sacramento. The flight attendant announced there would be a 45-minute delay, and if passengers wanted to get off the aircraft, they could reboard in 30 minutes.
Everyone got off the plane except one gentleman who was blind. My friend noticed him as he walked by and could tell he had flown this flight before because his guide dog lay quietly underneath his seat. Just then the pilot approached the man.
“Keith, we’re in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?”
Keith replied, “No thanks, but maybe my dog would like to stretch his legs.”
All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they looked up and saw the pilot, who was wearing sunglasses, walk off the plane with the guide dog! People scattered. They not only tried to change planes; they also were trying to change airlines!
Unfortunately, perception equates to reality for many. But perception and reality have very different meanings. The problem happens when perception becomes a person’s reality. They see what they expect or want, disregarding what is actually true.
Psychiatrist Jim Taylor said: “Perception acts as a lens through which we view reality. Our perceptions influence how we focus on, process, remember, interpret, understand, synthesize, decide about and act on reality. In doing so, our tendency is to assume that how we perceive reality is an accurate representation of what reality truly is.
Use every option available to keep your reputation positive.
“But it’s not,” he adds. “The problem is that the lens through which we perceive is often warped in the first place by our genetic predispositions, past experiences, prior knowledge, emotions, preconceived notions, self-interest and cognitive distortions.”
For example, take a car accident. You can ask several people who witnessed the accident what happened, and many of them saw it differently. That’s why eyewitness identifications often become issues in crime investigations. The National Academy of Sciences convened a panel of experts to study the current practice and use of eyewitness testimony, with an eye toward understanding why identification errors occur and what can be done to prevent them. Bottom line, they found that eyewitness accounts are often wrong.
An article in The New Yorker magazine cited psychologist Elizabeth Phelps, who concluded in a 2011 study that when an event is exciting or traumatic, the memory is seared into the brain, often at the expense of the peripheral details. The focus of the witness’s memory is on the action that took place and not on the circumstances under which it took place, making it difficult for a jury to refute what a witness claims to have seen or heard. But as Phelps’ study showed, just because witnesses are confident about their version of events does not mean their accounts are accurate.
Businesses and organizations need to pay attention to how they are perceived by customers and prospects. Does your target audience see your signature products as innovative, well-priced, useful and available? Are customers swayed by comparison advertising that presents your goods as inferior or not worth the cost?
In reality, you may have the best products, the best people, the fairest prices and still have a negative perception. One bad online review can sway public perception and destroy years of building a good name. And you must work harder to repair the damage. It’s not fair, but it’s reality.
Be aware of your public profile and use every option available to keep your reputation positive. Put customer service at the top of the list for every employee, from the factory floor to the sales force to the executive suite.
Mackay’s Moral: Be careful not to let your perceptions be based on deceptions.
Harvey Mackay is the author of the New York Times best-seller “Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive.” He can be reached through his website, www.harveymackay.com.
