Have you ever heard the term heuristics? Heuristics with an H. If you haven’t, it’s an interesting concept that deals with the power of first impressions — how people perceive you and treat you.

As human beings, we do something we don’t even realize: we assess people within milliseconds of meeting them based on a lot of factors. One major factor is how they’re dressed, their demeanor, and their overall appearance. Those things play a big role in how we view someone — the respect we give them, how much confidence we have in what they say, and whether we believe them.

It’s all built into what’s called heuristics. The human brain developed this over tens of thousands of years because, back in the caveman days, we had to make split decisions. Can I trust this person? Should I run the other way? We had to decide quickly whether we were in a good environment or not.

Today, we can apply that to business. The way we approach a client, the way we’re dressed, our demeanor, our grooming, can c...

Do you ever judge somebody when you meet them for the first time?

The answer is, we all do. We can't help it. It's human nature. In fact, there's a scientist, Daniel Kahneman, who recently passed away. He was an expert in this field. He pioneered the idea of heuristics, or the ability to quickly make decisions by rapidly processing millions of pieces of data.

Some of us benefit from the "halo effect," which means people make a positive judgment about us based on how we present ourselves. Others don’t benefit from this phenomenon.

So, how do you present yourself?

There's something I like to refer to as the "million dollar—or maybe in today's world, $5 million—standard."

This means if you got a call today from someone asking you to list their $5 million house, would you be ready within 10 minutes to walk out the door and do it? Or would you be struggling, thinking, "Oh my gosh, I'm not ready for this. I have to get a million things put together."

This standard of practice is about ...

Have you ever faced a bad review? If not, you will at some point in business. It's inevitable.

So, what's the game plan when it happens?

Here's a nugget: 94% of consumers, according to a recent study, let a bad review sway their decision to avoid a business.

You've probably done the same on Yelp or elsewhere. The key? It's not just the bad review itself, but how many positive reviews balance it and whether the business responded.

Surprisingly, 53% of consumers expect a business to respond to a bad review, yet 63% say businesses rarely do. Here's the kicker: 45% of consumers are still open to doing business with a place that got a bad review if the business responds.

The response is crucial.

So, how do you handle it?

Never argue, never say they're wrong. Instead, respond and swiftly take it offline.

For instance, "Thanks for sharing your feedback. Sorry your experience didn't meet expectations. Let's discuss this offline." Or, "Feel free to reach out with further comments. We're...