Third impressions count

There's a memorable couple of lines of dialogue in M*A*S*H between Frank Burns and Trapper John which goes:
 
Frank: What I don't understand is why do people take an instant dislike to me?
Trapper: It saves time, Frank.

I learned I had lost a client today because apparently the client found it difficult to get on with me. What made it more surreal than annoying is that over the past three years we have only spoken three times, he has dealt almost exclusively with other members of staff. I only can conclude that during the third of those three times he detected my air of professional scepticism when he tried to convince me that he and his wife and two children lived off tips from his restaurant despite previous having told another member of my staff that all tips went to his staff not him. That plus the fact that he lives in a big house with no visible signs of financial support.