Spring clean your dating tactics

Spring clean your dating tactics 10 ways to make your love life sparkle Need dating help? then why not try Match.com? Find singles in your area with Match.com

Summer’s almost upon us (give or take a few downpours), and you’ll soon be unable to move for hand-holding couples enjoying the sunshine together. If you’d like to be included in this year’s summer love-in, improve your dating success with our 10-step spring clean.

1. Don’t be in such a hurry to call after a first date

No matter how great an evening you had, do not dial that number on your way home. You’ll seem needy and clingy and all sorts of other unsexy things.

A pinch of “treat ‘em mean” really does keep ‘em keen. It’s human nature to be more interested in something if it’s not a sure thing.

A quick text to say “I had a great evening” on your way home is plenty to keep the ball rolling. Then let them look forward to hearing from you. Don’t call until the following evening.

2. Dignity is good, but don’t play hard to get

Don’t take your post-date coolness to extremes. If you start acting cold and aloof, and refuse to call them until they call you first, your chances of another date will vanish up your own self-important bottom.

The secret of success is to show focused interest in your companion. People like people who like them. If you want to continue seeing them, don’t pretend otherwise.

3. De-clutter your make-up

The natural look is much more appealing than a trowelling of slap. Too much make-up makes you look desperate, and that’s never a good look when you’re trying to impress. Especially if you’re a bloke.

Also go easy on the aftershave or perfume. You’re not sexy when you’re gassing your companion.

4. Brush up your timekeeping

It’s fine to run five minutes late, as long as you text to let them know. It’s almost more polite than being on time, because it gives your date a chance to catch their breath.

However, if you’re in the habit out of turning up 10 or more minutes late without letting people know, you’re strangling all your dates at birth. By the time you arrive, the other person is stressed and irritable – and you look rude before you’ve even uttered a word.

5. Stop being a slave to your mobile

Answering your mobile is one of the rudest things you can do on a first date. Your companion will sit there feeling less and less important with every word you bark into your phone. Switch the thing off when you arrive.

6. Be creative with your date venues

Don’t take all your dates to the same place, especially if it’s a place where you’re likely to be accosted by friends and even exes. The best date venues are on neutral turf, where you can both feel equally comfortable.

7. Wash that ex out of your hair

This is the classic date-spoiler, but many of us do it habitually and unconsciously. It’s hard not to mention someone whom you were with for years and who plays a walk-on part in all your anecdotes.

But the ex-namecheck is a habit that must be broken if you’re to impress a date. Even a passing mention of your ex suggests that you haven’t moved on.

8. Figure out a first-date bill-paying strategy

A subtle dance of gender politics goes on when the bill arrives on a first date.

A bloke who doesn’t offer to pay will have a few brownie points deducted in the eyes of even the most modern woman – but she’ll fail to impress if she doesn’t at least offer to go halves.

If you asked the other person out, then you should offer to pay for dinner, whether you’re male or female. But note that if you’re a woman, you may put a man off by being too insistent on paying, since it’ll make him feel like “less of a man”.

If you continue seeing each other, take turns to pay, or split the bill.

9. Stop interrupting

Interruption comes naturally to some people, who naturally overlap each other’s points to keep a conversation flowing. But to others, interruption is a rude habit and intensely annoying.

If you want to impress, make an extra effort not to butt in until you’re sure that your date has finished making their point.

10. Don’t outstay your welcome

First dates should be informal affairs where two people spend a bit of time deciding whether they want to see each other again.

Say your goodbyes when the pub shuts or you’ve finished dinner, not when you’ve exhausted your poor companion by dragging them from one venue to the next. Never forget those four little words: leave them wanting more.