EVERYONE has a ‘Threshold of Fear’. 
When most people walk into a store, up to a counter or are greeted by someone who works there, human nature seems to take over and they produce an elevated ‘threshold of fear’.  Maybe it’s the ‘fight or flight’ response kicking in.  For some it’s shyness.  Maybe for others it’s annoyance.  But, for the most part it’s fear.  Slight fear, thick fear.  Most people feel slightly awkward when approaching others or while being approached.  There are a lot of theories on this subject.  Lot’s of ideas on how this all works.  I simply call it the ‘threshold of fear’.

Threshold in the Doorway of a Friend’s House.
Think of it this way. When you enter your friend’s house through the front door, you step over the door’s threshold without even thinking about it.  Most thresholds are only an inch or two high and are easily navigated by most people.  But, imagine if the threshold to someone’s house was two feet tall. How awkward would it be to step over it to get into that person’s house?

Assessing your Customer’s ‘Threshold of Fear’.
When a customer walks up to you or enters your store remember that their ‘threshold of fear’ may be quite low, or pretty high.  If it’s fairly low, then you’ll notice how easy for you to engage in a conversation; talk about your products and/or services, listen to them and easily discuss their needs or wants.  If their threshold is reasonably high, then you won’t be able to comfortably engage with that customer until you help them decrease that fear substantially.

Manager’s Recommendation:  ‘Recognize and Lower Customer’s ‘Threshold of Fear’!
Huddle your team together each day, for a week, and role play recognizing ‘threshold of fear’ symptoms, and practice how to lower someone else’s ‘threshold of fear’.
Action Steps:
*Have everyone write down one example, every day, of their own ‘threshold of fear’ on a 3” x 5” note card (so simple!) along with an example of a recent customer’s ‘threshold of fear’.
*Share how you’d like to be treated when entering a business as a customer.
* Talk about the ways you’d get a customer to lower their own ‘threshold of fear’.
Time Required: 
*5 minutes preparation (by Manager)
*5 minute ‘Huddle’
Results
It’s a lot easier to understand where a customer is coming from, help them and satisfy their needs (not to mention increasing the company’s sales!) when the customer’s ‘threshold of fear’ gauge is always low.