Smiles are relaxing. Try one. Feel how your face just relaxes. It calms you. You feel better.

A smile is a beautiful thing. Everyone looks better with a big smile on them! Someone wearing a smile emits feelings of comfort, calm, beauty to on-lookers at much higher levels.

Customers love smiles.

Yes, it’s true. Customers love to walk up to someone in a store, or hear a ‘smiling’ voice over the phone. It’s part of their purchasing experience. It’s an important part of their desired customer interaction.

Want customers to think you’re a buzz-kill with a bad personality? Or would you rather have everyone walk away from your recent interaction amazed by you? People size you up in about 3 seconds; Stuff as many of those seconds as possible with a smile.

What is your smile saying?     

Closed lips – This smile says back off; you aren’t completely comfortable. It’s like holding someone at arm’s length.

The Empty Smile – Seems real, but it doesn’t reach the eyes. This smile is like a mask, someone’s withholding something…Be warned.

There and Gone Smile – A quick flash and then it’s gone. Sound suspicious? This is a genuine smile often used by shy people who haven’t decided if you’re o.k. yet.

The Laughing Smile – An extraordinary thing! It’s wholehearted accompanied often by a laugh. This is person loves life; nothing much worries them.

The Sad Smile – Not really a smile but an upturning at the corners of the mouth, an outward expression that something is wrong. Someone who wears this look can bring everyone in a room down.

Smiles help make companies much more successful.

Think it thru. Company A has a sales force across the nation, and an internal customer service department, both engaging with customers on many topics. They are tactical, productive and efficient. But, they lack the ‘warmth’ and ‘friendliness’ of being genuine ‘human’ in their interactions with customers. Now, take Company B. It too has a sales force across the nation, and an internal customer service department, both engaging with customers on many topics. They, too, are tactical, productive and efficient. They, however, ‘smile’ thru every customer transaction and conversation. Which company will prosper more, if all other aspects are equal? Where would customers naturally go back to?

Manager’s Recommendation: Practice smiling.

Take a week and practice smiling during each customer service interaction. Look at your co-workers, and when you can smile at them. Grumpy customers? Them too. Check the results at the end of the week.

Action Steps:

* At the beginning of each work day, or customer service shift, take 5 minutes and ‘huddle’ with your customer service team.

*  For one week of these ‘huddles’ everyone is to wear a ‘smile’. For 5 full minutes.

* Talk about the many different ways of doing their daily customer service tasks, while smiling. Every word, every sentence, coming thru a mouth with a smile on it.

* Overdone? Yes, perhaps. But, it’ll reinforce the simple technique of smiling. It’ll also make your co-workers better to look at throughout the work day.

Time Required:           

n    5 minutes preparation (by Manager)

n    5 minute ‘Huddle’

Results

Smiling as much as possible will make almost all customer interactions much more successful for you, AND for the company.