Establishing an emotional connection with your customers is one of the key qualities of great customer service. Here are a few reasons why:
Smile and Connect with Your Customers
Most hotels, malls, restaurants, and other customer service-related businesses require their employees to smile. A smiling clerk or sales officer looks more accommodating to customers. Customers, then, are more likely to spend money in the shop rather than if they were faced with an unsmiling, acerbic, snooty clerk.
Sometimes, most customers don’t even have a plan to buy anything but because the shop’s clerk is gracious, polite and essentially all the good things that a shop clerk or assistant should be, some pick up an item or two. Just because, that’s the power of a smile.
Sometimes, you don’t even have to be smart or beautiful. All you need to do to build your start-up business is smile and something as simple and as little as that could turn things around, could induce a tightwad to splurge on a bag or shirt, or a budget-conscious shopper to buy that pink carousel or elephant doorstopper in the corner. Just because in most times, warranties and promos and discounts don’t even come into it.
This is how a smile could improve your start-up business. Smiling is an easy way to brighten the mood of your customers, to give them, and everybody else on your team, that much-needed pick-me-up in the day so they feel happy to shop and your team feels motivated, energised and happy to work. That’s results to positive vibes at the workplace.
A Smile is a Viral Communication Strategy
Smiling is a universally known gesture that goes beyond all cultures and languages. A scientist named Andrew Newberg concluded that smiling—as a gesture—carries the highest positive emotional content.
That’s why some BPO companies train their agents to verbalise and smile in front of a mirror. Smiling while talking affects the way a person speaks. Agents are asked to have a mirror in front of them while taking a call—talking to somebody on the telephone while smiling provides them with a more positive intonation. Customers think they are conversing with a cheerful person on the other line because smiling helps people project an enthusiastic personality. Calls of this sort often yield higher customer satisfaction.
Start and End with a Smile
Smiling can be a powerful strategy. It’s highly important that you and your employees always remember to smile when you face your customers. Smiling shows courteousness and makes customers think you and the company you represent, value great customer service. That, at the core, is of course what you want people to believe in—one that leads to greater levels of customer satisfaction.
So, if you want to increase the number of your customers, why don’t you try going about it the old-fashioned way? Active social media channels are all well and good, but that personal, one-on-one contact is still the best. And a smile is one of the best personal gestures around.
You don’t need to spend too much money on expensive marketing campaigns and metrics just to gain customers. If you’re a hands-on entrepreneur, promoting your products or service with an endearing smile will definitely attract consumers.
About the author:
Gilbert Bermudez a finance blogger contributing for CompareHero, A Malaysian bank card comparison website.You can follow his activity on his Google+.