Have a Coke and a Smile

What is a rather simple thing you could do to help you make extra money and make your customers happier?

We’ve long known that people love to laugh and smile. It’s really important in sales and customer service. When someone makes you laugh, it releases endorphins in your brain; it makes you feel good. Studies have shown that those good feelings are attributed to the person who made them laugh. Meaning, if YOU made someone laugh, they will feel good about YOU.

Can’t Fake Your Way

It also makes people like and trust you more. If you’re a CSR, for example, you have many opportunities to make people smile throughout your day. Customers can feel your sincerity in your tone, and if you’re smiling while on the phone with them, they’ll know. Making a customer smile or laugh engenders great feelings towards you and makes it more likely to land appointments, callbacks, or sales. We all know that sales is a transference of emotion.

Customers buy from people they…

It’s true, research suggests a strong link between making someone smile and their perception of your trustworthiness; a genuine smile is often interpreted as a signal of warmth, friendliness, and positive intentions, which can lead to increased trust in the person smiling at you.

The connection between smiles and trust:

• Positive association: Studies have shown that people generally perceive individuals who smile as more trustworthy and approachable compared to those with neutral or negative expressions.
• Genuine smiles matter: The most impactful smiles are considered “genuine” smiles, which involve the muscles around the eyes as well as the mouth, conveying authenticity and positive emotions. If you don’t think someone can tell if you are really smiling, they can.
• Social signaling: Smiling is seen as a non-verbal cue that signals positive social intentions, encouraging others to feel more comfortable and open to interacting with you. It’s the gateway to sales, to beginning a friendship, and even to starting a romantic relationship. It’s a passive invitation to let someone know you’re friendly and are open to a conversation.

However, it’s important to consider:

• Context matters: The meaning of a smile can vary depending on the situation and the relationship between individuals.
• Faked smiles: A forced or insincere smile may not generate the same level of trust.
• Cultural differences: How smiles are interpreted can vary across cultures.

It seems that every day or every shift, we will run into people who don’t really want to talk to us. They don’t want to be on the phone or don’t want to deal with what they perceive as a problem. And they aren’t always in the best mood. So what do you do?

More Bread, Please

We can take a tip from waitresses. Err, don’t take their money, just their advice. A waitress will deal with dozens of people a day. And statistics tell us that they’re not all going to be in a great mood. Some will think your food is overpriced, your service is slow, and a larger portion could have been served. Whatever the reason, waitresses have to be mentally prepared for complaints and overall negative attitudes. (The same goes for retail jobs and many others.)

Can they afford to behave the same way as customers? No. They can’t react with blatant sarcasm, and they can’t say exactly what’s on their mind. No tit for tat, they must bite their tongue and be the bigger person. All that to say, training goes a long way in preparing us for different types of customers. They’re not all bad; most are actually good.

What can we do to make sure we’re on the right path to a customer liking and trusting us? One way is to say something unusual or charming or light-hearted. You can sprinkle in strange facts in the right place. For example, every day is a National (blank) Day. You can easily Google it, but June 4th is both “National Cheese Day” and “National Hug Your Cat Day.” (I’m not making this up.)

One Ring to Rule Them All

When that phone rings, it’s the lifeblood of most companies in our line of work. We have to make sure we’re not driving people away, and we have to do our best when hiring to make sure the right people are in that chair. It’s a valuable job. So making sure the phone is answered with charisma is not really something managers think of every day. But it’s really a make-or-break moment.

“Thanks for calling Peak Performance. How can I help you save money today? (Or how can we improve your day?)” Whatever your standard script is, remember to be flexible and stay on point, but good banter and conversation can be all the difference. Brainstorm ideas with your team the next chance you get.

You know, Marilyn Monroe once said that if you can make a woman laugh, you can make her do anything. Well, that applies to everybody. If you can get someone to laugh, you can get them to do anything because people like and trust people who make them feel good.

Keep in mind that there are various personalities from different generations calling in to ask about your business. People with varying senses of humor, those who are calling upset because they now have an unexpected expense, and those who are pricing you and your competitors. Whatever the reason, the goal is to transfer the smile from your face to theirs.