Thursday, July 22, 2010

The Smile Says It All

There is an old saying that goes like this: “To have a friend, be a friend.” Your demeanor, your smile, your dress, your speech patterns all meld together in creating the composite of who you are and how you are perceived. Most experts agree that we have somewhere between 30 seconds and two minutes to make a good first impression. Here are some tips for increasing your friendliness factor and making that great first impression on everyone with whom you come into contact.

Try this experiment tomorrow in your work place or wherever you interact with people. Smile! Smile at the people on your elevator, smile at your wife and kids, smile at the bus driver, smile at your boss, smile at your co-workers, and along with the smile offer a more cheerful verbal greeting.

I had the privilege of assisting a couple recently in my retail store. The husband was a nice enough man. He arrived twenty minutes before his wife. I attempted to help him, but he quickly told me he really needed to wait for his wife to arrive.

Wow! I was overwhelmed by her radiant smile when she came in. The first thing she did was smile a most dazzlingly beautiful smile and then she put out her hand, called me by name (which she got from my name badge) and said, “Hi, I’m Barbara. Thanks for helping us find the perfect mattress.”

Most customers I encounter avoid looking at me directly in the early stages of our interaction and I almost never get a smile of any kind. It becomes a game with me to see how quickly I can earn their trust and get them to like me, trust me, smile at me and open up to me.

So, our point for today is a simple one. SMILE! The smile on your face declares to the world that a caring, open individual lives inside of that smile and is so eager to help with what concerns you most today.

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