Customers Want a Genuine Smile
“A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.” Chinese Proverb
What does that mean? Customers have sincerity radar. They can tell if you are “faking it”. There are three components to a warm and sincere greeting – your smile; your handshake; and making eye contact.
What’s in a smile? A smile says – “I like you. You make me happy. I am glad to see you.” People who smile tend to manage, teach and sell more effectively. Why? The smile:
- Is a messenger of your good will.
- Brightens the lives of all who see it.
- Can help someone under pressure realize that all is not hopeless.
An insincere grin doesn’t fool anybody. People want to see a real smile, a heartwarming smile, a smile that comes from within. We loved the blog by Even Happier, which provided the one-minute guide to spotting a fake smile.
With a genuine smile the eyes’ muscles are contracted pulling the cheeks upward producing wrinkles around the eyes. How can you spot a fake smile?
- The eye muscles are just squeezed and the cheeks are pulled upward from below, not from above.
- The onset of a fake smile is often abrupt, the moment of maximum contraction is held too long and the disappearance is either abrupt or irregular.
- Genuine smiles generally last between 0.5 and 4 seconds, fake smiles are either shorter or longer.
Have a look at the BBC quiz that shows 20 smiling faces and allows you to determine whether or not the smile is genuine or fake. It is a great test of your ability to determine whether a smile is fake or not!
If you are a company trying to teach your employees how to smile more at customers get them to practice this simple technique. Have them smile at someone once every hour of the day for a week and then ask them to come back and talk about the results. We are willing to bet that this simple technique will make them and those around them feel happier!