Read articles about customer service, and they all recommend making eye contact to win over customers. But is it that simple? Look at it from the customer’s point of view, do you think you could trust a person if you knew they’re using a trick to close a sale?
Pay attention to that one word: “think.” Think, um, about it this way, eye contact is a kind of bodily cue, and people respond to bodily cues unconsciously. Meaning thinking isn’t part of the picture when we smile back at a friendly salesperson. (Why do I get the feeling you knew that already.)
Consider when we shop for computers, we want the fastest processor, and the most memory. This is because each program we run consumes resources, and we need plenty when we’re multitasking.
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Go back to the part about thinking and it’s the same, our brains only handle so many tasks at a time. If it’s busy unconsciously processing bodily cues, there’s less left for conscious, rational thought. Guess we know the answer to that eternal question for impulse buyers, “What was I thinking?” Answer: not much. The salesperson turned off your brain.
No trick, science figured it out. Half of what goes into first impressions come from bodily cues, slightly less than half from the sound of a person’s voice (don’t mumble). The rest of it, the least important, is what a person says.
Hold on, so how do we keep things honest? How do we stop salespersons from taking over the planet? That’s where taking customer service seriously separates the genuine from posers: bodily cues can’t be faked. Our brains will know.
Take that to mean real customer service can’t be faked either. Better salespersons let positive intentions show successfully, because they have them in the first place. Worry more about closing a sale, or cheat our way to one, and bodily cues reveal our secret unconsciously.
Think about it, and eye contact isn’t a trick at all, it’s words in a shared language. Don’t look for anything dishonest about customer service for the customer’s sake. Be honest and you and your customer will see eye to eye. Thank biology.
