I just returned from a business trip to Norway–just got in to my home town on the West Coast late last night as a matter of fact. And, while I was working long days (11-12 hours) and pretty focused on putting out fires and taking care of work stuff for the bulk of the time I was away, I did have some time to reflect on the basic challenges of customer relations–it dawned on me that as long as I kept that smile across my face, no matter how kooky, crazy and stressful things were behind the scenes–other people thought I had everything under control!
The smile really is the foundation from which customer service and human relations is built from. I know this. WE know this. But, it can be tough to remember when we’re looking for ways to make improvements to our marketing and our businesses. We have a tendency to over-complicate things and look for expert advice on how to solve our marketing and customer relations problems when often, it might just be that we are not sending off a warm and friendly vibe to those we interact with. Watching our facial expressions and paying attention to whether we are smiling can make a big difference in how we kick off interactions and conversations and help us to maintain control and an appearance of ease and confidence.
Now, don’t get me wrong–there were some incredibly stressful times and some people who were pains on multiple levels–it was all I could do not to grown audibly when I saw them coming–but I didn’t. Instead, I just plastered my best and warmest business smile across my face and made like everything was fabulous. It paid off (among other things, of course) in a successful trip–and I was reminded how important those basics can really be.