“We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” Mother Teresa
A smile. It’s the most readily available and important tool for greeting a customer. But what’s the science behind smiling and why is it so effective?
The Science
When we smile, we activate two muscles. The first, the zygomaticus major, controls the corners of your mouth. When this muscle is activated alone, it’s not actually a genuine smile, but something which scientists describe as a “social smile”. The second muscle, known to show sincerity, is the obicularis occuli, which encircles the eye socket. When both muscles are engaged, they produce a true smile, also called the Duchenne smile after the scientist who first separated the “mouth corners”-only smile, from the “eye socket” smile.
Once the smiling muscles in our face contract, there is a positive feedback loop that sends signals to the brain and reinforces the feeling of joy by producing more endorphins. In other words, smiling stimulates our brain’s reward mechanisms. In turn, the brain sends signals back to the facial muscles to contract further. Simply put, when your brain feels happier, you smile; when you smile, your brain feels happier! Happiness is contagious So, if you want you and others around you to feel happier, smile.
Your brain also keeps track of your smiles. Our brains can distinguish very easily between a real and a social smile. Our brain will analyse a situation and judge whether a smile is expected. Most importantly, we automatically mimic the smile, to feel ourselves whether it is real or not. If it is real, our brain will activate the same areas from the smiler, and we can identify it as a real one.
Why is smiling so powerful?
Smiling reduces stress, similar to getting a good night’s sleep, and it helps to generate more positive emotions within you. That’s why we often feel happier around children because they smile more. On average, they do so “400 times a day.” (Earlexia Norwood, 2017) Happy adults tend to smile between “40 and 50 times per day”, but the average of us only does so around “20 times per day.” (Earlexia Norwood, 2017)
Smiling also brings health benefits like reducing anxiety, by decreasing stress-inducing hormones which negatively affect your physical and mental health. Furthermore, it lowers your blood pressure and heart rate. The happiness level that a smile can bring to our brains is estimated as equivalent to that of having 2,000 bars of chocolate or receiving £16,000. (Stevens, 2013) We don’t need chocolate or cash to be happy. A smile will do.
Smiling is contagious
Studies have found that it is difficult to keep a straight face when you look at people who are smiling at you. Seeing people smile stimulates our mirror neurones to suppress our facial muscle control and trigger a smile. Smiling is simply contagious.
How does this affect the industry?
Ever heard of the term service with a smile? That’s what we’re referring to. Dealers should think of a smile as more of a mindset than an expression. A smile is a promise and a reflection of commitment to your customer that you’re willing to offer them a personalised customer experience.
A smile ignites positive body language. If a person wanders into your dealership and you greet them with a smile and animated body language, that customer will know you’re passionate about what you do. What’s more, a confidence in your products will reassure customers they can put their trust in your brand.
Are your team on board with providing customer service with a smile? Can you teach someone to smile? These are all important questions a business leader will face. After all, happy employees make happy customers.
You can’t force your team to smile, but you can create an environment where it’s impossible not to. Prescribing smiles as part of training and building a positive relationship by smiling and communicating with them will ensure your workplace becomes a positive environment to be in.
Your team will be the first thing customers see when they visit your dealership. Their immediate reaction will reflect how customers see your brand. Don’t let standards slip and encourage all your team to adopt a smiling attitude.
A smile doesn’t equal outstanding customer service, but excellent customer service nearly always begins with a smile. The next time a customer walks into your dealership, start with a smile!
Bibliography:
Earlexia Norwood, M. (2017, October 05). Suprising health benefits of smiling . Retrieved from Henry Ford Health : health-benefits-smiling#:~:text=We%20are%20born%20with%20the,Why%20is%20smiling%20important%3F
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