Guest post by Marcel Oudejans.

Imagine the scene: you arrive at the customer service department, annoyed or even disappointed because you have received poor service. The woman behind the counter looks up with a frown and it is clearly evident that she is not particularly happy to be there.

Now imagine that, instead of a terse greeting, she starts the conversation by looking you in the eye and giving a broad smile!

It is almost inevitable how different the outcome of these two scenarios will be: it is also not difficult to predict which one of these two would most likely leave you, the customer, feeling like you received ‘poor service’.

A smile breaks barriers, it makes you approachable and it encourage positive dialogue which dramatically improves the chances that you will reach resolution to a customer’s enquiry or complaint. It is amazing how such a simple act can make such a big difference between a satisfactory and a disappointing service experience, yet all too often this seems to be forgotten.

Smiling is not only appropriate for face-to-face interactions: during a telephone conversation you can hear the other person smile from the tone in their voice. It ‘warms’ your voice and encourages openness and patience from both parties.

Staff who do their jobs happily, actively listen to customers and their colleagues, and are willing provide excellent service, are more likely to smile regularly. It is therefore understandable that we as customers feel comfortable dealing with a salesperson or customer service consultant when we are given a sincere smile.

Encourage your staff to consciously remember to smile while they work – you’ll not only find that your relationship with them will improve but that you will almost certainly receive less complaints, probably even compliments, from your customers. Consider a frown an indicator of dissatisfaction and actively approach that staff member to find out if you are able to solve that person’s problem. A happy staff member will provide better customer service that leads to profitable customer retention. It is therefore in your business’ best interest to encourage happy, smiling work environments as a matter of policy.

Happy staff members will lead to happier customers, which leads to a healthier business: perhaps it time you reminded yourself to always give ‘service with a smile’?

Marcel Oudejans is a Corporate Infotainer who is passionate about inspiring his audiences to deliver more “magic moments” to their customers in their customer service, sales & marketing. Marcel is the author of “The Serious Business Owner’s Guide To Creating Customers For Life” & provides more tricks, techniques & strategies on his blog, http://www.performmarketing.co.za