The Power of the Smile
Are smiles becoming obsolete?
Dental care has evolved over the centuries. (You can read about the history of dentistry here if you are already bored with this article.) And yet, many business people fail to use their teeth and greet customers with a big ol’ fashioned smile when they arrive in their place of business.
On Saturday, I was up in Mount Kisco and wandered into Papyrus. I was greeted with a warm hello and an offer of help. Wow! Something that should be so simple and standard in most retail establishments actually caught me off guard. I was at first shocked and then totally delighted. Of course, I had to smile back and spend some money there! I was told to have a “great day” as I headed out the door.
On the flip side, another errand that same day was a painful excursion. I waited on a long line to pay and the woman at the register did not even make eye contact as she pushed my change across the counter.
Smiles, a simple thank you, an offer to help a customer find something…they all seems so basic and intuitive – especially in a retail business. So, thank you to the lovely smiling woman on Saturday. I’ll be back!
If a local retailer smiles at you, how about you tweet about it? Or give him or her a big shout-out on FourSquare? Let’s all shop where the smiles are in Westchester!
And, for those of you who have forgotten how to smile, you can brush-up on your skills here!
Is there something you miss? A change you’ve been ruminating about? Contact me at nancys@theonswitch.com (or mail me a letter). I’ll happily entertain ideas for future columns!
Nancy A. Shenker has lived in Westchester for 22 years (40% of her life). Her business, theONswitch marketing, located in Yonkers, specializes in combining traditional time-tested marketing strategies with new media (including social media). She works with businesses nationally (and, thanks to technology, can sometimes even work in her pajamas). She is also the CEO of a new publishing venture, nunumedia and just launched a series of business comic books.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.