How many times do you communicate with other people every day?
You might not realise it, but you are communicating with others in every moment of every day when you are not alone.
How you communicate is through your verbal and non verbal expression, and your visual expression.
A study done many years ago by Albert Mehrabian, concluded that when other people view you, they perceive you based on:
- 55% what they see
- 38% what they hear
- 7 % what you say
Let me break that down.
Your visual image accounts for your physical presentation, grooming, posture, body language, eye contact, gestures, and overall impression of credibility, like-ability, attractiveness and confidence. These are the success characteristics that you learn all about in the Business 4 Beauty program.
The 38% is what others hear, so, how do you sound? Is your tone of voice clear, audible, at a pleasant pitch and at a pace that allows others to understand you? Or is it rushed, sounding stressed, mumbled or with a tone that is not welcoming?
What you say has little impact, unless you really hit the hot buttons with the person you are talking to, and often that doesn’t happen until you have been communicating with them for more than a few moments.
So why is this important?
Well, the impression you make on others by how you communicate, allows them to decide whether they like you, trust you and want to continue doing business with you. Simple.
In your dealings today, make note of whether you are communicating at a level that is going to engage others in a positive way or whether you are driving them away to your competition, by not presenting, sounding and informing your clients as well as you can be.
Things you can be observing are
- Your appearance. Is your uniform clean, well fitting, pressed. Is your grooming perfect, including hair, nails, makeup. Are you shoes in good repair- believe it or not, clients do look down.
- Your manner when greeting clients. Are you friendly and welcoming or is your mind on other things, causing them to feel like they have interrupted you?
- Your smile, do you take time to listen, reassure, and ask the right questions that make your client feel welcome and in good hands?
- Is your body language positive. Do you cross your arms in front of clients or slouch or lean on things when talking to clients? This is a sure indication that you are not fully engaged.
- Is your conversation well paced, clear and easy to understand? Not all clients can embrace a full dialogue of technical hype. Some really just want to know how what you are recommending is going to help them.
Being observant in your own style of communication is the first step to learning how you might need to improve in order to be more effective and successful.
If I can quote Tony Robbins “the quality of your life is determined by the quality of your communication”.
Considering his empire is worth $480 million I think there is a lot we can learn.
This is Julie Hyne, wishing you salon brilliance and success.
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