In the previous post I told you about my mnemonic to help me remember the seven tools we can use to help us connect with our clients: IS IT CHE(esy).
Intention, Smile, Introduction, Touch, Common ground, Humour and Empathy.
Let’s look at the first four.
Setting your Intentions
Is it easy to always be the kind of person who people instantly warm to and trust? Especially by the end of a long day when you’re doing your 27th consult? But does that 27th client deserve the best of you as much as everyone who came before?
Sometimes this is hard work – and, like all work, you have to decide to commit to it. This will come easily at times, but other times you will constantly need to reset your intentions to remind yourself of how you want to be before you start each new interaction.
This decision will show in your demeanour and shine through in your voice, and register loud and clear in the subconscious of the client within seconds.
Smile
This may sound trite, but a lot of science exists behind smiling. The contraction of your facial muscles into a smile is an involuntary reaction stimulated by the release of endorphins in your brain when it receives a pleasurable impulse. But this is where it gets interesting – this process also works in reverse.
The contraction of the facial muscles involved in smiling feeds back into the brain and causes the release of more endorphins. In other words, while feelings of pleasure will cause a smile, a smile also causes feelings of pleasure.
Chicken and egg, right?
The second important thing to know about smiles is that they are contagious. When we see a smile, our brains want to mirror what we see – so we smile. And what happens when we smile?
Introduce yourself
If our goal is to connect, then starting your interactions by at least telling your clients who you are sounds too simple to even have to say. Yet many of the client complaints I’ve dealt with include comments about clients not knowing who they saw – or even worse, about them not knowing they ever saw a vet.
How are people going to connect with you if they don’t even know your name?
Also, remember to be clear to the client about your role in the care of his or her animal. For example: “Hi, I’m Dr Hubert. I’m the senior vet on shift, and I’ll be taking care of Fluffy tonight.”
Touch
At the time of writing this, in 2020, shaking hands is officially off the menu. Which is a shame, because appropriate touch is a very easy hack to increasing feelings of connectedness.
Physical touch has been shown to reduce stress hormones and cause a release of oxytocin, which directly increases feelings of connectedness – you’re drugging the person into liking you.
Touch, as a tool, can go beyond the handshake. Of course there is a fine line between “warm” and “creepy”, but appropriate touch at appropriate moments can mean a lot to your clients.
A quick squeeze of the forearm or a momentary hand on the shoulder can reassure and foster connection faster than anything you can say. It’s a simple reminder to both you and the client that we’re human.
- The next post will continue the connection hacks with the next two tools: Common ground and Humour.
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