Pharmacy Professional - Royal Pharmaceutical Society

f e at u r e b o d y l a n g u a g e
Gesturing
for success
Matt Guarente asks two leading
experts a simple question – how do
you use non-verbal communication
to really engage with customers?
There are many, many clichés surrounding the whole issue of
what we communicate without even opening our mouths. And there
are many, many misconceptions too. But right at the core of our
behaviour when we meet another person is a whole world of signs, ‘tells’
and cues that help us, whether we know it or not, engage with them.
As a pharmacist, you have a special set of issues to deal with –
sensitivity to potentially delicate medical matters, differences in how
personal information is revealed among different cultures, and also the
simple – and possibly broader issue – of increasing sales.
We all understand, and react to, non-verbal communication probably
without realising it. We know when someone is embarrassed when they
go red, or that they will gesticulate more under stress. But how do you
counteract those reactions and even defuse them? And how do you
encourage people to align themselves with you – so they communicate
better in return.
Our body language experts highlighted four key areas below that might
help pharmacists to communicate more meaningfully with their customers.
They also put to rest some myths about the subject. For example, looking
down isn’t necessarily lying – it is more likely to be a visual ‘tell’ of
brain activity, in this instance accessing dialogue-based memory – and
looking upwards tends to be visual memory. But even here, there is some
complexity. “Ask someone how they feel about something and their eyes
will likely go down and to the right,” says Martin Phipps, one of our body
language experts. “Ask them to make a choice, and it will be down and
left.”
Body language can be complex, but it can also be simple – both to
decode, and also to use to your advantage.
How do you do it? Well, it will require a little thought, and some work.
It might help if you first look critically at how you typically encounter
a customer. Even some basics, like having to address someone across a
counter-top, can create barriers. And in consulting rooms or booths, what
is your body attitude like – is it defensive and closed, or is it open and
welcoming, helping the customer to therefore open up to you?
It’s essential you read body language in context with the situation and
in a sequence or pattern - not just seeing one instance on its own and
thinking, ‘that must mean X’. And if you only take away one thing from
this article, it will be to hold eye contact with people, and smile.
Æ
16 Pharmacy Professional | November 2009 November 2009 | Pharmacy Professional 17