Smile

Working with a mentoring client recently, I was delighted to find that one of their personal goals was to smile more. It may sound like the simplest of things but just the thought of having "smile more" as a personal goal made me feel very happy, I smiled a lot!



"smile it does make you feel happier, even if it's a fake smile"



Smiling is what you do when you are happy, but does it work the other way around, can we smile and then feel happier as a result? I believe we can. And I’m not the only one who thinks this, there's been plenty of research that shows that when you smile it does make you feel happier, even if it's a fake smile.

I once interviewed a potential developer for one of my companies who had on her CV an award that she had won whilst working in Tesco’s on the checkouts (whilst at Uni). To Tesco's great credit they recognised their staff by awarding an accolade for being the smiliest person in the store and Jini (who worked for me for some years after this) had won it. She had a great CV and turned out to be a great developer, but the thing that stands out in my memory about my decision making process for taking her on was the smiling award. It says so much about someone’s personality to have won an award like that and it proved to be absolutely true, I just new she’d fit in.



"I always ask my sales staff to smile when they are on the phone"



I am therefore a huge advocate of smiling at work, it has many so benefits. I always ask my sales staff to smile when they are on the phone. I’ve had some odd looks over the years and conversations along the lines of “but it’s the phone, they can’t see me!” but they can hear your smile. Just think about it next time you get a cold call from the ambulance chasers or the PPI call centre. If they were smiling (they usually aren’t) you could tell, it uplifts their whole demeanour, and I guarantee the ones that are smiling are the sales people that have the most success.

So give some thought to your smiling when working on your business. Practice smiling on the phone, in the car, on the train and watch the positive results, I guarantee it will make a difference :-)

Here is a list of some other benefits to smiling more:

• It’s contagious - you’ll get lots of smiles back, guaranteed
• Smiling boosts your immune system - it reduces cortisol
• Smiling is our 1st facial expression
• Forcing a smile will elevate your mood - try it, it really works
• Smiling makes you more attractive - 70% of people prefer a smiling face
• Smiling reduces blood pressure - yes, smiling saves lives
• Smiling is exercise for the face - 26 muscles are used in a smile
• Employers tend to promote people who smile often - unless you work at a funeral directors!
• There are 19 different types of smiles - can you name them?
• It’s easier to smile than frown - smile muscles are stronger
• Smiles can be detected from 300ft away - the friend or foe reflex