been caught doing something wrong. You scatter. Now the cus-
tomer feels like the same lone deer being surrounded by a pack of
hungry wolves. You have not uttered a single word to him and yet
you have managed to put him on the defensive.

What made such a dramatic impression on the customer?

Your actions and your body language. When we communicate
with other people, they interpret our message by our words,
tone of voice, and our body language. Our words account for
only 7 percent of the way people interpret what we say. Our
tone of voice accounts for 38 percent and our body language
takes up the balance of 55 percent. That means that most of our
message is interpreted through non-verbal actions.

Consider how many messages we can deliver without

speaking a single word. You can tell someone to stop by putting
up your hand, palm out. You can advise a co-worker she has a
telephone call through hand gestures. You can roll your eyes to
express frustration. You can show impatience by glancing
repeatedly at your watch. You can deliver all of these messages
effectively without uttering a single word.

Let’s look at how our tone can affect how people interpret

what we say. Read these statements aloud placing the emphasis
on the highlighted word.

I didn’t take your money.

I didn’t take your money.

I didn’t take your money.

I didn’t take your money.

I didn’t take your money.

The emphasis in the first statement suggests that someone

else took the money. The second shows defensiveness. The third
could mean that I only borrowed your money while the fourth
implies that I took someone else’s money. Finally, the last state-
ment insinuates that I took something, other than your money,
that belongs to you. Exactly the same words are used in every
case, yet they deliver a completely different message each time.

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c h a p t e r t h r e e

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Greeting Your Customer