Unit 6: Creating a Visual Impression
Award-winning costume designer Judith Bowden has explained that an actor's costume "must provide strong visual support for the story, concept, and context of the play as a whole". Like an actor, you too must provide visible support for your role in customer service. From the clothes and accessories you wear to the way you display products or demonstrate services, you use visual communication whenever you interact with customers. Visual communication is influenced the most by what customers see, not by what they hear or read, and can be used to attract customers' attention, help them understand how products function, direct them to locations, emphasize what is important, and make their experience with you and your business more pleasurable and more memorable. This course concludes with the topic of visual communication because it is often what produces customers' first and last impressions - impressions of you, of what you offer them, and of everything they saw with regard to your business.
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, said: "We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It's our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better".
Completing this unit should take you approximately 4 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- explain the role visual communication plays in business, retail, and public spaces;
- analyze how retail design influences consumer perceptions;
- evaluate retail strategies for their effectiveness meeting the needs of different target audiences;
- identify the elements that encompass one’s visual appearance; and
- explain the importance of projecting a positive self-image when delivering quality customer service.
- explain the role visual communication plays in business, retail, and public spaces;
6.1: Using Visual Communication in Customer Service
Listen to this podcast, which focuses on connecting business success with visual communication. You will find that the guest interviewed in this podcast focuses on the level of business management rather than customer service. However, you need to realize that many management decisions impact your role as a customer service agent, too. As a result, understanding why those decisions are made should also be important to you. Pay particular attention to the rationale for visual communication in business settings, which the guest provides at the 6:55-minute mark.
In this article, you will read about the role visual merchandising plays in creating an atmosphere that influences and motivates consumers to make a purchase. Pay particular attention to the techniques that are available to retailers for appealing to all of our senses.
6.2: Understanding Retail Design and Merchandising
Read this article, but focus primarily on the discussion of elements that contribute to customers' impressions and understanding of the products or services offered. Since this is a highly specialized area of retail business support, it is unlikely that you will have a direct impact on how your customer service environment is controlled by retail design. Nevertheless, understanding how the layout of where you work affects, for example, the flow of customers from one area to another, why and where products are positioned, or how lighting or stand-alone displays can influence how customers see or handle products enables you to anticipate your customers' needs, avoid problems, or make recommendations to your management.
This article provides insight into the behaviors of various target markets, and how a retailer can better meet customer needs. Pay particular attention to the section about the evolution of the retail shopping environment.
6.3: Understanding Yourself as a Visual: Being on Stage
Read this brief article, which reinforces the theme that began this course: Working in customer service is similar to the work of an actor on a stage.
Think about where you fit into the customer service environment. This course has covered many aspects of that setting, but only you can relate the topics covered to the circumstances in which you work, now or in the future. Considering yourself as a visual is one straightforward way to make that leap from the theoretical to the practical, so as you read through this material, think about how it relates to your own working conditions.
Read this section and consider the first impression you make on others. Does your posture need improving? When you make a presentation, think about how you can improve your appearance to positively impact your message delivery.
Read this chapter about customer service. Pay particular attention to the section on "Customer Orientation" and how your connection to the customer impacts the sales process and customer satisfaction.
What is charisma? While we recognize it when we see it, can we specifically define this trait? Read this article about the habits of charismatic people and how they engage with others. Consider your own traits and how you can incorporate some of these habits into your own behavior to reach higher levels of success.
Do you know how to "dress for success"? Are you familiar with all of the factors that can impact your appearance in the workplace and your potential for career growth? Read this article about dress, grooming, and personal hygiene. While the article is about careers in engineering, the topics covered can be applied to all fields of industry.
This article makes a connection between your outlook and your look. When you pursue a career in customer service, it is very important that you recognize how what you feel inside can show itself on your outside. To succeed, you must discipline yourself, like an actor on a stage, to play the role you have chosen. Taking this course on customer service is a good way to become more familiar with that role, but remaining conscious of the unique communication elements you encounter on your own is another very good step toward becoming a confident, effective, and happy customer service representative.
