Mirror, mirror on the wall
Featured in the Creative Customer Contact training manual
By Carole Williams
Category: Customer Service
Credit price: 4 download credits (Single user)
People and animals have always mirrored and copies what their peers and superiors did in what is usually a spontaneous response. Not until recent years, with the study of body language and the emergence of NLP (invented by Richard Bandler and John Grinder), have we begun to understand more about why this is. Mirroring is a very effective technique when used appropriately by customer service personnel. This training activity develops techniques and offers an opportunity for course participants to understand its impact and how they can use it more effectively. It covers the basics; further reading on the subject will be beneficial in developing a broader knowledge base.
This training activity begins with an introduction into mirroring and effective ways of using the technique. It explains the subtle difference between mirroring and mimicking. Participants are then taken through the important technique of watching customers breathing and shown how to control their own breathing in customer service situations. The training activity takes participants through exercises in posture, facial expression, speed, pitch and tone of voice and offers an insight into how to get it wrong with an exercise called ‘A tale of two specimens’. The training activity encourages participants to tune in to they type of language the customer is using and how to influence customers, using their words and phrases rather that the participants’ own. Finally, it explores mannerisms and body movements. You then lead the participants through a set of exercises, working as a group, in pairs and in teams, which leave participants reflecting upon how they can improve their own communication with the customer through mirroring.
Who is it for: This training activity is intended for use by trainers to enable participants to learn how to use mirroring techniques in a variety of customer situations.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 20 |
| Typical Duration: | 03:00:00 |
| No of Pages: | 22 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training activity can be used on its own or as part of a wider session. Combined with ‘Eye-to-eye contact’ and ‘Putting the customer into focus’, it makes a very good ‘close proximity’ customer training session. If there is not much time, the training activity can also be used in its building-block form to teach one technique at a time over a longer period.
Download the training activity, Mirror, mirror on the wall as featured in the Fenman training manual; Creative Customer Contact