Appropriate Body Language

1. Appropriate Body Language
Front-End Customer Service
Revenue Cycle Department

2. Eye Contact
• When is Eye Contact Overdone?
– When you stare.
• When is Eye Contact Underdone?
– Not looking at a customer or patient when they
speak with you.
• When is Eye Cotact Just right?
– When approached by a patient, focus on the
whole face – rather than just the eyes – and
occasionally look away

3. Facial Expressions
• When are facial expressions overdone?
– When they aren’t appropriate to the situation.
• When are facial expressions underdone?
– When you are caught daydreaming or giving the
customer a blank stare when something more is
appropriate.
• How to maintain a “just right” facial
expression:
– Shoot for “relaxed and pleasant”

4. From the Waist Up
• Clues to impatience:
– Leaning back or stepping away
– Turning your body away from the customer
– Pushing away from your desk or table
– Gathering up papers
– Closing your briefcase while somoene is still
talking

5. Nodding
• A good, universal way to let people know that
you are paying attention.
• Particularly useful when you don’t want to
interrupt.
• Easy to overdo, if you continually nod while
someone is talking – conveys impatience.

6. Personal Space
• Zone 1/ Intimate (0-2 ft): romantic partners;
family; close friend; children.
• Zone 2/ Personal (2-4 ft): customers; careful
not to move into the “intimate” zone.
• Zone 3/ Social (4+ ft): teachers in classrooms;
boss at meetings; instructor in training;
possible to be too far away.