We maintained eye contact throughout this exchange. The salesman then showed me the range of what they had within my requirements, demonstrating the traits of each model. He accented these traits with explanatory hand gestures. The BCR for both myself as customer and the salesman was complete, and thus I feel that the exchange was successful.
Another exchange that I experienced in my capacity as customer was at a cell phone dealer. As above, I entered, and was approached by a young salesman. This person looked nervous, but nonetheless smiled as he introduced himself. He did not shake my hand, but rather invaded my personal space. I must add that the shop was fairly crowded, which did not help to either ease the salesman's nerves or improve my increasingly irritated disposition. I however tried to smile while attempting to express what it was I wanted. The salesman found it hard to stand still and listen, and instead kept finishing my sentences for me. He also kept looking for other potential customers while leading me to the range I was looking for. I communicated my irritation by replacing my smile with a grimace. My tone of voice also changed from friendly to abrupt and fairly irritated. These served only to increase the young man's agitation.
I was briefly shown a range of cell phones and left on my own to choose the one I want. I had to however do this without the benefit of a salesperson to help me make the best decision within my price range. The BCR for both the salesman and me was thus incomplete....
The conflicting messages within the salesman included his agitation and glances at other customers while he was trying to be helpful to me. I on the other hand experienced increasing agitation, while trying to do business with the salesman.
A found this communication extremely frustrating, as it did not help me find what I was looking for, but instead left me with a headache. I ended up leaving the store to look for the product elsewhere. Because the salesman was not actively listening to my requirements, I responded with irritation, which escalated into communication failure.
In the above instance, a change of environment would have been ideal. The shop was too crowded for a meaningful exchange to take place. Too many distractions served to detract both my and the salesman's attention from the business at hand. While we were thus trying to accomplish the goal of buying and selling a cell phone, this purpose was frustrated by environmental elements that communicated themselves to our nonverbal exchange.
Bibliography
Smeltzer, Larry R., Leonard, Donald J., and Hynes Geraldine E. Managerial Communication: Strategies and Applications. Second Edition. Boston: MacGraw-Hill Higher Education
Smeltzer, Leonard & Hynes 167
Smeltzer, Leonard & Hynes 47
Smeltzer, Leonard & Hynes 43
Smeltzer, Leonard & Hynes 143
Smeltzer, Leonard & Hynes 164
Smeltzer, Leonard & Hynes 154
