Combine Competence with Warmth

Shoppers for services want both technical competence and interpersonal warmth from marketers. But as those shoppers sense greater competence, they tend to sense waning warmth.
     Nonprofits are seen as more warm and less competent than profit-making organizations. A broadly smiling face on an item or salesperson communicates warmth while disrupting impressions of competence. Politicians perceived as highly empathic tend to be perceived as less businesslike.
     The most influential point along that dimension depends on the consumer’s stage in the relationship with the marketer. Research findings from Vienna University of Economics and Business, Imperial College London, and South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences indicate you should: 

• Emphasize the competence in order to acquire customers, clients, and voters in the short-term because it enables the consumer to justify spending their money, time, and attention with you. 
• Emphasize the warmth in order to retain them for the long-term because it strengthens the identification of the consumer with the marketer. 
• Over all, emphasize warmth because it has a greater persuasive effect than does competence. The extent of warmth is sensed more quickly than is the extent of competence.

     For the studies, competence was defined as intelligence, efficiency, and capability to complete tasks. Warmth was defined as friendliness, authenticity, and interest in being of assistance.
     Competence is communicated by having answers or knowing where to quickly get them. A touch of humility makes it more likely you’ll be considered an expert. An image of competence also can be built with an image of the salesperson: When we see a portrait-style photo of someone posted in a public location, and then we meet the person face-to-face, we subconsciously grant that person additional respect. You could benefit from this by including in advertising photos of your employees or posting an 8 x 10 in the department where the employee spends most of their time.
     Warmth comes across with a smile, particularly when that smile is in response to one from the shopper. Certainly, a smile is sometimes all wrong. When a customer is distraught, and a smile would make you look uncaring. When you’re delivering corrective discipline to a staff member, and a smile would make what you’re saying seem unimportant. Or when a prolonged smile threatens to make you look simply dopey.
     Do configure these recommendations to fit the situation. A shopper might be expressly looking for competence over warmth or the other way around.

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