Body Language in Selling
Have you ever left a sales meeting with the uncomfortable feeling that you just never “clicked “with the person you were trying to sell to? It really is a frustrating experience and it can be difficult put your finger on the exact reason why the discussion went the way it did.
What Went Wrong?
Having been trained to analyse what you could have done better when you failed to get a sale you begin to replay the encounter in your mind to see if there was anything obvious that you missed. The opening was fine, your prospect talked a little about their organisation. You told them everything about your products and services and how it has benefited other organisations. No objections were raised but still there was no indication from the prospect that they were really interested. You made a deliberate effort to ask Open Questions as you had been taught on the recent sales course and kept the closed questions to a minimum – everything by the book! So you decide that selling really is a numbers game – it just a question of seeing as many potential clients as you can before you get lucky and make a sale.
Answer: You Looked but didn’t Observe
Good salespeople make their own luck because they practice good techniques again and again. They have learned that building rapport and closely observing the body language of the customer (and subtly copying it) makes a huge difference to the outcome of a sales discussion. The body language experts call this “mirrowing”.
You may (or you may not) know that 90% of your body language is unconscious – you are unaware of the signals you are sending out and that nearly 60% of the message you send out to the person opposite you is through your body language. So, unless you make a conscious effort to make it positive, you stand a good chance of creating a negative impression with the very person you wish to impress. Paradoxically sometimes the more positive you try to be, some people may interpret this as “pushy” or insincere. But take comfort – if you are unaware of your body language, so is the customer. They will use the body language they are comfortable with. So you can use their body language to help you influence them.
How To “Mirror” Body Language
Let’s go back to that training course you attended recently. The person who told you to ask Open Questions was correct. They allow the person in front of you to speak and you to listen and observe. So listen very closely and observe. Listen for the clues that tell you they may have a problem which you can solve for them and observe the body language they use when talking to you. Now repeat the body language they are using but wait about 15-20 seconds before you do this. So, if they have just crossed their legs or folded their arms, observe how they did it, wait for a while and do the same. This is how you subtly “mirror” behaviour. If you repeat it the instant the other person does it, it will be interpreted as “copying” and therefore insincere.
Why is this so powerful? People buy people first and products second. We rely on trust and relationships when buying from someone and the more a potential customer thinks “this person thinks like me”, the more inclined they are to buy from you. Try it. You will be amazed at the results.
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