Peady's Selling Engagement
Welcome to this week’s post on sales and selling success.
In my experience the best salespeople are also experts on body language. They are aware of what their customers are really feeling and they react accordingly.
Understanding Body Language can transform a good salesperson into a great one because it provides an amazing amount of information on what other people are thinking if you know what to look for.
Here’s the clincher: Multiple research studies show that when your verbal and nonverbal signals are out of alignment, people are forced to choose between what they hear and what they see. And they'll believe your non-verbal (body language) actions every single time!
Alan Pease
The Australian body language expert and author has this to say: “What is commonly called 'women's intuition' is mostly a woman's acute ability to notice small details and changes in the appearance or behaviour of others. It's something that, throughout history, has bewildered men”
Silent messages
Most of us already pick up on body language cues.
Research from Alfred Mehrabian and published in his book “Silent Messages” shows that only 7% of communication is based on the words we say, 38% comes from tone of voice and an amazing 55% of our communication comes from body language (the silent messages we project).
Some tips
During any kind of sales presentation or customer interaction there are informative body language signals being sent that allow you to monitor their engagement or disengagement.
Watch for these:
Crossed arms and legs – Suggest the other person is not open to what you’re saying. Even if they’re smiling and engaged in a pleasant conversation, their body language tells the story.
Their legs and feet – If someone is sitting with ankles crossed and legs stretched forward, they are feeling positive. When you see feet pulled away or wrapped in a tight ankle lock or wrapped around the legs of a chair, they are feeling threatened or disengaged.
The eyes have it – Too much or too little eye contact can indicate the other person is lying or being deceptive. But when it comes to smiling, the mouth can lie but the eyes can’t. Genuine smiles reach the eyes, crinkling the skin to create crow’s feet around them.
And the eyebrows – Raised eyebrows signal discomfort. There are three main emotions that make your eyebrows go up: surprise, worry, and fear. None of which are conducive to selling.
The jaw or neck – A clenched jaw, a tightened neck, or a furrowed brow are all signs of stress. Regardless of what the person is saying, these are signs of considerable discomfort.
But these few tips are just the beginning.
Practice makes perfect
A lot of body language “cues” come naturally, like any sales skill to become great at it requires a clear understanding and practice.
First, read “Body Language” by Allan Pease, then do some role playing at your next sales meeting. From there start to be an observer of what your peers and customers do in the real world. Suddenly those “silent messages” won’t be so silent anymore.
Until next week good selling!
About the author
Stephen Pead is a media industry veteran of 30 years with significant experience in direct sales, sales management and general management. He is based in Sydney and specialises in helping SME’s market their businesses more effectively and providing training for salespeople and sales managers.
He can be contacted at [email protected]