Gail Anderson - Executive Agent Magazine

S
urprisingly, opinion polls revealed a sharp contrast
between the voters who had actually watched
the debates on TV versus those who had merely
listened to them on the radio. While radio listeners
clearly thought that Nixon had won the first debate,
television viewers were captivated by Kennedy’s smile,
charm and athletic appearance.
The majority of viewers interviewed reported that
Nixon’s five-o’clock shadow and darting eyes made him
appear sinister and far less presidential than Senator
Kennedy. The television cameras underscored the
significance of nonverbal communication and forever
changed the political landscape.
Are You Missing Your Prospect’s “Buy Signals”
Think about the tremendous advantage you would have
as a baseball manager if you knew the opposing team’s
signals and were able to anticipate their game plan. For
example, suppose you knew in advance that the other
team was planning to steal second base. Obviously, your
team would have a competitive edge because you would
be able to adjust your strategy as necessary. Likewise,
as a professional salesperson, you would be wise to
monitor your prospect’s body language and adjust your
presentation accordingly. By reading your prospect’s
gestures you will minimize perceived sales pressure and
know when it’s appropriate to close the sale.
In 1872, Charles Darwin published the book “The
expressions in Man and Animals” and launched the
modern study of nonverbal communication. Essentially,
body language is a mixture of movement, posture and
tone of voice. The good news about this subject is
that your subconscious mind already understands the
meaning of every gesture, posture and voice inflection.
The bad news is, without the proper training you are
unable to consciously apply this information during your
client appointments.
E A
Actions Speak Louder
Than Words
By Jon Boe
language, it’s important to be mindful of your own
gestures and keep them positive. Remember to unfold
your arms, uncross your legs, nod your head in agreement
and smile frequently.
The study of nonverbal communication is similar to
learning a foreign language in that it requires time and
effort to achieve fluency. Acquiring this important skill
will allow you to communicate more effectively, read
your prospect like a book and close more sales in less
time.
Build Trust and Rapport
Matching and mirroring your prospect’s body
language gestures is unconscious mimicry. It is a way
of subconsciously telling another that you like them
and agree with them. The next time you are at a social
event, notice how many people are subconsciously
matching one another. Likewise, when people disagree
they subconsciously mismatch their body language
gestures. The psychological principle behind matching
and mirroring is that people want to do business with
salespeople that they believe are similar to them.
You can build trust and rapport by deliberately, but
subtly, matching your prospect’s body language in the
first fifteen minutes of the appointment. For example,
if you notice that your prospect is crossing their arms,
subtly cross your arms to match them. After you believe
you have developed trust and rapport, verify it by seeing
if your prospect will match you. Uncross your arms
and see if your prospect will match and mirror you as
you move into a more open posture. If you notice your
prospect subconsciously matching your body language
gestures, congratulations, this indicates that you have
developed trust and rapport. Conversely, if you notice
your prospect mismatching your body language gestures,
you know trust and rapport has not been established and
you need to continue matching and mirroring them.
Top salespeople and the most successful managers
recognize the importance of nonverbal communication
in the selling process and have learned to “listen with
their eyes.” They understand that one of the easiest and
most effective ways to close sales is to be aware of their
prospect’s “buy signals.”
In addition to monitoring your prospect’s body
Body Language Quiz
If you’re a manager, consider using this quiz at
your next training meeting to assess your sales team’s
current level of expertise. When sitting in on a sales
appointment with your sales rep, be sure to incorporate
nonverbal communications feedback in your critique.
28
ExecutiveAgent Magazine