The Fundamentals of Body Language in Sales |
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Posted By: Julie Shenkman In: Sales & Sales Management
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Professional sales jobs require an awful lot of an individual, more so than most realize. It’s a common (albeit mistaken) assumption that an inside-out knowledge of the product being sold is the most essential part of a job in sales, but in truth it’s only secondary. A product demonstrator can have superior knowledge of the inner workings of his or her merchandise, but without all the right body language, all is lost.
A salesperson’s primary product is themselves. This is true in all cases, whether performing inside sales jobs where the customers come to you, or outside sales jobs where you go to the customers. It’s been said a thousand times before, in a variety of different ways: a good salesman could sell sand to a guy in the desert—and a lousy salesman couldn’t sell a life vest to a drowning man. In both scenarios, the same truth rings loud and clear.
Express sincerity. Your customers want to know that you believe in a product or service as much as you say you do, and there’s no better way of doing so than by conveying honesty and sincerity in your voice and actions. Ensure that when you speak, your voice doesn’t come across monotone. Making eye contact is also important in communicating a sense of openness, but it can be tricky. Some people are uncomfortable with direct eye contact, and it’s a part of a good salesperson’s instincts to be able to determine if and when they’ve crossed this line, especially when on field sales jobs where the work is conducted on someone else’s turf.
Watch your posture. Nothing screams defeat more than a pair of slumped shoulders and a low hanging head. You can’t expect your audience to believe in you or your product if you don’t project confidence with your delivery and your stance. But be wary of appearing over-confident, or cocky, unless you want to see the sales march away in droves.
Talking with your hands. This one is tricky, because even an untrained eye can pick up on a well practiced gesture. It’s seen all too often with politicians who have become so schooled at the art of speech making that they’ve forgotten the importance of conveying sincerity first. Talking with your hands and gesticulating appropriately can be a useful tool to draw your audience in, and to accentuate certain points—but overuse can become distracting, and runs the risk of costing you your most valuable advantage: the audience’s attention.
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