Sales Motivation: The Importance of Eye Contact

Sales motivation and techniques often appear in unexpected places. Yesterday, President Obama held another press conference. As we’ve all come to know by now, he doesn’t speak without a teleprompter. In fact, he normally has two; one on each side of his podium. This, of course, means the cameras rarely get eye contact, as he’s often moving his head from side to side to read the monitors. For the press conference and because it was being aired live, he chose to read from a single monitor fixed to the camera into which he was looking. This allowed him to give everyone watching the eye contact he needed to convey his message. As a salesperson, what can you learn from this? When you have something important to say, make sure you give the person to whom you are talking the eye contact they expect and deserve. Eye contact conveys trust and sincerity. It also helps you stay engaged with the customer and listen more intently on what they are saying.