Sales Training Tip #393: Your Body Language and the Customer’s Objection

When your customer objects to what you are saying, don’t allow your body language to freeze up.

It’s amazing how much your body language reveals about what you’re thinking.  Professional buyers love to read body language.  They do it as a way of knowing how firm a salesperson is in their price.

A tactic a professional buyer will use is throw out an objection right when the salesperson is trying to close — and then watch the salesperson’s body language.

If the salesperson’s body language shows any sign of wavering, then the buyer knows they can get the salesperson to give them something.  As hard as a salesperson may try to avoid saying something stupid, it will all be for nothing if their body language says something else.

The key is to be confident, and that means being 100% sold on what it is you’re presenting to the customer. It also means you’ve taken the time to prepare in advance for whatever the customer may throw at you.

Not only should you prepare that there will be objections, you should also prepare your responses. One way I recommend preparing is by speaking your response in front of a mirror, especially if you’re a person who tends to use a lot of body language to speak.

By watching yourself in a mirror, you will begin to get a sense as to how you respond.  The number one thing you can work on is eye contact. Confident people have good eye contact. They’re not afraid to give eye contact. The more firm you can be with your eye contact early in a sales call, the less likely the buyer will analyze the rest of your body language during an objection.

The reason is simple — the eye contact signifies confidence and tells the other person you’re in control.  If the other person believes you’re in control, they will be less likely to attempt to nudge you off your game with your body language.

Copyright 2011, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.