Do your words match the message your face is sending?
I’m constantly amazed at the number of times I run across salespeople who clearly don’t believe what they’re saying. It is easy to spot in the person’s face and body language.
The person usually is oblivious to the non-verbal cues they are sending, but such cues range from non-expressive smiles to tight lips to eyes that lack any sense of direction.
Whether we’re selling to a customer in person or on the phone, we have to make sure our entire face reflects the enthusiasm and excitement of our words.
How can we expect a person to buy from us if we’re not connected to and excited about what we’re selling?
Here are two easy ways to get a sense of the messages your non-verbals could be sending:
1. Take along a trusted colleague on a sales call.
Of course, you have to make sure the setting is right for you to bring another person along, but often customers are not caught off guard by two people coming on a call.
Before the call, ask your colleague to pay close attention to how you carry yourself, your facial expressions, your tone of voice, and other interactions with the customer. After the call when you are back at the office, ask for the colleague’s honest opinion.
Key to this is that the colleague would be specific (on the positives and negatives) that he or she observed.
2. When on the phone or while practicing what you’ll say, have a mirror in front of you.
Either on a live phone call or in practice, having a mirror allows you to see your facial expressions. You may be surprised at what you see. It’s not unusual for a person to be unaware that their expressions come across the way they do. You may think you are looking interested, when in reality you look bored or indifferent.
My point is that you really do speak with your face.
And people make judgments about what they see. If you look indifferent or if you look like you don’t believe in your price or product, then this is the message the customer is going to trust more than they trust your words.
That right there is the key — if your words don’t match up with your non-verbals, the person is going to believe the non-verbals every single time.
Copyright 2012, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
