The 1960 Presidential Debates between Vice President Nixon and
Senator Kennedy were the first nationally televised debates in
presidential campaign history. With the advent of television the
debates took on a visual dimension and for the first time, 70
million voters were given the opportunity to not only hear the
candidates, but to visually compare them as well.
Surprisingly, 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.
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 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.
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.
Do you have a working knowledge of body language? See how many
of the eight questions you can answer. 1. What emotion is
associated with the “palm to chest” gesture? A. Superiority B.
Critical judgment C. Sincerity D. Confidence
2. What is the meaning of the “thumb under the chin” gesture? A.
Deceit B. Boredom C. Anxiety D. Critical judgment
3. What nonverbal message is conveyed with the “chin rub”
gesture?
A. Decision B. Deceit C. Control D. None of the above
4. What does it mean when a person rubs his or her nose? A.
Superiority B. Anticipation C. Dislike D. Anger
5. What message is conveyed when a person touches his or her
eyeglasses to their lips? A. Interest B. Stalling C. Disbelief
D. Impatience
6.When a person looks over the top of his or her eyeglasses,
what message are they sending?
A. Contempt B. Distrust C. Scrutiny D. Suspicion
7. What is the impact of nonverbal communication in a
face-to-face conversation?
A. 20% B. 40% C. 70% D. 85%
8. Which of the following gestures is/are associated with lying?
A. Talking through fingers B. Eye rub C. Ear rub D. Lack of
direct eye contact E. All of the above
Quiz Answer Key
1. (C) The palm to chest gesture indicates sincerity.
2. (D) The thumb under the chin gesture indicates critical
judgment and a negative attitude. A good way to get your
prospect to drop this gesture is to hand them something.
3. (A) The chin rub gesture indicates decision. When you see
this gesture, avoid the temptation to interrupt. If the gestures
that follow chin stoking are positive, ask for the order.
4. (C) When someone rubs his or her nose it’s an indication that
they don’t like the subject. When you see this gesture you would
be wise to probe with open-ended questions to draw out your
customer’s concern.
5. (B) When someone touches his or her eyeglasses to their lips
it signals that they’re stalling or delaying a decision. If they
put their glasses back on, it’s a buy signal. If they put them
away, you have more work to do.
6. (C) When a person looks over his or her eyeglasses it
indicates judgment and scrutiny.
7. (C) Research indicates over 70 percent of our communication
is achieved nonverbally. In addition, studies show that
nonverbal communication has a much greater reliability than the
spoken word. Therefore, you would be wise to rely on body
language as a more accurate reflection of a person’s true
feelings.
8. (E) All of the above. The statue of the Three Wise Monkeys
accurately depicts the three primary hand-to-face gestures
associated with deceit. See no evil, hear no evil and speak no
evil.
While you may not be called upon to participate in a
presidential debate or manage a baseball team, you need to be
able to recognize your prospect’s “buy signals.” By gaining a
working understanding of nonverbal communication, you will be
able to reduce sales pressure, build rapport quickly and
dramatically increase your sales effectiveness!
