Salespeople are always on the move. Well, even if it’s not completely true, people do perceive them that way. By the very nature of their profession, they can’t be ignored. Through their body language, they either evoke interest in their prospects or they evoke repulsion.
But whatever they evoke, their body language plays an important role in that.
Whether they are able to close a deal or not, depends on how assertive or defensive their body language is. Through this write-up, we have tried to explain the right body language for salespeople.
How good you are at connecting with people decides the kind of salesperson you are. To connect with people, you need to show interest and intent through your body language. You can’t come across as someone who is boring himself with his own words.
Here are some tips to have a sales body language of someone who means business:
Your closed body posture will make you pay
What happens when you are vulnerable and distressed, intellectually or otherwise? You clench up. You cross your legs or arms because that helps you deal with anxiousness and psychological discomfort.
But being a salesperson, do you really believe that you can show your anxiousness and defensive attitude and still close the deal? Of course, you don’t.
Most prospects can see through the person’s sales body language. If you fold your arms and close your chest, then your prospect feels that something is bothering you. Either you are not providing genuine information or you don’t trust your own service or product.
They might start mirroring your body language, which will make it difficult for you to persuade them. Luckily you just have to make some subtle changes, to establish comfort and trust between you and your prospects.
Here are the things you can do to correct your defensive body language:
- Keep your spine straight, and roll your shoulders backward.
- Lift your chin up.
- Unfold your arms and keep them on your legs. This posture shows how relaxed you are as you are not making any deliberate movements.
When you look calm, your prospects sense more conviction in your words. When you don’t look restless, your prospects feel that there is a lot of thought behind what you are saying.
Opening up your posture, is good for your mental state too, as such posture decreases your cortisol levels.
Your handshake must be firm and full
Meeting with your prospects is not like going on a date. You don’t have to focus on your considerate and soft side, but you have to show how strong you are at what you do. You have to show how confident you are at what you do.
Your first handshake with your prospect can make or break your sale, so you better give a firm and full handshake. You may not realize this, but people do measure your character through the nature of your handshake.
When your handshake is firm, you give an impression of a stable and reliable person. And through the impression you create, you prospects measure your product.
So don’t offer a cold fish to your prospects, by giving a half-hearted or an evasive handshake. Nobody wants to deal with an unsure or unassertive person.
There is something called “Positive Body Language”
As mentioned above, your prospects tend to mirror your body language. Most of the time it is done involuntarily.
So if you cross your legs during your conversation, your prospects might end up doing that too. Crossing your legs will give out a signal that you are holding back some information. In response, your prospects might hold back information as well.
This makes it even more important for you to have a positive body language.
So keep your arms unfolded and feet flat on the ground without crossing your ankles. Lean forward, not much but slightly towards your prospect. Don’t keep a straight face and show your prospects that you are listening and processing what they are saying.
When they will feel that they are being listened to, they will listen to you as well. They might start asking you questions to take the conversation forward. This is the best thing that can happen to a sales conversation.
Get over with fake smiles
It’s a temptation for salespeople, to bring an element of humor in their interaction with clients, and they are very much right in doing so. Humor breaks the ice between people and allows them to have a lengthy conversation.
But the thing is, whether you are trying really hard or everything is happening organically, your smile says it all.
When you smile, there are 26 muscles that are involved, out of which only a few can be controlled voluntarily. So when you smile naturally, all of the 26 muscles are stretched, and when you are faking it, the muscles you can control voluntarily, only they are stretched. In both cases, your facial expressions appear a lot different, which people spot most of the time.
This kills the genuineness of the conversation, especially if it’s a sales conversation. To avoid such an embarrassing situation, you can follow these tips:
- Understand your facial expressions by standing in front of a mirror. If you can’t smile naturally during conversations, just practice a fake smile in front of a mirror, and try to make it look as genuine as possible.
- During your sales conversation, think about a joke or a person that make you laugh. Again, it will take a lot of practice on your part. You simply can’t do it randomly, or you might end up offending your prospect.
- Connect with experienced salespeople and discuss with them. They might give you a lesson or two on phony and genuine smiles.
Don’t have evasive body language. Make proper eye contact
Maintaining eye contact is the healthiest thing for your sales conversation. It signifies closeness, a sense of purpose and a whole of trust. More eye contact more is your will to take the relationship further.
Also, if you are consistent with your eye contact, then your words become more memorable for your listener. As a salesperson, you would definitely want your prospects to remember your pitch.
Generally speaking, to build rapport, you should maintain eye contact for 70 to 80 percent of the time.
You can practice it in front of a mirror. Just look at yourself and talk, without having a fit of laughter. Another thing that you can do is, memorize the script of your sales pitch. This can also help you maintain eye contact with your prospect.
Hope you liked this write-up. Body language is an interesting and extensive subject and there is certainly more that we want to put forward. Do follow our blog, as we will be posting more on the subject in the coming time.
