5 Body Language Gestures You Should Avoid as a Salesperson
And the ones you should make instead
When some professionals book an in-person sales meeting with a prospect, they focus more on what they say. However, both the tone of your voice along with your body language are crucial. Doing the wrong thing with your body can result in losing a sale. Our behavioral cues usually assist people to understand us fully.
We communicate 93% of the time non-verbally, according to a study. If you want to increase your sales, avoid these signs, regardless of how long you’ve been in sales.
Hand wringing
Signs of low confidence are placing your thumb inside your pocket while your other fingers stick out. Avoid doing this at all costs.
When explaining the product’s benefits to your customer, you should make the hand steepling gesture. Hand steepling refers to touching the spread fingertips of both hands without the fingers being joined.
This gesture can be seen in high-status individuals like doctors, lawyers, and successful businessmen, and that is because they’re sure of themselves.
Even if you don’t do hand steepling, it is advised to avoid hand wringing as that will make you come across as stressed, worried, and under-confident.
Another gesture of confidence is tucking your hands in your pocket while your thumb sticks out high.
When you first meet with your prospect, you should do this with one hand while you stick initially meeting with your prospect, you should do this with one hand while sticking the other out for a handshake.
Not exposing your torso to the prospect
Once, a woman came to our house to sell beauty products. We sat facing her, but her torso was slightly twisted.
She presented the product’s benefits and how it could help solve our problem, which was what all customers liked to hear. Perhaps she was new to sales and telling the truth, but her body cues made us skeptical, and we did not buy.
Humans tend to cover and protect our vital organs when feeling tense or apprehensive. That could be in the form of tilting away or simply using our hands to cover those areas. Avoid doing this at all costs during a sales presentation.
Even if you don’t feel confident, leaving your body open and eradicating barriers between you and your prospect will make you look assertive.
Not mirroring the prospect
It is essential to mirror your potential clients to build rapport with them.
Try to sit exactly how your prospect sits when you meet them for the first time. Then, revert to whatever way you’d like after some time. If they start to mimic you, it’s a sign that they either trust you or are beginning to trust you. However, if they don’t, it indicates they don’t yet trust you.
Disingenuous smile
The salesman or woman may fake a smile to bring humor to the conversation. But most people know a genuine smile from a fake smile. A natural smile consists of 26 muscles.
Out of all that, there are only a few you can control. When your smile is authentic, all 26 muscles stretch. However, only the ones you control stretch when the smile is disingenuous.
If you can’t bring about a genuine smile during a sales conversation, practice multiple times in front of your mirror. Try to make it as authentic as possible. Or you could think of a person or situation that could entice a natural smile.
Lack of eye contact
Most immediate emotional reactions to people’s words show on our faces. I want you to know that eye contact will show how your prospects respond to your speech and product.
The prospect will feel that you are not interested in what they have to say if you don’t make eye contact with them. In the absence of eye contact, customers may find it hard to trust you or may not trust you at all.
Not only is it vital to make eye contact, but it is also crucial to make sure you have a relaxed and calm face. Maintaining eye contact will also allow you to see their pupil fluctuation.
When someone’s pupil widens, it usually means that they’re either happy or interested, and when it narrows down, it could mean they’re upset or concerned.
Your body language can quickly turn against you in a sales pitch. It is essential to pay attention to it.
If you’re cold, it is better not to cross your arms as that will make you look defensive.
How you feel is not how you will be perceived. The prospect doesn’t know you, so they’ll judge you by your nonverbal gestures.
To dissect your body language, you can take a partner who will later comment on your performance. Or you could tape record it with the permission of the potential client. This can help you improve in the future.
Thanks for reading!
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