Category Archives: Body language

In selling, sometimes the best thing to say is nothing . . . just listen, then work from what you hear

Body language Consultative selling--developing prospect's awareness of need Non-verbal communication skills Sales skills:non-verbals & buying signals Sales tips & techniques -- how to sell No Comments

Sales tip: silence is one of the essential communication skills . . . and a powerful selling skill, as well.

When you're in the 1-1 selling face-to-face mode, non-verbals can be just as significant—and telling–as words.

Think of the questions you ask in a sales call as seeds. It's crucial to give the questions time to grow, and the power of silence gives that time. After you ask, be silent, even if it means letting the silence hang in the air. That gives the prospect time to think and respond.

Ask a question, then let it "grow" in the silence and listen closely to the response. In some cases, you'll need to rephrase the question so it's clearer, or to focus the Decision Maker's response so it's more on target.

But those are exceptions. As a rule, once you've asked the question, bite your tongue and let the prospect talk. Listening well is at least as important a communication skill as speaking confidently.

There are other good reasons to ask fewer questions and allow more silence: constant interruptions to ask new questions may irritate the prospect.

Besides, if you let the prospect go at her own pace, and in the general direction she thinks best, you may find other potential needs opening up in ways that you wouldn't have anticipated.

Above all, don't be so busy asking questions (and thinking of what your next questions will be) that you neglect to listen to the answers you do get.  That's another benefit of the power of silence: silence gives you time not just to listen, but also time to think ahead.

Why smart people should go into sales — from Fast Company

Body language Buying signals Career reinvention Career success how-to Fast Company Free sales training articles Handling sales objections & questions Marketing your skills Self-employment No Comments

If you're thinking of going into sales, if you're already in sales, if you don't know what you want to be when you grow up (no matter your present age!) there's a top-rank article you need to read in the magazine FAST COMPANY.  

It's "Why smart people should go into sales," by Andrew Yong, and among his  accomplishments include authorship of the book, SMART PEOPLE SHOULD BUILD THINGS.

I'll leave the article to you, but add that "selling" is not just selling products or services, but it's also persuading, reading body language and other buying signals, pulling out objections  and hesitations, presenting concepts, learning to find and fill needs (needs that often the other person isn't really aware of, so part of "selling" is showing the need and how you can best fill it).  All of these abilities pay off many times over if you move from sales per-se to management, customer service — even to setting up your own business and marketing your skills, perhaps as  part of career reinvention, or electing for self-employment as your new career option.

 Link to article in Fast Company

Non-verbal communication tips

Body language Sales skills:non-verbals & buying signals No Comments

There seems to be particular interest in the topic of using and reading  body language –non-verbal communications — so here's more.

In the Harvard Business School HBR Blog Network,  Prof. Amy Cuddy (of HBR) wrote a blog item entitled Want to Lean In? Try a Power Pose – Amy J.C. Cuddy – Harvard Business Review, which relates to her TED talk, the link to which she cites in the article.  That runs about a half-hour, as I recall, and the title and link is Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are

NOTE: I started this post intending it for my blog SellingFaceToFace.com (Link here ) but realize it's equally relevant to another of my blogs, CareerSuccessHow-to.com ( Link here ) so will be dual posting in both places.

Now that I think of it, I'll probably be doing more dual posting on topics like this, such as using and reading body language, as career success how-to and the skills relating to selling and selling face to face are often very much intertwined.

 

Non-verbal communication skills: free book sample from PROFESSIONAL SALES PRESENTATIONS & DEMONSTRATIONS

Body language Buying signals Non-verbal communication skills Sales presentations & demonstrations Sales skills:non-verbals & buying signals Sales tips & techniques -- how to sell Sales training No Comments

The term, “Non-verbal communication skills” has been getting a number of hits lately on this blog, so I thought it would be a good time to put up a sample on using body language in the sales call (particularly when making presentations or demonstrations) from my little book, SALES PRESENTATIONS & DEMONSTRATIONS.

Today, in this post, for reasons of space I’ll be pulling only a short section from Part Three.  I hope the visuals on non-verbal movements  and subtle communication tips come through

Continue reading → Non-verbal communication skills: free book sample from PROFESSIONAL SALES PRESENTATIONS & DEMONSTRATIONS

“How ‘Power Poses’ Can Help Your Career”–career tips from the Wall Street Journal

Body language Career success how-to Free sales training articles Non-verbal communication skills Sales presentations & demonstrations Sales skills:non-verbals & buying signals No Comments

As factors in your career success, it's not just how competent you are, and it's not just about the words you say: no less important are the non-verbal messages you send . . . and read in others.  I cover some of this in my books, but let me recommend "How 'Power Poses' Can Help Your Career"– an excellent article with accompanying video  from the Wall Street Journal.

The article is not–as you might suspect–about being a  phony poseur, but rather about how to pay attention to the body-language and other non-verbal messages you are sending . . . and receiving.

Continue reading → “How ‘Power Poses’ Can Help Your Career”–career tips from the Wall Street Journal