Good morning everyone. Last week we discussed the three questions that customers ask when the meet with us on every interaction. If you missed it click here to catch up.
The first question that we ask ourselves subconsciously when we interact with another person is “Do I like you?” Our brains are trying to figure out if this person standing in front of us is a threat or a potential ally. Should we stay, or run like…
Physically our bodies will change posture depending on how this question is answered. Our posture will literally change as much as leaning in to leaning back depending on engagement and trust. This is why sales professionals have been taught to always mirror your customer’s posture.
Did you know that depending on if you are male or female you tend to want to stand in different postures when interacting? Women prefer to stand at 90 degree angles to men when they are interacting in the personal space. They naturally want to keep a guard up to not feel vulnerable. Men typically like to stand face to face total body facing their counterpart.
Are you starting to see how this might be a problem getting someone to like you if you do something small like use the incorrect stance?
Here is something else that will impact the way someone answers that question. The color you wear on your clothing can also impact how you are judged. That’s right the color we wear actually has an impact on how others perceive us. We could start the discussion off on the wrong foot just by color. In Robert Cialdini’s book “Influence,” he breaks down the colors and what they mean. It is a must read if you are working to sales! To make it easier for you, I tend to wear light blue and white shirts when I meet someone for the first time because those colors are associated with “Trust.” They are also calming colors. I want the customer calm and feeling like I am a trustworthy advocate for them.
I make sure to wear the right color tones for the meeting that I am about to have. The reason is I need the customer to feel at ease while meeting with me. They will be more relaxed and willing to hear me while we are discussing a topic. I also pay close attention to their posture as what I have learned is that 93% of communication is actually non-verbal.
Here are some other factors that can affect the first impression:
Scents you wear
voice tonality
pace of speech
jewelry you wear
There is a great deal here, but for now just focus on how you present yourself and talk may affect whether your customer will like you. The old saying you only get one chance to make a first impression still is true today. Making sure we are paying attention to the person standing in front of us will help us greatly.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Most sales teams can’t seem to understand why some of their sales team can sell their products or services and why others struggle with mild success. I teach your sales professionals to walk the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to allow all of your sales professionals generate more sales with higher margins!”