Harnessing Your Power of Persuasion To Close Sales

Persuasion is a crucial aspect of any successful sales process. I’m not relegating to the background the importance of content because without it the whole sales process is incomplete. No matter how well you move your body in demonstration, if you don’t have any product to sell or if you don’t have any knowledge of your product features, the whole sales process is incomplete. If your staff are greenhorns in sales for example they don’t need to know or have 100% product knowledge at first. They can grow into it overtime but at least they need to know something in that product they can talk about with excitement, with gusto, with passion. That’s what makes up strong persuasion which will help them close sales faster.

In face-to-face interaction or communication 7% comprises of your choice of words, 38% the tone of your voice and 55% your body language. This is why to sell effectively, you should identify your persuasive body language which means the way you move your body when you’re fully persuaded. Prospects make buying decisions subconsciously, so your aim is to appeal to your prospects’ subconscious mind, such that when he checks the registered list of body languages in his mind, he will interpret your body language to mean likeable, confident, truthful, professional and trustworthy.

Now let’s talk about how to harness the power of persuasion to close sales. Here’s what you need to do to identify your persuasive body language. Get a friend, let your friend look at you or stand in front of the mirror then do these exercises.

EXERCISE ONE

Pick one of these 3 scenarios and note how you use part of your body when demonstrating them.

A- Imagine you felt you had inadequate information of something and you were told to discuss it with a stranger. You could feel timid right? Note the way you stand, your body gestures and your facial expression. Remember you’re using your mind to create this scenario so you want to be sure you feel it in your body while you act like you’re talking to the stranger.

B- Imagine making a request from someone who you know will not give you what you want. Also note your body language.

C- Imagine how you’ll act walking out of a room having heard very bad news, very discouraging news. Write your observations down or have a friend write them out for you.

Whatever body movements you note under these sad or painful conditions must be avoided as much as possible when face- to-face with a prospect or client.

EXERCISE TWO

The second way to identify and use your persuasive body language is to pick one of these scenarios now and note how you use parts of your body when demonstrating them:

A- Imagine you were fully convinced about something and you wanted someone to see your view.

B- Imagine you were defending a loved one who was being accused of a crime, a crime he or she never committed because that loved one was with you maybe in your house, when they said the crime was committed in another location. So you’re 100% sure this person wasn’t the one who committed the crime because the person was with you and now this person is being accused of committing that crime. How would you feel when defending the person? Passionate, right?

C- Imagine how you would act walking out of a room having heard very inspiring news. Look at the positioning or movement of your head, your hand, eyes, mouth or breathing. Whatever body movements you note from any ot the three scenarios above is what you must do as much as possible when face-to-face with your prospects or clients in order to be persuasive enough.

Your persuasive body language is unique to only you. When communicating with a prospect, watch the way you use your body. How do you sit? What’s your facial expression? How do you breathe? How are your feet positioned? Where do you place your hands? All these details will go a long way in influencing your prospects.

When meeting a prospect here are 8 persuasive body languages you need to adopt in order to increase your boldness and effectiveness in closing sales:

1. Walk with energy. Walk fast, walk intentionally, walk consciously and walk boldly. This will make the prospect know that you are busy as he or she is. As long as the prospect realizes that you are busy as he or she is, they’ll be ready to give you attention because they know that you don’t have time to waste, so you’re not going to waste their time. So walk into your client’s office boldly today.

2. Make your handshake firm. Let it exude energy and confidence. Don’t squeeze the hand of the prospect but let it be comfortable or at most mirror the handshake of the prospect. When giving a handshake, avoid making your hand limp, avoid shaking with the tip of your fingers. A lot of people have lost businesses, they’ve lost opportunities because of their handshake. When giving a handshake, use more of your thumb and fore finger to grip the prospect’s hand and move only your forearm. Don’t move your whole arm!

3. Watch the way you stand. Chin up, chest out and stand straight like you’re leaning on a wall with the back of your head and heel touching the wall at the same time.

4.  Touch your prospects. You see there are places in the body of people where you can touch, that will make you likeable immediately. Touch anywhere between the elbow and the wrist or behind the hand of your prospects using the tip of your fingers. If you’re into real estate and you’re trying to sell a house to a client, say “Sir could you come this way,” while directing him with the tip of your fingers lightly; touching them slightly below the elbow. When you do this, you will make the prospect feel a sense of warmth towards you.

5. Avoid touching your face, ears, nose or jewelry because doing any of these indicates timidity, insincerity or discomfort.

6. Avoid using your hand to cover your body parts. For example, folding your hands to your chest or pressing your hand in front or over your crotch should be avoided. This makes you come across as defensive.

7. Give body space when talking. Be careful not to move into the private space of your prospect, the moment you move close and the prospect moves backwards, then you know you’re invading their private space.

8.  Keep hands open and feet facing your prospects. Avoid pointing your fingers to your prospect as well because that will could across as domineering. When you’re using hand gestures to communicate, ensure your palm faces the prospect which means you’re open and sincere with nothing to hide.

Also if you’re standing, make your feet face the prospect. This will show you’re sure of what you’re saying. If you make your feet face away from the prospect, it will look like you’re eager to leave his presence because you’re not sure of what you’re saying. As much as you can, if you can avoid selling your products standing do it, get a seat so the prospect will be more relaxed.

These body languages may feel mechanical at first when you practise them, especially when you don’t feel that way from the inside, however if you keep at it your emotions will eventually align with the movement of your body and you will become persuasive enough to win clients efficiently.