4 tips for effective non-verbal communication in sales

‍

You might’ve noticed that in the past few years every aspect of F2F communication is being “uploaded” into the virtual environment via various cool new AI softwares.

Meeting up on Zoom has become more frequent than actual meetings in real offices (remember those times?) 

Throughout the past few decades we had slowly become experts in expressing ourselves on virtual mediums;
It started with texting. You wouldn't believe how much content you can fit using 70 characters when you get creative! From emoticons to sophisticated acronyms- we mastered texting.

All of the sudden we all have phones that can take photos! Remember how we mastered that element as well? Selfies- rich informative moments sent to our friends, family and sometimes colleagues. 

And now- we all have super-computers in our pockets and even crazier-super-computers back at the office and at home. We all use it, perhaps too much. But who can blame us for using this incredible limitless device to our advantage?

It’s only a matter of time until new tech will find its way to our everyday computer, and then- you can count on people to learn how to utilize whatever they’ve got.

Now let’s talk shop

The transition of human communication to the virtual world isn't complete. Yet most business operations are relying especially on virtual interactions. Interviews, pitch meetings, fundraising and many more significant events in a business’s routine. 

Even Metaverse meet ups aren't delivering a full featured human interaction.

What to do? Become an expert in the current widespread medium. 

Let’s reinvent “rapport”, shall we?

When engaging in real life conversations we effortlessly use our speech, tone of voice and our body language to send messages. Zoom hasn’t taken away any of those communicating components, so how can one “become an expert”?

Communicating is about using all pieces together into an integrative interaction.

- Can we get to the point please? I Have pilates in 10 minutes

YES

Here are 4 non-verbal communication tips to use in SALES you can easily implement in your everyday virtual interactions!

1. Be they’re best friends, but not in a creepy way- Look into your computer camera to mimic the feeling of speaking with someone that looks into your eyes. DON'T FORGET to look away sometimes! Prolonged direct eye contact may be creepy in real life, so make sure you use your EYES accordingly.

2. Address people with your body-language, not just your mouth-language- Imagine having a conversation with a dear friend at a loud bar. You realize your friend is upset about whatever it is they’re talking about. You feel like making sure they know you’re still listening to them, so you change your posture, tilt your head a little and look directly at them. Make sure you use your posture to send the correct intention. Shoulder posture is key to control how relaxed\tense we seem in a conversation.

3. Pay close attention TO YOURSELF- Most meetings aren’t going exactly according to plan, and you might need to go off-book in order to achieve the desired outcome out of the meeting. This applies to both F2F meetings as well as for virtual ones. I’m gonna let you in on a secret- people can sense your mood, even when you don't say anything! When we’re sad, happy, surprised or angry (generally- when feeling  something)- people subconsciously sense that. More importantly, people will sense that you’re trying to suppress certain emotions. Never pretend you’re happy when you obviously aren’t. Contradictories between speech and body language may pass as weird. That’s because IT IS. Pay close attention TO YOURSELF and try expressing your true feelings appropriately so you won’t leave as incomprehensible.

4. NEW- Enthusiasm in a bottle!- When we’re excited- people around us can tell. When speaking to someone about something we’re excited about, we might wanna lower that excitement just well enough so it won’t interfere with the conversation. 

But what happens when we’re not F2F? Is that bottled enthusiasm arriving at its destination, or am I being weird? NO! What you wanna do is have fun with it.
Be expressful, and as authentic as you can about what you feel (within appropriate limits)- even when that feels a notch too much. The point is- don’t act all sophisticated all the time, that doesn't work.

‍