What’s your sales vibe?

Liz Wendling //December 14, 2010//

What’s your sales vibe?

Liz Wendling //December 14, 2010//

How do your customers perceive you?

Many salespeople focus almost exclusively on selling their company and their company’s products but pay very little attention to how they sell and present themselves. You’re part of the package and part of what customers are buying. Everything you say and every move you make either pushes clients away or pulls them towards you. The way you communicate and present yourself can have a powerful effect on your perceived credibility, trustworthiness and authority.

If you don’t think customers see it, they do. If you don’t think your business will suffer, it will. How much business are you handing off to your competitors because you’re broadcasting the wrong signals about yourself and your business?

Do you have sense of how other people view you when they first meet you? How do you enter a room full of strangers, engage people at networking events or show up to meet with a new customer? Are you broadcasting subtle messages about yourself that convey anxiety, negativity, confusion, desperation or fear? Or are you broadcasting confidence, authority, passion, trust and responsibility?

I meet business owners and salespeople every day who share personal stories about the current state of their business and how the economy is the cause for it. I listen and pay close attention to their actions and body language, to the words they use and how they present and perceive themselves. I tune in to the signals they’re broadcasting and quickly begin to understand why their business is struggling. It’s clear to me that the economy is just a scapegoat for what is really going on.

The signals they are broadcasting are loud and clear and they are pushing customers away.

You get back what you put out. The problem is that most of the time salespeople aren’t aware of the vibes they’re giving off. It doesn’t matter how hard you work, it doesn’t matter how good your product is and it doesn’t matter how good you are as a salesperson. If you are broadcasting the wrong signals to your customers, you will not attract the type of quality and targeted customers your business needs.

Here are a few ways to tell if your broadcasting signals are off:

Slouching: Drooping in your chair strongly signals a lack of self confidence, being too relaxed or not attentive.
Limp Handshake: Weak handshakes convey a lack of confidence, experience level and comfort in a given situation.
Fidgeting: Restlessly moving around signals that you’re nervous, insecure or uncomfortable.
Timidity: Lacking self-assurance and shyness speaks volumes. This one is not only seen loud and clear, it’s felt.

Self-assured salespeople have the ability to broadcast from a place of success – one of those hard-to-describe qualities that draw customers and opportunities to them. They look customers directly in the eye, offer up a firm handshake, stand tall, speak with confidence and are sure of their abilities in the sales process.

In order for other people to buy you, you have to first buy yourself. That means building your confidence and changing the frequency of your broadcast. There are no tricks, gimmicks, shortcuts or secrets. The salespeople who are most confident and the most comfortable in their own skin are the people who have built the foundational attributes of success.

Pay attention to what you are putting out to your customers and how they perceive you. Make sure they move toward you, not run away. Remember, it’s not what you sell, it’s how you sell.
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