Marketing Misconceptions

How do you appear to people upon the first impression? Within the first ten seconds, a business associate or client meets you, they have already begun to form an opinion of you.  This occurs through not only what they hear, but also every little detail that they see. Your body language is very powerful in business and one should understand how to properly use their body language to form a good impression. 

In fact, body language can give others an image of your power, too. If you are in a room with business associates and you wish to appear powerful, you can stand during the meeting. This gives the impression of power because you are standing straight and tall. 

Moving around makes you seem even more powerful, thus making others potentially feel threatened by your body language. However, you can still give an image of power and confidence if you are sitting, just use up as much space as possible. Stretch out your legs, open up your arms, do anything, within reason to make yourself seem bigger than the other person. 

Showing confidence is as important in business as showing power. One way to show confidence through your body language is to keep from moving your head around too much. If your head is always in motion, it makes you appear to be the kind of person who seeks approval.  

 The body language of your eyes is critical. Your eyes can help you to show confidence through your body language. If you maintain eye contact a good portion of the time, you will feel confident and honest as well.  Blink too much and you will appear to have a lack of confidence, so try not to blink excessively.   

Negotiating a sale or other type of business deal can go more smoothly if you know a little about body language.  To make a customer or business associate feel more at ease during negotiations, try mirroring.  

Mirroring is a type of body language in which you subtly mimic the movements of the other person.  This makes them feel comfortable with you and more willing to follow your lead. Once they are at that point, you can try a method called tracking.  

In tracking, you start out mirroring. Then, you gently guide the person by making more and more open and positive body language movements. If the person follows your lead, you will be in a good position to make a sale or to complete the negotiations in your favor.  

If a person starts out with a closed posture, they might be hard to deal with at first. The signs are folded arms, crossed legs and maybe a gesture of turning away from you. If you mirror and then use tracking, you may begin to see a change. Their body language might change to an open position. This usually means your methods are working.  

If you are trying to make a sale and your customer is always touching their hand to their face, you need to give this type of body language your attention. The reason being is because it usually means that they want to buy if only they can resolve some issues they have with the purchase. If you don’t step in at this point, the customer may just walk away never quite knowing why they didn’t buy. If you try to help them figure it out, you will probably make a sale.  

In business, things aren’t always what they seem.  You need to be able to project the image that is conducive to the type of business you are trying to sell. You need to be able to identify your business associates’ attitudes. With a working knowledge of body language, you can do this.  Moving forward, use the right body language to make a great first impression.