Body Language In Sales

You may be so excited about purchasing your first new car. Maybe you’re getting ready to buy your own home. Regardless of the situation, you can take advantage of learning to interpret body language in sales.

Read on for some tips on spotting tell tale signs of shady salespeople right away!

1. Avoiding eye contact

How many times have you heard someone say “look me directly in the eye when you tell me that…”?

This is because people who are nervous or lying will have a hard time looking you in the eye. Instead, they will look away or even look down. If you’re dealing with a shifty-eyed salesperson, take this as a big red flag!

Here is an interesting fact about eye contact and body language:

People who are not telling the truth will often look to the right with their eyes!

2. Excessive sweating

You may find yourself talking to a salesperson in the middle of summer in a hot room with no air conditioning or windows. If this is the case, sweating is completely normal.

Otherwise, consider excessive sweating of the salesperson a very bad sign. People who are nervous tend to sweat a lot more. Keep a close watch if you notice beads of sweat forming on the forehead of your salesperson. He may be nervous about wanting to close the deal.

Other signs include repeatedly wiping his sweaty hands on his shirt or pants or offering you a damp, clammy handshake.

If you see any of these signs, beat the heat and make a hasty retreat to a more reputable “cooler” salesperson!

3. Fidgeting with the hands

Body language in sales can also be revealed by your hands. Your hands are connected to your nervous system so they are often hard to keep still when you’re anxious.

Fidgeting with your fingers or hands is a very common sign of anxiety or nervousness.

A salesperson may wrings his hands together, twiddle his thumbs or tap his fingers on a desk. He may also toy with a small object while discussing a sale with you.

Fiddling like this can be very annoying and distracting. More importantly, it will make the salesperson seem nervous and untrustworthy.

A salesperson will often play with a pen during your conversation. This will want to make a customer jump right up and grab it right out of his hand.

The problem is you certainly won’t be thinking of signing the dotted line with it…

4. Irregular breathing

Did you know that your breathing can be a sign of nervous body language in sales?

Well, you probably figured this out already during your first speech.

As you stood facing your audience, you may have wished your podium would transform into an oxygen tank so you could breathe!

Irregular, rapid breathing is a sign of nervousness. People will often take quick, shallow breaths when they are anxious or lying.

If your salesperson starts to breath like this, use all the oxygen in your own lungs and run from the situation as fast as you can!

5. Unnatural facial expressions

People who are lying will often display unnatural facial expressions. They may appear stone-faced when they’re trying to hide the truth. We often refer to this look as a “poker face”. Poker players try to prevent making any facial gestures or expressions that could inadvertently reveal their hand to the other players.

When you are being genuine, your entire face will reflect emotion, not just your mouth. For example, it will be easy to spot a salesperson with a forced smile – he will only use his mouth.

People with a genuine smile usually raise their cheeks, crease their forehead and squint their eyes slightly. The corners of their eyes are almost always wrinkled so look for this.

If your smiling salesperson appears to be a walking advertisement for Botox injections, beware!

6. Changes in voice or clearing the throat

Changes in a person’s voice can indicate is a sign of nervousness. Your salesperson may suddenly start to talk in a higher pitched voice.

He may also start to hesitate, stammer and include a lot of “ums”, “ers”, “us” and “ahs”. You know the ones I mean. They are those unconscious little filler words you probably used many times when you first started public speaking!

Clearing his throat constantly is another sign that your salesperson is nervous. People who are lying often perform this action unconsciously.

7. Unconscious body gestures

People who are nervous or trying to hide something will often make subconscious body gestures. This means the person is usually not even aware they are making them.

For example, your salesperson may touch or scratch his chin or nose while talking. This may be a non-verbal sign he is nervous.

He may also rub the back of his neck or scratch behind his ear. Touching his throat or mouth is another warning sign. It is almost as if the salesperson is trying to hide the words that are coming out of his mouth.

The bottom line is you should never ignore body language in sales. A person’s body can provide very important clues as to whether they are being genuine or deceptive.

The next time you’re discussing a possible purchase with a salesperson, take note to the following warning signs:

• Avoiding eye contact

• Excessive sweating

• Fidgeting with his hands

• Shallow, irregular breathing

• Unnatural facial expressions

• Changes in his voice or stammering

• Clearing his throat constantly

• Making unconscious body gestures

The above non-verbal signs may “tell” you what you need to know, despite what is actually being said. Your salesperson’s body language may tell you the truth even if he doesn't.

Of course you have to use common sense.

If someone performs any of these gestures once, there is no need to bolt from your chair and flee to another salesperson!

However, if he repeats several of these gestures during the course of the conversation, you should be wary.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

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