HARDISON’S TIPS – NOVEMBER 18, 2020 – RETAIL SALES DEPARTMENT STORES (BIG BOX)
- Facial Expression—Particularly the Curve of Their Mouth
Lastly, you should be paying attention to the expressions you customer is making. This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s important to pay close attention to your customer’s facial expressions. Even if a customer is pulling a straight face at you, most people’s mouths are fairly expressive in small ways.
Often, the corners of the mouth will be curving slightly up or slightly down. Down is not good for you – it indicates frustration or annoyance. Curving up, though, is an excellent sign. Additionally, you should pay attention to how tightly the lips are held. If they’re pressed tightly together, it can mean the same thing as crossed arms.
That’s the three major areas of body language you should be paying attention to while actively listening to your customer. Keep in mind that while the customer’s body can give you an indication about how they feel towards you and your product, it’s the listening that is going to yield you the important information about what they want.
Now that we’ve established good customer reading techniques, let’s talk about what to do with the information you pick up:
Respond With Similar Body Language
One of the easiest ways to set someone at ease is to “mirror” their body language. You don’t want to go overboard on this – that can seem creepy or just mean. But little things are really important.
Start with pace and timing. Is the customer in a hurry? Or do they want to take things slow and steady? Speak and act at the same pace as the customer. If she’s in a hurry, speaking quickly and speed walking across the store, then you should speak quickly and speed walk across the store as well. If she’s speaking slowly and moves slowly, your speed talking and walking will only come across as aggressive to her.
In addition, you can do subtle things like adopt a similar posture, or use similar hand gestures. With the hand gestures, be careful. You don’t want to come across as mocking your customer. Don’t make exact replicas of hand gestures, keep it general.
Determine if someone is ready to buy (or not) based on non-verbal cues
Here are a few more tips to help you differentiate shoppers who are ready to buy versus those who aren’t interested.
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