Non-verbal communication is arguably one of the most difficult things that a marketer can learn, but it’s also one of the most important skills critical to their success. When marketers master the ability to communicate intent and response non-verbally, it unlocks a new level of negotiation that can be more fruitful than a simple agreement.
Why is this tactic so powerful? It’s because the delivery of a person determines the strength of what they’re selling most of the time. This is a tactic used by most marketers in field marketing organization insurance, B2B marketers in tradeshows, and simple booth attendants with consumers at a kiosk.
How can you integrate this into your daily marketing efforts, especially if you’re going out there to represent your company? Here are a few simple tips:
1. Learn to read the room
The best listeners are the ones who talk the least, and they only say what they mean to say. This isn’t due to some inherent ability to recognize what to say when it needs saying, but a developed skill that’s been honed by listening. With so many things vying for the attention of a consumer, learning to read the room can give the agent crucial information.
2. Relax
One of the reasons non-verbal communication is so effective is that we’re unconsciously looking out for them all the time. As children, we spend the majority of our formative years taking in the world around us via non-verbal cues, and while we grow older, this sense only develops.
Relaxing does two critical things: one, it allows your body to subconsciously reassert itself—useful when you’re in the middle of a particularly hard sell, and two, it relaxes the person you’re talking to. Conversational patterns tend to shift towards the same body language that both parties are using, so getting your client to shift with you can lead to better results.
3. Practice
You can’t fully recreate how each individual encounter will go, but there are a few things you can try to prepare for them in advance. One of them is your posture.
People’s posture often changes when faced with different scenarios, and the most ideal body language for marketers is something along the lines of being self-assured, but friendly. Remember that the way you present yourself will impact the way your product is perceived, so working on how the two of them acting in unison can be very helpful.
4. Check the attitude
This doesn’t mean just double-checking if you’re polite. Attitude manifests itself in our body language quite frequently, and people will often pick up on this without you even noticing. Aside from practice, the mindset in which you approach encounters is important. Skilled marketers have a mixture of caution, optimism, and pragmatism when it comes to pitching a product, which can help in closing a sale.
These are simple tips, but they can also be complex adjustments to how you market yourself in whatever field you belong to. As an agent to customers or a liaison with B2B marketing, showing the walk is just as important as know how the talk goes.
