Part 7 of 8 Lacking Personal Presence

Lacking Personal Presence

How you say something during a sales meeting can be just as important as what you say.
How you look, how you act, how you move and how you look at the prospect all send powerful messages about who you are and whether you can be trusted. Up to 80% of sales people ignore the non-verbal part of the sales meeting, which is why they lose 1/3 of the opportunities available to them. Once they discover how to use their personal presence to close more business, their closing ratios begin to soar.
Here are a couple of small hints for improving your personal presence:

• Shake hands.
• Look people in the eye.
• Dress one notch better than your prospect.
• Arrive early for every meeting.
• Leave your cell phone/pager/PDA in the car.
• Don’t smoke before a sales call.
• Be organized and prepared.
• Take notes.
• Say thank you.

Sure, none of these are exactly rocket science. But I can guarantee you that more business is won or lost through these and other simple non-verbal cues than through all the fanciest, most complicated presentations in the world.

Whether it is golf, playing a musical instrument, learning to dance – or closing business – the basics are always the hardest and most important thing to master. Tiger Woods still sinks hundred of putts every day in practice, because he knows that mastering the basics is what it takes to win.