Written by Penny Votzourakis and Anne Miller
Sunday, 15 August 2010 09:10
You Have Less Than 3 Minutes To Sell Yourself
Imagine this … you’ve walked into a room filled with people you don’t know. Some are talking, some are listening. How do you feel? What do you think? Can you figure out the pecking order?
We know snap judgments can be wrong but that doesn’t stop us doing it. We make value judgments subconsciously all the time.
When we first walk into a room of strangers we can’t help but judge them … do I trust them? Will I like them? Will they like me?
We are programmed from birth to use all our senses to decide how we will interact with a stranger. Thousands of years ago, this quick decision-making skill was necessary to save our lives … do we greet the sudden stranger as a friend, fight him or run away?
In the jungle of sales, this unconscious decision-making process could mean the difference between you closing a sale or literally scaring a potential client away.
It’s a fact that when a prospect first meets you he will decide in less than three minutes whether he likes you enough to continue the conversation.
Sales is about building relationships. You know people will buy from you if they like you and trust you. The prospect wants to know you have authority, professionalism and high standards.
Your image will communicate this to your prospect at an unconscious level and your prospect will connect your image to the product you are selling.
Studies have shown that people are judged 55% on appearance, 38% on body language and only 7% on the words they say.
Nothing will escape your prospect as they absorb information when they first meet you … how you sit or stand, the colour of your hair, how it is combed, your facial expression, the crease in your slacks or how short your skirt is, the colour of your shoes or are they scuffed. Remember, this is all done on an unconscious level and is automatic and habitual.
Your prospect is absorbing all manner of impressions but is totally unaware of most of them. The problem is, these unconscious impressions will flavour how he will make his purchasing decisions.
Are you authoritative? Do you believe what your are saying? Can you be trusted?
Style is also important because not only does it make a difference to people’s perception of you but it also alters how you feel about yourself.
Take a critical look in the mirror now. What image are YOU projecting to your clients? What image are you projecting to YOURSELF?
So … a simple rule, that’s often overlooked. Dress for success!
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