In the world of selling, eye contact is extremely important when both making a first impression and building credibility. In addition to some of the obvious aspects of eye contact, there are also some subtleties involved. So how do you make sure you’re making the most of your eye contact?
1) Use eye contact to build credibility, convey trust, and to accent your point at important intervals in the conversation.
Eye contact builds trust and credibility and a lack of it will destroy the chances for either. The best way to convey strong points, such as closing questions, is to look the prospect or customer directly in the eye while making your statement. You don’t want to be glancing away at all, and you even want to keep blinking to a minimum.
2) Look the person directly in the eye as much as possible.
At the very least, you want to be looking the other person in the eye the entire time he or she is talking. If you’re going to look elsewhere at any time in the conversation, do it while you are talking. Even then, keep straying eyes to a minimum. You’ll notice that if you’re talking to someone and looking around, they’ll start looking around too; looking elsewhere causes paranoia in the other person in the conversation. In the best case scenario, the only time you want to break eye contact is when the other person draws your attention to something else, or vice versa. As much direct eye contact as possible during a conversation will help build all the positive feelings you’re looking for.
3) Look at only the left eye.
In conversation, people tend to look back and forth from one eye to the other. But this can give people the impression you are “shifty-eyed.” As a result, you want to look in only one eye. Looking into the left eye seems to get the best results. Why? Have you ever had an instantaneous connection with someone? You just met that person but you felt as if you knew him or her forever? That connection occurred in the in the right side of the brain, which is the creative and emotional side of the brain. The left eye is controlled by the right brain. Will you always have instantaneous connections by looking in the left eye? No, however, you will have more of them and you will completely eliminate the “shifty-eyed” feeling some people will leave with after having a conversation with you.
Note: If you’re talking to someone with a “lazy” eye and are having difficulty discerning which eye is focusing properly, look at the bridge of the person’s nose.
Note 2: If you’re talking to someone whom you know is blind in one eye, has a glass eye, or any other eye issue, focus on the good eye. If you know they have one of the above issues but cannot tell or forgot which eye is the problem eye, focus on the bridge of the nose.
And no, people won’t be able to tell you’re looking in their left eye or at the bridge of their nose, it will simply appear as if you’re looking them in the eye.
4) Watch others’ eye contact at important times in the sales conversation.
Watch the other person’s eye contact during important questions such as closing questions and qualifying questions. For example, if someone says, “Geez, I think I can get it for less somewhere else.” Look them in the eye and ask, “So that’s the only thing that’s stopping you?” If they say “yes” and look away, off to the side, down, or otherwise break eye contact as they answer you, you can be sure that they are not telling the truth. Very few people outside of professional liars can look you in the eye and tell you an “untruth”. Now that you know that isn’t the real objection, you can ask more questions to eliminate this excuse and find out what the real reason is.
The eyes truly are the mirrors of the soul. They will let people know if you are interested or disinterested, if you truly care or couldn’t care less, and whether you’re paying attention or off in another world. Watch the message you send with your eyes as well as the messages others are sending with theirs. If you make the most of eye contact, you’ll find that you’ll connect better with people and make more sales.
Have a sales question? E-mail John at johnchapin@completeselling.com. John Chapin’s specialty is helping salespeople and sales teams double sales in 12 months. He is an award-winning sales speaker, trainer and coach, a number one sales rep in three industries, and the primary author of the gold-medal winning “Sales Encyclopedia”. In his 24+ years of sales, customer service and management experience, he has thrived in some of the toughest markets and economies.
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