What Does Eye Movement Reveal?

Today sales trainer Mark Hunter shares how you can watch your prospect's eye movement to learn more about what they're thinking.

Eye movement can reveal a lot about a person's level of confidence and commitment. Rapid movement of the eyes many times will indicate the person is not confident about what they are saying — or what they are hearing.

We simply do not pay enough attention to the eyes, whether it be our own eyes or those of the person to whom we are talking. The eyes reveal a significant amount about a person, and yet over the past 25 years as a society, we've learned not to focus on eye contact.

I'm not sure if this is because of the percentage of our conversations that occur on-line and on the telephone — both scenarios where there is no eye contact — or if the decline in eye contact is due to something else.

If we can learn to give people good eye contact and, at the same time, use our eye contact to study them, I believe we can learn a significant amount about how they think and may react to what we're discussing.

Rapid eye movement is but one indicator, but that in itself is huge, as it can tell us their level of confidence. Confident people are calm, and calm people have stable eye movement. This is why many police officers use the eyes as a leading indicator when they're talking to somebody.

Eye movement or eye contact also can tell us if the person is engaged with us or pre-occupied. Yes, it's very easy for people to pick up a person's lack of interest if they are not giving us eye contact, but we can also tell by their level of focus. When people are attentive to what you're saying, their eyes will have far more focus than the aimless stare of the disengaged person.

What I find amazing about all of this is these are not complex insights. They are very basic. Yet that's what makes them so good, because so few people truly learn from the other person's eyes. Raising our awareness to this one cue can open doors where we can gain valuable information.

One final thought — I may have shared this all in the context of watching someone else's eyes, but don't forget the same observations apply to your eyes as well. So pay attention to what you are doing with your own eyes too.

Monitor Your Messages

Communication is the key to success in sales. Whether it is in person, over the phone, or via email, your clients are buying because they have communicated a need to you, and you have communicated a solution to them.

If communication has stalled between you and your prospect, it could be due to incongruence in the messages your words and body language are sending. Change management expert Kevin Dwyer suggests you watch out for the following communication sin - most people don't realize they're committing it.

Incongruence

When a person speaks, the audience is attempting to assess whether we are sincere or not about what we say, and they take into account the following:

• The words we use - The content and knowledge of our topic, counts for 7 percent of their perception
• How we speak - Including our tone, pitch and inflection, counts for 35 percent of their perception
• Our visual presence - Our body language counts for 55 percent of their perception

Some examples of incongruence between words, tone and body which scuttles our message are:

• Talking about open communication and frowning at difficult questions (body language versus words).
• Reading from a speech in a monotone voice about how excited we are about the future (body language and tone and pace of voice versus words).
• Saying, "I take full accountability" for an error without expressing what the consequences of the accountability entail (words versus words).

The next time you're communicating with a prospect, try to monitor the messages you're sending. Do your words and body language match up? Do the words in your sentences support each other? Do this, and you'll get the message across - and get the sale!

Kevin Dwyer is President of Change Factory, a change management company that helps businesses get better outcomes by managing a change in their people's behavior. Learn more at www.changefactory.com.au

Rate Your People Skills

Sales trainer John Boe has an uncanny ability to read people - their behavior and temperament style. He can analyze an individual based on a picture, brief phone conversation, or face-to-face meeting. SalesDog's Managing Editor, Tina LoSasso, can attest to this. After two minutes on the phone, John pegged her as an "introvert germophobe with neurotic tendencies." Considering that most people assume (incorrectly) that she's extroverted, she was impressed, and forgave him for the 'neurotic' part.

John teaches salespeople how to be more persuasive by deciphering their prospects' body language.

"Your body language reveals your deepest feelings and hidden thoughts to total strangers. As a professional salesperson you must continuously monitor your customer's body language and adjust your presentation style accordingly," says Boe. "By understanding your prospect's temperament style and body language gestures, you'll minimize perceived sales pressure and close more sales in less time!"

Think you have great people skills? Rate yourself by taking John Boe's fun People Skills Quiz.