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Monkey See, Monkey Do

Guest post by: Brian Sullivan

Article Overview: How Your Attitude and Actions Affect Your Customers.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Many sales books talk about the importance of being able to read body language during a sales call, and this is no doubt an important part of selling. However, YOU as a salesperson have some control over what body language your customer is speaking.

Several years ago I was in Barcelona Spain doing some sightseeing, and my friend and I decided to go to the zoo. Now I am not too sure what your favorite part of the animal kingdom is but for me it is the primate section. Monkeys and apes crack me up, and this day was no exception. While my friend was off at the restroom, I casually strolled over to the area where the monkeys were. Now I know nothing about monkeys and apes but if you have ever been to the zoo, you know that monkeys are like salespeople. You have your lazy mopes that just lay around picking bugs out of their hair. You have others that run from tree to tree indiscriminately (time management problems) with no focus. You have ones that seem content with what is going on that will occasional pick up a stick and smack something around. And then you have those that are masters at "relationship building," who want to do nothing but please the customer.

This day was no different. As I pressed my face up against the glass to get a better look, a "funny" monkey approached the glass from his side and looked right into my

eyes. I looked over my shoulder to see if anybody was watching. They weren't, so I turned back around and gave the monkey a comical face. (You know, the kind of face you sometimes make in the hotel mirror for no apparent reason.) After I curled my lips up and stuck my tongue out I watched as the monkey not only did what I did, he topped me. Let me tell you, Jim Carey had nothing on that monkey. He could do things with his face that I had never seen. The monkey had talent! I then curled my arms into a HULK-like pose and continued to scratch my armpits while blurting out the traditional monkey call.... EEE, EEE, EEE. Now I had never actually seen a monkey do this, but I know as a kid I did it all the time, so I had to have picked it up from some credible source. Well, this monkey followed my lead and began scratching under his armpits. We were having a blast playing our game of "monkey see, monkey do."

This little exercise continued for about two minutes until I grew uncomfortable with where my new monkey friend began scratching himself. Had I followed his lead, I no doubt would have been spending my evening trying to explain to the Barcelona police that I was not a sexual predator. Just as I turned around, there was an elderly woman that had obviously been watching me and my monkey friend do our thing, and what a moment that was. I not only felt embarrassed about what I was doing, I felt like my grandmother just caught me playing with the neighborhood problem child.

What is my point? We project our body language and facial expressions onto our customer. While I do not feel comfortable comparing your customers to monkeys, I will. If you find yourself eye to eye with the monkey, be aware that the language your body and mouth are speaking will have an affect on how that monkey reacts. If you show little excitement about your product or service, your customer will show little excitement. If your lip curls up and your eyebrows drop down because you are confused about your product, your customer will appear confused. If you shrug your shoulders because you cannot answer your customer's question, your customer will shrug her shoulders when you ask for the order. Project positive body and facial language and your customer will follow.

In short, don't ALWAYS mirror your customer. Sometimes YOU need to set the tone. Which means if a mildly depressed customer is telling you they are cutting their spending budget because of this "awful, downtrodden and depressed" economy, don't feel the need to agree that all is bad. Because mirroring negativity will almost never help you close the sale. Remember, customers are looking for business partners who will take them OUT of their misery, not confirm that their negative thinking is correct. This same principle applies to your internal customers. While everybody around you finds fulfillment in expressing what "so stinking wrong," don't get sucked in. Make it your job to be the one who sees opportunity where others see obstacles. Because when its time to place an order, or deliver that next promotion, it will be your upbeat attitude they will remember. And it will be that attitude that will make you the King of the Business Jungle (sorry, I couldn't help myself).

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Article Tags: body language, communication skills, insurance sales training, medical sales training, positive thinking, precise selling, public speaking, reading people, relationship building, sales tactics, sales training, setting the tone



Related Forum Posts
Survey Monkey - Hi ltrahan - interesting concept - how have you found Survey Monkey? Is it a good service?
Survey Monkey - I found Survey Monkey to be a good service as well, it was useful and got the job done. Like Itrahan was saying though, the basic "free" services are a bit limiting though.


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