Perhaps The 1 Thing You Need To Become A Successful Yacht Broker...
You need to master your body language.
Case in point:
— November 2013, Las Vegas Executive Airport —
I was working for Boeing to showcase some of their planes to potential clients.
While standing in front of a private Boeing 737 (the nicest and most luxurious aircraft at the show with a price tag of approximately $70 Million) I noticed a guy walking towards the plane.
He was casually dressed, unlike all the other attendees and exhibitors who were in suits. He carried so much confidence, but also seemed quite approachable. I had seen his face online before but had never met him in person. He was such an amazing businessman and was worth over $6 Billion.
I was mesmerized. I attentively looked at every single move, posture, gesture, and facial expression he made.
He stood for about 20 seconds before stepping into his aircraft, and in that short time, I learned so much just from watching him. It was like taking a full lesson on body language.
Body Language is an interpersonal skill that we unfortunately, do not learn about in school and are often fairly unfamiliar with.
Several Studies Have Identified That Only A Small Part Of Our Communication Is Actually Verbal
In the graph below, you can see that 55% of communication comes from body language (eye contact, facial expression, posture, gesture, appearance, proximity, etc.), and 38% comes from our voice pitch (high or low) and pace (slow or fast), as well as tone (calm, mellow, inflection, enthusiasm, etc.). Only a mere 7% of our communication is verbal (choice of words, sentences, and structure).
Your body language is not just a simple feature of your personality, but rather helps to shape who you are.
I decided to put this article together because it is so important that you invest time learning about your own body language — if you want to become a successful yacht broker.
It is well known that the general public has strong prejudices against sales people. According to a study from a Fortune 100 organization, sales is the second most hated profession in the US right now, right after politicians. Knowing this, you can expect your clients to pay attention to your non-verbal behavior very closely.
Did you know that humans produce over 700,000 signs, 5,000 distinct hand gestures, 250,000 facial expressions and over 1,000 different postures?
Despite its complexity, body language can be fairly easy to decode and improve if you know the fundamentals. So without further ado, let’s get started on revealing…
The Top 12 Body Language Secrets To Help You Become A Successful Yacht Broker
I spent quite a lot of time studying the subject through different resources, however, many of these secrets were inspired by The Power of Body Language course, taught by Vanessa Van Edwards. This is a great course that covers even more info about body language and goes beyond the 12 secrets we will go over today.
1) The Universal Judgment Scale
Before sharing body language tips, it is very crucial we understand which aspects of body language people usually judge you on. When we meet people, we naturally assess them on 3 major qualities:
1. Warmth
2. Competence
3. Attractiveness
When I say attractive, I don’t necessarily mean good looking. What I mean can be more accurately described as charming or a charismatic and magnetic personality.
The goal of these 12 body language secrets is to help you become more ‘attractive’ in these 3 qualities, which in turn will equip you to increase your performance in sales.
2) The Importance Of Open Body Language
Body language behaviors can be divided into 2 categories:
1. Positive and Negative
2. Open and Closed
Always welcome and treat clients with open body language. It will make prospective clients feel more welcome and more comfortable in your presence which will naturally increase your chances of closing sales.
What is open body language? Open body language includes:
✔️ Not having your arms or legs crossed
✔️ Making eye contact
✔️ Being comfortable in your attire (i.e. removing or unbuttoning your jacket when you sit down in a meeting)
✔️ Speaking confidently
✔️ Showing assertiveness without being intimidating
✔️ Smiling
Conversely, closed body language can give a bad impression and will discourage your clients from establishing a connection with you.
Closed body language includes:
✔️ Crossed arms or legs
✔️ Not smiling
✔️ Low tone, or absence of a tone in your voice
✔️ Avoiding eye contact and/or verbal exchange
✔️ High interpersonal distance
✔️ Closed body (i.e. shoulders in, back hunched, low head tilt, looking at your phone, etc.)
3) The Approach & First Impression
Just like people judge a book by its cover, they will judge you based on their first impression. Centered on their initial judgment, people will either be interested in talking to you or not.
Opinions of others is usually based on 4 major criteria:
1. Trust
2. Competence
3. Friendliness
4. Level of danger (aggressiveness)
First impressions usually last less than one second and are generally accurate and permanent. The initial judgment is based solely on visual information, prior to any verbal exchange. And if your client’s first impression of you is negative, it is always much harder to change their mind after the initial meet.
So remember: your open or closed body language will have a huge influence on your audiences’ initial judgment.
Your initial pose should be:
✔️ Comfortable
✔️ Not socially aggressive
✔️ With loose arms
✔️ With an open torso
✔️ With shoulders down and back
✔️ With your head up
✔️ With your hands visible
(Always make sure that your verbal message and nonverbal message are congruent – if they don’t match, your nonverbal message will be the one people will believe.)
4) Pose & Distance
A) Posing:
As previously mentioned, body language has a huge influence on how other people see us, but also on how we see ourselves.
Successful people show and feel their confidence.
Standing confident, even when we don’t feel it, has a significant impact on our chances for success.
Having said that, there are 2 major hormones that affect our confidence:
1. Cortisol: This is the stress hormone. It is harmful to our body and can negatively affect our immune system and blood pressure.
2. Testosterone: This is the hormone that makes us feel more confident. It boosts our metabolism, immune system, strength, and confidence.
In her famous Ted Talk: “Your body language shapes who you are,” Harvard Professor, Amy Cuddy shares her great experiment on body language.
Amy and her team divided two groups of participants in order to study the effect of posing confidently and unconfidently. One group posed confidently, while the other posed with low confidence.
Before the posing began, the research team tested the participants’ saliva to check for testosterone and cortisol hormone levels. They then asked participants to do 2 minutes of posing (confidently and unconfidently). After posing, the researchers had the two groups gamble to see if the confident posing would affect their mentality in the game. They then tested their saliva again.
The results were as follows:
• The group who posed confidently had higher levels of testosterone and took 86% more risks in the game. The confident posing group actually felt more confident and powerful after just 2 minutes of posing. Not only that, but they also had a noticeable decrease in cortisol levels.
• On the other hand, the unconfident posing group had a decrease in testosterone and an increase in cortisol levels.
Use your body to portray confidence.
As previously mentioned, low confidence posing is represented by:
• Rolled in shoulders (instead of having shoulders back)
• Lowered head
• Closed torso
• Crossed legs
• Taking up a small amount of space and
• Self-soothing gestures (i.e. using your phone, nails, hands or any other item available).
Conversely, a high confident pose can be recognized by:
• Shoulders back
• Chest up
• Head held high
• Arms relaxed and loose
• Legs apart or facing their audience and
• Expansive attitude claiming as much territory as possible (without seeming aggressive).
If you forget and find yourself in an unconfident pose, take note of what you did wrong and gracefully correct it.
TIPS: Before you get to an interview/phone call/meeting:
• Practice posing confidently. Remember that your body shapes your mind.
• Instead of bringing a phone, bring a newspaper, as reading the paper forces you to sit or stand with a more confident stance.
• Stand in a confident pose when you’re on the phone, it will have a huge influence on the outcome of your call.
B) Interpersonal Distances:
Interpersonal distances vary between cultures. If you are not sure what distance to use, invite people to stand near you and observe how close they come. This is the distance they are comfortable with.
Body language experts classify interpersonal distance into 3 categories:
1. Intimate
2. Personal
3. Social
An increase in the distance between you and your customer might represent boredom, disinterest, and often discomfort. On the other hand, a person leaning or coming closer to you usually represents interest and willingness to establish a partnership or agreement.
5) Eye Contact
There are 3 ways that we can look into another person’s eyes:
• Power Gaze: a high gaze that focuses on the triangle area between the eyes and forehead, (usually used by leaders or in business situations, etc.)
• Social Gaze: a more casual gaze that focuses on the triangle between the eyes and mouth.
• Intimate Gaze: A gaze to be used only in romantic settings that focus’ on the triangle between the eyes and chest or even lower.
6) Hands & Handshakes
A) Hand Gestures:
Do you know what people immediately notice when they meet someone for the first time? The person’s hands.
Just like the majority of the public, I’m sure you probably thought the answer was either someone’s eyes or face. It is their hands for one very simple reason: hands are the best trust indicators.
Why hands?
This is actually a habit our ancestors developed. They would look at a person’s hands to see if they were carrying a weapon. It was a quick way to indicate whether the person was dangerous or not. We still instinctively do this. When we can’t see someone’s hands, our trustworthiness towards them drops, and consequently, our assurance in them drops too (both consciously and unconsciously).
When it comes to the do’s and don’ts of hand gestures, avoid pointing with your finger. It is very common for people to find it irritating and even disrespectful. Avoid having your hands in your pockets or with your thumbs sticking out. It can be perceived as dominant and not very professional.
Another important element about hands is the gestures we make with them. Expressive hand gestures can be good as long as they are not too theatrical.
A great trick is to have an imaginary box 2 to 3 feet around your torso. Now stay inside this “box” when making hand gestures. People who gesture outside this box are often seen as disorganized, flakey and unreliable as a result of the dramatic element.
However, visible hand gestures inside the box will not only help people comprehend you, but also reinforce a statement and convey more trust, control, and influence. For example, using your fingers to visually count numbers can help to really emphasize something.
You can visually show exponential growth by using a “hockey stick gesture,” (mimicking an exponential curve of a growth chart) or showing personal passion by placing your hand over your heart or in front of your mouth.
Open palms are often the universal gesture of open-mindedness. Using open palms is great when negotiating. It shows the client that you are on their side. For instance, I read that jurors see defendants who put their hands under the table as more sneaky and distrustful.
The moral of the story is your trustworthiness increases when other’s can see your hands.
B) Handshake:
Another great point from the Vanessa Van Edward course was that a good handshake is worth up to 3 hours of face-to-face time! People will most definitely judge you on your handshake. A great handshake will reflect a positive personality, likeability, emotional intelligence, stability, confidence, and much more.
What makes a good handshake?
• A firm, strong grip (but not too firm).
• Vertically aligned hands – Shake a person’s hand straight up and down 3 times (small motions), while keeping the wrist straight. If you turn your hand horizontally, it is again interpreted as being overpowering.
• Your hands need to be clean, dry and free of too much jewelry that might come in the way.
• Look into the person’s eyes when you shake their hand.
• While you are shaking someone’s hand, be aware of the rest of your body language. Be comfortable with your body (watch your expansiveness and have an open body).
• Display passion and authenticity.
Remember: Most business encounters have two handshakes: at the beginning and at the end of the meeting. Be sure to make the most of both those handshake opportunities.
7) Gestures
Have you ever felt naturally attracted to a person you just met just by looking at them?
How do you draw people in to get them to want your business card, connect with you, have coffee with you, etc?
Confidence, attractiveness, and intrigue are often conveyed by gestures. Some gestures are more noticeable and obvious, while others are subtle and can be referred to as “Micro Gestures.”
Micro gestures are harder to perceive. Just like 1 degree of difference in direction for a boat has a huge impact on the final destination, a small adjustment in body language can have an immense impact on the way you are perceived by others.
Micro gestures can be divided into different categories:
Category #1: Self-Soothing:
When self-soothing, you release a calming hormone called Oxytocin. We self-soothe when we feel nervous or uncomfortable. Examples of self-soothing gestures include:
• Rubbing the back of your neck
• Hopping and swaying, moving your feet, jiggling your feet/legs, etc.
• Fidgeting – self-grooming, tapping, biting your nails, etc.
If you notice someone displaying self-soothing behavior, do everything you can to make them feel more at ease. You can use the social gazing we learned about earlier, ask them questions or validate their feelings. Portray an open torso – we subconsciously mirror people we are speaking with, so you can help him or her feel more comfortable by making yourself look more comfortable and confident too.
Category #2: Avoid Blocking:
What do I mean by “blocking?” Literally blocking someone you don’t like or someone who makes you uncomfortable by using your arms to block your torso (i.e. crossing your arms).
Examples of blocking include:
• Crossing your arms across your chest
• Clutching a purse, books, or a laptop in front of your chest
• Looking at your phone, watch or any other object instead of engaging with the person you are talking to
Blocking creates a barrier, decreasing the connection between you and the other person.
People also happen to display blocking behavior with topics they don’t like or feel uncomfortable with. Thus, it’s important to be aware if your client is displaying blocking behavior because this will tell you if you’ve come across a topic that makes them uncomfortable.
To mitigate their blocking behavior, you can offer anti-blocking objects (such as a brochure, business card or drink). By helping them unblock, you will show them that you are paying attention to them, and you will also be opening their minds (our minds mirror our physical response)
Category #3: Interest:
By showing interest in others/things/topics, we exude expressiveness and emotions, which can be interpreted as warmth, agreeableness, and vibrancy.
More motion is a sign of excitement. It shows expressiveness and emotionality. People will watch you more if you display some movement – the eye follows movement, in turn contributing to a stronger connection.
Use intriguing movements such as moving your upper torso, hands or shoulders. This will help display patience and warmth. It helps build comradery between you and the other person.( Remember the imaginary box around your torso)
TIP: Watch out for your feet and your speed.
Most people know to keep their facial expressions in check, but they don’t pay much attention to what their feet are doing. If somebody’s feet are pointed directly towards you, this is a sign of genuine interest. Pointing towards the door or another direction – not so much. People with slow motion or an absence of motion are often seen as cold and analytical (direct correlation between our gestures and our warmth).
8) The Power of Touch
We often underestimate the power of touch in our personal or professional lives.
When you feel like you are really connecting with someone, your brain surges with oxytocin. (Also called the “cuddle hormone”). A six-second hug is what it takes to get all the oxytocin going.
Have you ever heard of the “magic touch?” The magic touch is a friendly and gentle touch between the elbow and the shoulder. Studies reported that waitresses received a 14% increase in tips when practicing the magic touch on clients when they gave them the bill.
Touch can be displayed in different forms:
• Fist bump
• Handshake
• Double handshake
• Pat
• Hug
• Arm/shoulder touch
Using the magic touch is not for everybody, so I strongly recommend you do it only if you feel comfortable. Always make sure to avoid the face, neck, and lower/mid torso, as these are areas only to be touched in intimate settings.
Now, the power of touch doesn’t only apply between a salesperson and prospects. It works like a charm with products too. It has been proven countless times that the more someone touches a product, the more ownership they feel over it.
This strategy is so powerful that in 2003, the Illinois Attorney General actually warned customers to be weary of this practice. A lot of research has shown that touching an item does indeed cause people to feel a sense of ownership and causes them to place a higher value on it. This is a psychological trigger called the ‘Endowment Effect’ or ‘Psychological Ownership.’
Always make sure that your customers get to touch your boats. You have a greater chance of making a sale by letting your customers feel or try out the product.
When touch is unavailable, such as via online shopping, having people imagine owning the product increases their perception of ownership and how much they are willing to pay for it.
TIPS:
• You can influence clients by practicing ownership imagery if you are trying to sell online. Using strong visual imagery – lots of photos, videos or high quality interactive virtual tours of your product will enhance ownership imagery.
• You can also influence customers by saying, for instance: “Imagine driving home with this boat today! Where would you keep it or what would you do with it? “
9) Facial Expressions
Each human being can make up to around a quarter million facial expressions. Luckily for us, they can be divided into 6 or 7 distinctive categories:
1. Happiness
2. Sadness
3. Surprise
4. Disgust
5. Anger
6. Fear
A few body language experts added a seventh category:
7. Contempt
Decoding facial expressions can be challenging simply because someone can change facial expressions dozens of times during a conversation, each of them sometimes lasting only a fraction of a second.
How to respond to micro expressions that your client makes:
Happiness
• Use comradery;
• Celebrate with them;
• Enjoy their passion with them
Contempt
• Pursue more information;
• Build rapport;
• Review the things you know you agree upon
Fear
• Give them reassurance – you are there for them;
• Explain;
• Calm;
• Use the word ‘anxious’ instead of fear when addressing their fears
Disgust
• Identify the problem;
• Identify solutions;
• Avoid the problem issue and focus on what works
Anger
• What is it that’s making them angry;
• Avoid being offensive or defensive (stay neutral) – comes across as competent;
• Highlight cooperation
Sadness
• Offer help;
• Check-in with them;
• Offer comfort;
• Be empathetic (“I feel you”);
• Give them space (“Do you want to do this another time?”)
Surprise
• Give an explanation;
• Review their goals so that you are both on the same page
10) Mirroring
Do you know the number 1 sales technique used in all car dealerships around the world?
The test drive.
They use this smart sales technique for 1 reason: it works. This method’s success can be explained with just 2 words: Mirror Neurons.
These little neurons govern all areas of our lives and are the principal reasons for why we buy (Lindstrom, 2008).
Haven’t you noticed that every time you go to a car dealership, their principal objective is to convince you to get behind the wheel?
You can pretend that you are window shopping or just browsing, but when you are actually at the helm of a car (or boat, for that matter), the emotional part of your mind takes control. You start to imagine what life would be like if you owned the car.
Instead of just comparing horsepower, speed and RPM, you actually feel the power of the engine and how easy it is to handle. You stop comparing and start wanting. Once you start wanting, it is only a matter of time before you buy.
Have you ever been to the B&H photo store in NYC? It is the highest-selling photo & video store in America!
One of the main reasons B&H photo is so successful is simply because they let you try and touch each item. You feel the weight of the body and lenses, hear the sophisticated sounds of the shutter clicking, see the quality of the photos that come up on the screen, and just like that, you easily end up buying the camera right then and there.
Mirroring is a natural part of rapport building and bonding. When you are mirroring a person (unconsciously) it shows that you are interested in them.
The closer you are with someone (i.e. best friend) the closer you are physiologically, and the more you will mirror your friend without even knowing it. You often also mirror them verbally (tone, voice speed, words, rewording, etc.) or non-verbally (gesture, posture).
Be careful, avoid typical “monkey see monkey do” mirroring and only mirror neutral and positive body language.
11) Voice Tonality
We saw in the intro that voices and tonality count for 38% of our communication.
We often judge people on their voice tone. We decide whether to trust them or not based on the warmth, patience, and confidence that comes through in their voice.
“Voice matters — it’s what sells.”
This quote from John Daly (Communication Professor at the University of Texas) perfectly summarizes the importance of our voice in sales. I found it in a Wall Street Journal article called ‘Talk Is Cheap in Politics, but a Deep Voice Helps.’
According to Professor Daly, a deep voice connotes dominance, expertise, and competency while a high-pitched voice suggests nervousness, excitability, and sometimes even wackiness. In his book ‘Power Cues: The Subtle Science of Leading Groups, Persuading Others, and Maximizing Your Personal Impact‘, Nick Morgan goes into detail about the incredible and really surprising power of voice tonality.
We are all good at differentiating voices and can recognize hundreds of different voices from our friends, relatives, acquaintances, or even famous personalities. Every voice speaks at a pitch just like a note on a piano. And for the same pitch, you have a variation of “undertones” and “overtones”.
For instance, if I say “Come here” to a friendly little puppy that I see for the first time, and “COME HERE!” to my son that didn’t listen for the 5th time in a row, I will say the same words but use different variations of undertones and overtones.
Interestingly, it has recently been proven that when people get together in a room, we unconsciously select a leader based on the sounds of their voices within around the first 5 minutes.
For years, researchers thought that those undertones and overtones had no influence in our social dynamics except for the message they were conveying. However, it turns out what happens is we line up those undertones with the leader in the room and we do so within about 5 minutes. According to Nick, the perfect tonality would be ¾ on a scale from high to low tonality. (3/4 deep voice)
Just like the hand example earlier, it can be explained in an evolutionary sense. Imagine a group of cavemen that needed to pick out a leader very quickly if all of a sudden danger showed up at the front of the cave. Voice tonality was the ultimate way to identify a leader without any complexity. If you compare to current ranks, titles and education that we use nowadays, it is a very interesting way to think about leadership today.
A research team confirmed this again by studying the Obama / McCain 3 presidential debates. “In the first 2 debates, Obama matched his undertones to McCain and McCain was ahead in the polls. In the 3rd debate, about halfway through, Obama suddenly took over. His undertones suddenly became the leading ones and McCain switched and matched his to Obama’s. What’s interesting is the polls started to switch immediately after that 3rd debate.”
So in order to become a better leader or better salesman, you have to find your optimum undertone within your own personal range. Everybody has a different vocal range so there is a certain pitch you ought to be speaking in to be most authoritative. Now, of course, that does not mean that you speak at the same pitch the whole time. When I’m trying to be persuasive, I need to find the point at which it has those strongest undertones and it sounds most like a leader.
TIPS:
• Vocal variance – varied pace, cadence, and tempo will create more engagement and interest in a conversation.
• Emotionality – put emotional emphasis into your words.
• Show you’re listening: “uh-huh, yeah, okay, I see, I understand.”
• Show empathy and engagement: “please keep talking” “I am listening to you”
• Avoid punctuated words “uhs, ah, hmmm, etc.”. Voice researchers call these “disfluencies.” They make you sound unprepared or incompetent.
• Speak a bit faster than normal. You will be perceived as more competent, persuasive, and more likable. The average English speaker says around 125 to 150 words a minute, but your brain can easily assimilate 3 to 4 times more.
12) Body Language Tips To Help You Sell More
Now that we have a better understanding of overall body language best practices, I would like to share with you some tips that will also help you increase sales.
A) Enthusiasm:
Firstly, always be aware of how you’re standing. Remember that there is always somebody judging or watching you. We easily physically carry our problems, misery, stress, tension, etc. and the last thing we want is our prospects have a negative image of ourselves.
Always ask yourself “What message I am conveying to my customers?”
Remember that the way we judge a person’s character is influenced by our overall impression of them. Your overall impression of a person (“He is nice!”) impacts your evaluations of that person’s specific traits (“He is also smart!”). This cognitive bias is also called the Halo Effect.
A fascinating dating experiment was conducted to analyze the power of enthusiasm in our capacity to influence others.
A man was asked to introduce himself on video for a dating site. He used the exact same text for 2 different versions.
In the first version, he introduced himself with a neutral tone voice. In the second version, he used a more enthusiastic voice. Two groups of 5 girls were asked to review one of the videos and give their opinion on whether they would date him or not. On the neutral voice version, only 1 girl accepted to meet him for a date and on the enthusiastic version, all 5 girls agreed.
Remember these great quotes from Zig Ziglar:
“Sales is nothing more than a transfer of enthusiasm. “
“For every sale you miss because you are too enthusiastic, you will miss a hundred because you are not enthusiastic enough”
So always carry a positive attitude whatever the circumstances as enthusiasm in contagious!
B) The Importance Of Listening:
Salespeople are known to be poor listeners and participants of wishful hearing or selective hearing: auto-filtering the message and choosing to ignore the things you don’t want to hear (objections for instance).
A great salesperson needs to be a master communicator, which means talking AND listening. When I say listen, I mean really listen, don’t just pretending.
I will say this again: A boat salesman has 2 ears and one mouth, and your job is to communicate with your client by keeping the same ratio.
Always remember that SILENT is an anagram for LISTEN, so keep quiet and listen clearly to what your clients have to say. Listen doesn’t mean verbally, it also means have appropriate body language that shows care and empathy, lean or orient yourself towards the client, be open, mirror them. All those body language responses are part of active listening.
C) Body Language Sales Aides:
The objectives of all these sales tips are to make your clients feel comfortable. The more comfortable your client is, the more he or she will like you and the more you’ll be able to influence them. Make sure to do these:
• Always show the palm of your hands
• Maintain 60 to 70% eye contact
• Use expressive hand gestures (not too much)
• Smile
• Be & feel comfortable and open in your space
• Match your prospect’s body language (seating position, eye contact, posture, tonality, language, etc.)
• Small talk and schmoozing really works
• Ask a lot of questions (proven to increase interest and sales)
• Always be positive in your judgment to others (positive judgment always brings positive results)
• Mirror or find similarities (people like people who are like them)
• Identify and respond to non-verbal cues (Seeing and responding to non-verbal cues will help people feel valued and appreciated)
• Remember that it is all about how you make them feel (“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou)
• Always end on a positive note (will make recalling their entire experience better)
• Remember that confidence comes through over the phone
• Nods are contagious and spread good feelings. (Allan Pease, an Australian body language expert, states that if you nod your head as you ask a yes or no question or as you listen to responses, others will nod along and start to feel positive about what you are saying. Nod your head!)
• Show your engagement by aiming your top, torso, and toes towards a person
• Triple nod: people will feel listened too and will speak longer
D) Sensory branding: The power of the 5 senses in sales:
In his amazing book ‘Brainfluence, 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing ‘Roger Dooley emphasizes a lot on the importance to appeal to the 5 senses during the buying experience.
Sight: logo, product design, color, font, environment; Sound: music, product sounds; Taste: edible favors/gifts; Smell: environmental aroma, product aroma; Touch: product surface and shape, marketing materials, environmental surfaces.
When it comes to sensory branding, the ultimate champion is Starbucks. They built all their stores on an elaborate experience of the 5 senses and transformed a $1 commodity product (cup of coffee) into a $5 mini luxury experience.
• Warm drinks: besides warming people up, it makes for a more pleasant experience
• Scents (new scent, fresh scent): Pleasant and relevant sensory experiences have proven to increase sales. A study conducted by Nestle Nespresso showed that 60% of the sensory experience of drinking espresso comes from the retail environment. So what did they do? They modified the design of the home espresso-making system to release more aroma!
• Sounds: There is no single type of background music that works best in every retail environment. Play music based on your audience preferences. Music has been proven to increase sales during shopping experience. Have you ever heard of the Mercedes door-slam team (a group project to get the most appealing sound when the door gets closed)?
• Touch: A study conducted by Joann Peck & Suzanne Shu (The Effect of Mere Touch on Perceived Ownership) found that touching an object immediately improved both the level of perceived ownership and positive emotion (As previously mentioned). Big brands like Gucci or Apple understand this and make sure to offer the best tactile experience to their customers. Tip: Use Soft chairs or couches instead of hard wood/metal chairs (proven to have a positive effect on buying decisions)
• Taste: Having a conversation over a few drinks and food has long been a common practice for socializing and creating a comfortable environment amongst prospects and clients.
Final Words:
I hope that you have enjoyed these tips on body language and that they will help you to become a successful yacht broker. This is just a quick overview and there is so much more you can learn on this topic and I really encourage you to continue reading up about this.
Remember that the majority of our body language processing is done unconsciously. We often forget the immense power of our unconscious mind and how it influences our lives. Our unconscious mind can process up to 11 million operations per second while our conscious mind is able to treat 40 maximum.
For this reason, people will always judge you unconsciously on your body language and non-verbal behavior, that is why it is extremely important to master it.
Want More Powerful Boat Sales Tips Like These?
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To your success!
— Vincent Finetti
Founder & Instructor
Yacht Sales Academy
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