Body language in business

Being an entrepreneur is something almost everyone wants to fulfill. Problem starts when you have to grow your team and then also manage it. Understanding and accepting one thing will help you, people would keep on joining and leaving you. So, like it or not, you have to deal with people.

 There are many areas to look upon when it comes to managing your business. Two of the important fields are managing your team as well as client retention. The work becomes easier if you have the knowledge of non-verbal communication, in other term, if you have a fair idea about body language reading and decoding. 

So, let us divide it into two parts, and have a bird’s eye view on it. 

1. Recruitment: In fact some people think, it is the only thing done by the head. So, when you go to recruit people, there is a list of skills, to be present in the candidate.

 Most of the heads have agreed that maximum part of the resume is lie. So, which part is a lie, do you know it ? Very simple, ask the candidate to tell “something” about him/her. Now here is the twist, ask him/her only about the job or the skill that you require. Around 60% lie during the interview, a research finding. The remaining 40% is where you should be putting your concentration. But the problem is you don’t know, which is the 40, which is the 60? 

Well, look for the body language cues like Self soothing gestures, extra mouth movements, sudden uncomfortable gestures, or even nervousness. If there is a total nervousness during the interview, then you can still give him/her a benefit of doubt, thinking a person might be nervous during a job interview. 

2. Honesty & Loyalty: The head of the company is also responsible for mapping the honesty and loyalty of the company employees. The true emotion and expression can help you solve many problems. You just need to know, how to talk to the person to make them open up. 

Imagine the scene, where you could catch the hidden feeling  of the victim or the culprit. Wouldn’t that save you from a lot of things? 

There have been cases when a small argument with the boss had created big problems, leading to altercation to fight to even death in few cases. Therefore, by becoming more aware of body language and understanding, what it might mean, you can learn to read people more easily. This puts you in a better position to communicate effectively with them. What’s more, by increasing your understanding of others, you can also become more aware of the messages that you convey to them. 

1. Rapport Building: The most important factor for the company is to retain the client, and the foundation of which lies on rapport building. It is being said if the person likes the employee, the person will most likely be converting into a client. So, the objective should be making your employees your brand advocate. How to do that. It is very easy, follow Richard Bronson’s thought,” Treat your employees , how you want to be treated”. 

When a happy employee interacts with your potential client then most likely he/she will be making them feel positive about your company too. It usually takes 3 minutes to build a rapport , if the person is open to interact. And client interaction is a step we mostly overlook. 

So, quick tip for rapport building, let your client do the talking, and be an active listener. Ask open ended question with slight probing. And listen to understand , not to make another question. 

2. Be energized. Always: Now, when I say, be energised I don’t mean to shout on loud voice or pounce on your clients, but to be ready to explain about your product/services with the same amount of energy as you would have done in a million dollar business pitching. The way you sound or behave when talking about your business may make or break the deal. And we still believe the best way of advertising is word of mouth, specially, if your client handling is fantastic. 

So, there are few things to notice about your way of speaking , especially when you are talking about your business. 

a). Posture: Your posture should be straight and firm, so that your launch stance looks confident enough. 

b). Smile: There has to be a maintained smile , do not be confused with forced smile. When you tend to force a smile, it looks pathetic. So, the smile has to be real. 

c). Voice & Words: Pay attention to the voice clarity and do not use the jargons while talking to your prospective clients. For eg. If I say,” People should take care of the Proxemics” I don’t know, how many people would get it, so, I should better say, “ People should not invade other people’s personal space. Using the jargons in your business, might make you sound like an expert, but it will not make others understand that what exactly do you want to say. 

d). Energy: You should not sound or act as you are so bored of talking about your business for 1millionth time. It should always sound and seen as if it is the first time that you are speaking about your business. 

These two fields are very important when it comes to business. And knowledge of Body Language give you an added advantage to manage these things. So, next time if you are about to recruit someone or you are meeting another future client of yours, pay attention to the above points and save money, save time and save energy.