"It's not about products and price. It's about your ability to create trust and rapport," said John Boe in a presentation here.
The "it," in this case, is successful business relationships and sales.
Sales reps and business owners will not find success in approaching customers logically, said Boe, who, as a professional profiler, has expertise in body language and temperament styles.
Rather, "you do it emotionally," he said.
"No trust or rapport equals no sale or referrals," said the owner and principal of John Boe International, Monterey, Calif. He was speaking at a breakout session during the 25th annual meeting of the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies, Fairfax, Va., held earlier this month.
To increase sales, reps should become more aware of their own temperaments and those of their customers, Boe contended.
Research shows there are 4 primary temperaments, or buying styles, he said. These are aggressive, expressive, passive, and analytical.
Often, a person's physical features reveal these temperaments, he said. To illustrate, he repeatedly singled out people in the audience and then described what he believed to be their temperamental characteristics, based on physical attributes alone. None of those singled out objected to his analysis.
Boe insisted reps can learn to do similar assessments when they meet with prospects, and then adjust their presentations and closings accordingly.
Responsiveness to body language and temperament helps build trust and rapport, he maintained, explaining that people want to be treated based on who they are. For instance, "you don't treat an extrovert the same way as an introvert," he said.
Insurance company sales training programs don't include training to read body language, said Boe, who was an agent himself for 13 years. "But you can secure a commission, or lose it, in a few minutes (depending on how this goes). It's your choice."
Introverts tend to get charged up by spending time alone, while extroverts get charged up when around a lot of people, he pointed out. "There is no need for you to pull the introvert out of a shell," he advised. "Just realize how they are."
So, if a customer needs time to think, give the person some time to think.
