Tourism Business as the World’s Largest Industry and Employer

Body Language Gestures and Sales

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  Negative evaluation: touching the nose or scratching it is called “the negative evaluation gesture”; when someone takes it that means that he didn’t like what he just heard. If for example, you told your customer that a trip costs 1000 USD and at the same moment he took this gesture, be sure that he didn’t like the price. Talking further about the price will definitely result in losing the sale, so instead talk about the excellent time and rest he will get. Whenever you see this gesture while talking change the point you are talking about and shift to another one.
  
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  Positive evaluation: positive evaluation is the opposite of negative evaluation, it happens when the person likes what he is hearing. The gesture can take many forms like rubbing his eye brows, scratching them, scratching the part of the forehead just above the eyebrows or pushing his glasses back in place. If you told your customer that a trip is worth 1000 USD then he took the positive evaluation gesture, make sure that he liked the price. Before leaving, tell him that he won’t find such a price anywhere and this will really impress him because this is already his opinion.
  
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  The defensive position: this is the most famous body language gesture; it is recognized by folding the arms and is sometimes accompanied by crossing the legs. The defensive position is taken when the person becomes offended and when he is not comfortable (you should use common sense to differentiate between both cases). Whenever someone takes the defensive position while talking try to be more flexible.
  
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  Tilted head: a tilted head means that the person is interested in what he is listening to. If your customer was tilting his head while listening to you then keep talking because he is already interested.
  
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  Confidence: clasping hands behind the back or in front of the body reflects confidence. If the customer took any of these confidence positions while talking to him, know that he knows a lot about what you are talking about so the debate may not be on your side, change the topic or the point you are talking about until he releases his hands again.
  
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  Orientation: if you found that the customer is not facing you directly (his shoulders are not parallel to yours) then he may want to leave or he may be in a hurry.
  
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