It’s a simple tip, really. But so important. When you’re selling to women, make eye contact.
When women talk to each other, they stand face-to-face. They spend a lot of time looking at each other’s faces and making eye contact. It’s how they read each other’s body language and understand the nonverbal context of the conversation. It’s also one signal women give that “I’m paying attention to you.”
This conversational style doesn’t come naturally to men, who prefer to make occasional eye contact while mostly looking at a neutral object. It’s sort of like two guys sitting next to each other at a ballgame. Face-to-face interaction seems aggressive in male gender culture.
But if you’re selling to women, you need to understand and work within female gender culture. She wants you to look at her! And she wants to be able to look at you.
Benefits of Face-to-Face Interaction when Selling to Women
Here’s what happens when you look her in the eyes:
- She’s confident you’re listening to her
- She assumes you are interested in the conversation and that it’s important to you
- She feels like she can listen to you more effectively because she can read your body language
- She won’t be tempted to think you are daydreaming or distracted
Take a chance, look her in the eyes! She’ll notice. And she’ll appreciate it.