Episode 42 - Can Your Prospects Tell If You're "Full Of It?"

You've met these people before.  The kind of person who has it all together.  They're dressed right.  They know how to talk and they seem very knowledgable.  But something just isn't right.  On this episode, Kurt and Steve talk about "gut instinct" and to what extent our prospecs can tell if we're "full of it" or not.  In this week's "geeky article moment brought to you by Kurt", we learn that "gut instinct" is actually real and a lot more literal than we ever thought.  According to a study by the University of Zurich, mamals have a nerve connecting the brain and the stomach.  When the brain is uneasy about something, it sends a message to the stomach to create that uneasy feeling that we've all experienced.  In a study done with rats (yep, rats), those with a severed nerve behaved more recklessly than others. The bottom line is, the stomach has a say in our decisions!

This leads into this episodes core topic: congruence.  Congruence is that subconcious connection between what somebody is saying and what they're doing.  Our subconcious mind picks up on little micro expressions, different words, and different actions.  This ulitmately creates the difference between the message you think you're saying and what your prospect is actually hearing.  You could be passing out $100 dollar bills on a street corner...for free...but if you're not congruent people will sense it. 

What do we do when we're not confident or congruent when it comes to our product?  How do we fix that?  It comes down to doing what you say and using the correct "non verbal" behavior.  Avoid touching your face or covering your mouth.  Avoid leaning back in your chair.  Make sure the level of your eye contact is natural.  Those who are being deceptive tend to make very little eye contact or too much.  Make sure your feet and shoulders are square.  When the subconcious mind isn't okay (or doesn't believe in) what you're saying or doing, your feet and shoulders tend to point away from your prospect.  If you think your prospect's subconsious mind doens't pick up on this you are sadly mistaken!