Many of us in sales have been taught about matching and mirroring someone’s body posture tonality and body language, facial expressions, speed of communications and even tone of voice. The theory is that people like to do business with people like them, and by matching and mirroring we can create rapport.
Matching and mirroring without the final step does not work.
It’s not enough to just get in sync in the sales environment, we often need to shift the energy of the meeting.
Matching and mirroring is only the first part, successful salespeople match pace and then lead. They pick up their tempo to bring up the energy in the meeting. When two people are in rapport they unconsciously will shift their physiology to stay in rapport. Physiology shifts have been scientifically proven to shift our mood and chemistry. If we just match, our client will stay where they’re at. We need to match pace and then lead in our communications, both verbally and non-verbally to succeed.
In this TikTok video Shane Gibson, keynote sales speaker and author talks about the final step in the match => mirror => pace => lead formula:
@shanegibsonlive We have all been to a seminar where we are taught matching a mirroring prospect body language as a way to gain rapport and influence. But does it really work? Sort of. #rapport #nlptechniques #salestips ♬ original sound – Shane Gibson
