When it comes to eye contact on video calls, do you expect your customer to make excuses for you?
I was speaking to a salesperson the other day, and he said, “Julie, I just don’t think it’s that important that I try to make eye contact with the camera or try to behave in any way differently in front of it than I do in person”.
Out of curiosity, I asked, “Why is that?”
His response, “Well, my customer knows that if I’m not looking at them, that I’m probably looking at their image on my screen”.
That is interesting, but do they?
This salesperson was doing something that is very common and very dangerous: expecting their customer to assign the highest and best possible reason to their behavior. That is wishful thinking in sales. While your mother might excuse your behavior, it’s unlikely that a customer — or certainly a new prospect — would assign the highest motives to your behavior.
Now your customer might possibly think – on a logical basis – that you are looking at their imageon your screen, emotionally, they are likely to feel as if you are inattentive, disconnected, or distracted. They will most certainly not feel as seen and heard as if they would if you were looking into their eyes through the camera, and you will not reap all the benefits of making direct eye contact with them. Here’s why:
Relationships are built on emotion, not logic.
Assigning these excuses to your behavior simply because it’s difficult to change only gives you a sense of false hope and comfort. So I encourage you to consider what excuses you may be making for your behavior virtually.
Stop relying on customers to make excuses for you and take charge of your virtual presence. If you struggle to make eye contact on camera, check out this article and pick up a copy of Look Me in the Eye where I break down the entire process of how to make eye contact and read body language on video for you.
How to make eye contact on video is just one of the skills you’ll learn in my new book that won the Gold Medal Top Sales book of 2021, Look Me In The Eye Using Video to Build Relationships with Customers, Partners and Teams. Feel free to check it out if you’re looking for more tips on how to engage customers and drive more sales on video. Get your copy today on Amazon!
