I had spent my 10 days of holiday at HCM and Hoi An, Vietnam. The selling behaviours from the Vietnam sellers have demonstrated the importance of non-verbal communication skills.

As you may have recalled, we know that “93% of effective communication comes from what you hear, see or feel and 7% from listening to words”. The Vietnam sellers, especially those with limited English vocabulary, have convinced most prospective customers into buying with the use of tone, voice, and facial expression.

The street peddlers were extremely good at spotting the customers from the crowd  through eye contacts. I recalled being at the street cafe, and the peddles were holding 20-30 balloons of different Disney characters.  They could sense I was already drawn by the balloons from a distance and started communicating with me through the cafe window, trying to persuade me into buying.

Majority of whom I came across, have used the same technique, eye contacts with the customers, followed by gestures and facial expression.

So, a reminder of what we have shared in the workshop, “Non-verbal messages complement and strengthen the verbal messages” and “how you say it and what you do not say’ could help you to close the sales, leave impressive customer interactions for new business opportunities and better relationships.