Can you move a little faster?

During a recent trip to one of those home decoration-type stores, my wife identified a product on the top shelf that she wanted. After searching for five minutes, we finally found an employee that we could ask for help. She was restocking shelves, and we approached and asked her if she could help. With a heavy sigh, she looked at us like we were an inconvenience and an interruption in her day and asked: "What do you need?" My wife explained the product she was interested in, and asked where it was in the store. The employee said, "Okay, I'll be right there."

Ten minutes later, she came shuffling down the aisle with the rolling ladder. She maintained that "why are you asking me to help you?" look on her face, and frankly, a snail would have moved faster through the store.

Do your customers feel like an inconvenience? If they do, you're in trouble. Clients and prospects must feel valued, appreciated and welcomed when they do business with you. In our Sales Essentials class, we share the three nonverbals that you should always be exuding in every client interaction. We call them nonverbals because it's not what you say, it's how you carry yourself; it's the things you don't say. It is your body language — smile or no smile… you get the idea. The three nonverbals are:

Joy — This is different from superficial happiness; it's a deep sense of purpose.

Confidence — Not arrogance, but a quiet confidence that you know what you're doing and you're good at it.

Passion — Simply put, you love what you're doing, and it shows. It shows in how fast you walk to greet the customer; it shows in the smile on your face, etc.

The young lady we encountered at the store showed none of those. She walked very slowly, she had a scowl on her face and treated us like we were an inconvenience. Needless to say, that will not be our first choice of stores when we are shopping again.

If someone were to ask your best clients about you, would they use terms like joy, confidence and passion? The thing about the three nonverbals is they are choices you make every day. You have the power to positively influence and inspire your clients and prospects with your nonverbal communications. A smile, a sense of urgency, confidence and passion, or the little purple donkey from Winnie the Pooh — Eeyore — the choice is yours.

Jeff Schmidt is SVP-Professional Development at the Radio Advertising Bureau. You can reach Jeff at jeff.Schmidt@Rab.com or follow him on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn.