Mimicry in Sales: A God Given Gift

We’ve talked about mimicry in class before. This is the act of copying another person’s movements/mannerisms. In a sales conversation, mimicry is used to help relive tension and make potential clients more comfortable, less anxious or stressed. You’re trying to shift the environment to something they’re more comfortable with. Pink talks about the three steps, Watch, Wait, and Wane.

Watch: simple observation. You can do this simply meeting the person or while having a conversation. You want to be looking for characteristics and traits of the other person.

Wait: Take your time! Don’t immediately do the movement of the other person. We want this to flow naturally, not make it look like some “salesperson trick”.

Wane: Try to truly let things flow naturally. eventually, you’ll find yourself mimicking naturally. At first, you might have to be very particular with how you mimic, but in the wane phase, try to let that go a bit, and be reflective on your actions.

I want to focus on the “Wane” section. What does it mean to mimic naturally? Well, we all actually mimic at birth. In our brains, there are neurons specifically dedicated to mimicry, known as “mirror neurons”. These neurons are fired both when you observe an action and when you do said action.  Some scientists believe that they are used to help us learn basic actions as infants, others believe it has to do with Empathy. Others think it has a social role to play, in helping us understand what others do and to help us survive. Through all of this, we see how useful the mirror neuron is for a salesperson. We ebb and flow through mimicry because it is a God given gift, to help humans better understand each other.