Who are they?
For the past 10 years, my personal passion, my books, my research and my advice to business owners have focused on one question: how can we connect smarter in today’s marketplace – with customers, employees, partners and other stakeholders?
I’ve traveled the world working with businesses – small and large – to reinvent the way they win sales, retain customers and improve engagement anytime, anywhere. Everywhere I went, the same questions kept coming up: How can I improve the way we connect with clients of different ages and working styles who rarely meet in person and communicate effectively? How can I make my teams feel connected to each other and to people on other teams? Why does it seem infinitely more difficult to foster the trust, commitment and confidence needed to take risks in a digital environment? And finally, why do my own communications so often seem to miss the mark, producing unintended and anxious consequences?
The more I worked with my clients to solve these problems, the more it became clear that they were caused by the very digital tools that had liberated us in many ways. Our inability to combat the communication-altering side effects of our shiny new digital tools – email, text messaging, PowerPoint, Zoom – has created widespread misunderstanding, wasted time and conflict, which in turn has had a impact on our activities.
Like a researcher, author and speakerI am committed to helping business leaders around the world rethink connection with digital body language in mind – a critical driver for winning sales and growing small businesses in our modern world.
Where does their passion for their subject and the research behind it come from?
When people ask me how I got started doing what I do, I tell them it’s a story that has lasted my entire life. As a first-generation American born to Indian parents, I came to English indirectly. I grew up in a middle class neighborhood outside of Pittsburgh. At home, my parents, both doctors who had immigrated to the United States in their twenties, spoke Hindi – and rarely English.
My mother and father both made it a high priority for my two siblings and I to uphold traditional Indian values and customs. Silence was a sign of respect for elders and listening was a valuable trait. Learning English, succeeding in school and almost everything else came second.
Caught between two cultures, I returned to myself. Often you would hardly know if I was in the room. At school I was shy, quiet – more of an observer than a participant. Raising a hand or drawing attention to myself was unimaginable to me. As a daughter oscillating between my parents’ heavily accented English and my bad Hindi and wanting to feel like I belonged somewhereI developed a few tricks, including the ability to read other people’s body language.
Body language offered the key to understanding the alien worlds around me. I became obsessed with decoding cues and cues from my classmates – however subtle; tone, rhythm, pauses and gestures. The popular girls walked around with their heads held high, their shoulders pulled back, almost literally looking down on us. Older children showed their disinterest by slouching during school assemblies, their eyes either on the floor or on each other – never at the talking adult.
As an immigrant learning traditional body language as a child, I realized that today we are all immigrants learning digital body language in the modern world. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed that business owners continue to struggle: endless sales calls, video chats full of “Oh no, you’re going” moments, ghosting, email responses. -mail that appear a week later and digital tools creating more misunderstandings. , anxiety and confusion.
It seemed that misunderstood “digital body language” – or rather the lack of a universally accepted set of rules – was creating big problems across the world: in businesses, communities and even families.
It started me on a journey. Over the past decade, I have sought to create a rulebook for clear communications in the modern digital world. Communicating what we really want to say today requires that we understand today’s cues and cues on a granular level while developing a heightened sensitivity to words, nuances, subtexts, humor and to punctuation.
Why this topic is essential for small business owners
Non-verbal cues make up 60-80% of face-to-face communication. Small business owners rely on body language to connect and build trust. But since most of our communication happens behind a screen, traditional body language cues are no longer visible. This is where digital body language becomes important.
Digital body language is all about knowing when to pick up the phone – that’s worth a thousand emails responding to them all. It sends quick recap emails summarizing key points and ideas and confirming next steps within 30 minutes of a meeting – which is like the new “virtual handshake”. Activate the best in our digital world to make meetings even better. For example, briefly engaging an existing customer in a sales pitch to a potential customer or showing short videos to enhance an on-screen meeting – it’s like the new virtual cocktail hour. And when you’re in that face-to-face meeting? – Turn on your phone, do not disturb it, so you don’t stare at your screen when a customer or employee tries to make eye contact with you.
Why they are thrilled to partner with Chase for Business
Imagine yourself after master digital body language: You can connect with prospects anytime, anywhere, closing deals and growing your organization’s revenue quickly and efficiently.
My goal is to help small business owners improve their digital body language to win sales, build customer loyalty, and drive engagement in our 21st market of the century. Giving you the tools you need to lead with more skill and confidence and less stress and frustration, this content will help you build relationships anytime, anywhere, in any part of the world. world.
Digital body language is the key to success in today’s market for a small business owner. I look forward to collaborating with Bargain hunting to reach customers across the United States.
For more information, please see my LinkedIn, Twitterand instagram!
Erica talks to the Business Vision Seminar events across the country throughout 2022. To hear Erica speak, register here at an upcoming event.
For Informational/Educational Purposes Only: The opinions expressed in this article may differ from those of other employees and departments of JPMorgan Chase & Co. The opinions and strategies described may not be appropriate for everyone and may are not intended to constitute specific advice/recommendations for any individual. . The information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but JPMorgan Chase & Co. or its affiliates and/or subsidiaries do not warrant its completeness or accuracy. You should carefully consider your needs and goals before making any decisions and consult with the appropriate professional(s). Prospects and past performance are not indicative of future results.
You should carefully consider your needs and goals before making any decisions and consult with the appropriate professional(s).
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