Deciphering your customer’s body language can offer important insights, according to a recent piece in Manage Smarter. It’s also kind of fun. According to the article, here are some ways to read a person’s physical cues:

• Nose or face scratch implies dislike.
• Head tilted to the side implies interest.
• Eye rub implies deceit.
• Hand or finger blocking the mouth implies lying.
• Thumb tucked under the chin with index finger pointing up on the cheek implies a critical attitude.
• Chin stroke implies making a decision.

But then the article goes on to discuss how to make the other person like you more, how to fool them into feeling more comfortable with you, so you can make the sale. Is it just me, or does that seem to cross the line from interpretation to manipulation?

For example, body language consultants and sales trainers always recommend you “mirror” your customer’s gestures and enthusiasm. If he’s quiet and introspective, you’re supposed to act that way too. If she’s enthusiastic and extroverted, do that. Pretending to be like them supposedly reinforces how similar the two of you are, and makes the prospect trust you — at least long enough to write the check.

Here’s my question: Is it just me, or does that sort of behavior seem phony and manipulative? Do you see it as a legitimate selling tool, or does it simply contribute to the epidemic of fakerey in the world? Doesn’t the world have enough phony smiles and artificial friendliness? (Not to mention fake boobs, facelifts and nose jobs?)

What’s wrong with being genuine? Be who you are. Be nice, but be genuine.

Let’s take the idea a step further. If the client smokes cigars, does this mean you should ignore the health risks and fire up a stogie, just to be like him? If he likes to get plastered at strip clubs then drunk-drive his car back to work, should you do the same?

Besides, how do you keep track of who you’re supposed to be today? Let’s see, I’m calling on Carl this morning, so I need to act dignified and proper. After lunch, I have an appointment with wacky Jackie so I’ve got to be joking and smoking. Wouldn’t the client or customer eventually notice — and wouldn’t that damage your image and credibility?

The more you pretend to be like different people, it seems to me, the farther you stray from your authentic self.

If you really must adopt someone else’s demeanor, why not a professional’s? Does your lawyer crack jokes in an attempt to make you like him? Does your doctor enter the examining room and mimic your posture and gestures? No — she listens to your symptoms and complaints, asks pertinent questions, makes a diagnosis and recommends a course of action. That seems like the right behavior for a sales professional to mimic.

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on the matter. Please leave your comments below.

Efficient and effective communication with clients and prospects is crucial. One place where many of us drop the ball is when leaving a voicemail. Seems simple, but many of us do it badly. And that’s deadly because it may mean the person doesn’t call you back promptly — if at all.

Author and Yahoo! Finance columnist Jim Citrin recently offered some tips on how to leave the perfect voicemail message. Among his advice:

• Be brief
• Be specific. Confine your message to a specific topic.

And most important (to me at least)

• Leave your contact information slowly and clearly.

“This sounds painfully obvious,” Citrin added, “but you’d be surprised by how many people rush through their phone number and email address so fast that you have to replay the message three times before you can understand them.” (Grrrr, don’t you hate that?)

I always (OK, I try to remember to) leave my name and number once at the very beginning of my message, then again twice (slowly) at the end. You may feel like an idiot saying it so s-l-o-w-l-y, but it might still be too fast for the busy person who’s listening while driving, scrambling to find a pen and paper, or in a noisy office.

Repeating the number is especially important if you’re calling to or from a cell phone, which is subject to frequent static and dropouts. By leaving it twice at the end, you’ll often save them the trouble of listening to the message again.

Speaking of musicians using their unpaid promotional appearances as “free samples,” here’s an interesting aside about music marketing.

From the record companies’ point of view, these unpaid appearances on television and radio programs are geared to promote the sale of their new CD. After all, the label gets to keep the bulk of the revenue from album sales. (A big chunk goes to the retailer, and a sliver goes to the artists, music publishers, etc.)

But the artists themselves are much more interested in plugging their upcoming live performances. Many fans don’t realize it, but most artists (even huge acts like the Rolling Stones) earn the vast majority of their income (like 80-90%!) from their live gigs, not from the sale of CDs. (Unless they have their own label, of course, which many artists now do.)

That’s why record labels are so freaked out about plunging CD sales — and why they’re absolutely rabid about “free” music downloads. Downloads bypass the record companies completely, cutting deep into their most important revenue stream: album sales. So it hits them right in the wallet. It’s killing their bottom line, and no one has figured out a way to recapture that revenue.

From the artist’s point of view, a CD could (almost) be considered a “sample.” The artist’s goal is to sell out their concerts, to “put fannies in the seats” as the saying goes. At $60-100+ per ticket, with the artists keeping a huge chunk of that revenue, it’s easy to see why top acts can earn hundreds of millions of dollars in a single tour.

That’s why most musicians are happy to get up at the crack of dawn to play a few tunes — for free — on Imus in the Morning or Today. Sure, they love to play. But it’s really another chance to stir up interest in their live gigs, by giving away another “free sample.”