Of course you know how important your spiel really is to your success.

And of course, everyone else knows that you know that. But more importantly, it’s how you present yourself that often helps close the sale or close the door.

I’m not talking about your presentation materials - the slides, overheads, brochures and all the rest of your sales aides. While they definitely play a role in the scenario, what I’m really talking about is you – most specifically, your communications skills.

Many of us have been lead to believe that what we say is the most important part of the sales pitch. Sure, the words are important, but two other key factors play a critical role. Our body language and our tonality are often higher in the hierarchy of communications skills in sales, as in life, than just the words.

All too often a salesperson will drone on discussing the features and benefits of their products or services, or continue to repeat themselves or make small talk without realizing that they lost their prospect’s attention. Sometimes a salesperson will lose out the moment he or she enters the meeting.

How you walk, stand, sit, lean, gesture as well as the tone and volume of your voice, speech rate and other factors help determine whether or not you can establish a meaningful unspoken bond with your prospect or client.

Scientific studies in the field of neurolinguistic programming illustrate the fact that fifty-eight percent of communication comes from body language, thirty-five percent from tonality while only seven percent comes from the words we use.

If you know everything about your product but your body language is overbearing to your prospect and the tone of your voice makes him or her want to wear ear muffs, then you might as well fold up the tent and go home!

The secret to knowing what body language and tone of voice to use is to watch your prospect.

Generally people feel most comfortable with and like others who are a reflection of themselves. So logic tells us that when you’re in the presence of your prospect act like them.

Reflecting the pace, tone and other aspects of their voice, as well as the posture and movements of their body adds a certain subconscious rapport. But keep in mind that this “mirroring” behavior is not merely a mime act.

It’s important to note that once you fully understand the value of reading others, this matching aspect of communication will become second nature. As a matter of fact everyone does it to some degree in our daily interactions anyway.

Think about the time you had a conversation with someone and realized that both of you were in the same position, using the same gestures and tone of voice. You both may have been sitting in chairs, slightly leaning backwards, hands behind your heads, easily talking about an interesting topic. How easy and comfortable that conversation was!

Now think about using that same technique as part of your daily sales routine.

Once you do that ease and rapport will comfortably lead to more sales! Try it!

Dan Goldberg, MBA, is President of Dan Goldberg Consulting L.L.C. a training, coaching and business development firm located in the Philadelphia, PA area. He is the founder and former owner of "For Eyes" the highly successful international optical company and an internationally recognized keynote speaker. Dan is the author of the book "Stand Back A Second, Just don't fall off the edge," and of "The Six Steps To Solid Sales Success" and "The Seven Elements Of Successful Management" programs. He is Executive-In-Residence at Kutztown University and has been the subject of stories in Newsweek, Business Week, Playboy, Successful Business, Investor’s Business Daily, major newspapers in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston, Baltimore, Miami, San Francisco, Oakland, St. Louis, Chicago, Los Angeles and many other national and local publications. In addition, Dan has appeared on Good Morning America and other national and local television and radio programs. You can contact him at dg@dangoldberg.com, visit his website at http://www.dangoldberg.com or reach him at (215) 233-5352