When I was interning at a SaaS startup, I visited the India Habitat Center (IHC) in New Delhi with two of my colleagues to meet a potential client.
There, we were supposed to negotiate the license fee for our software and clear any doubts that the representatives from that company might be having.
One of them was the person (let’s call him Sidharth) with whom we’d had our initial discussion on phone, and the other person, as he said, was his “colleague.”
Was he the main decision maker? Or was he at the same level and we’d again have to explain our terms to a third person? Or was he a junior who was perhaps more technically knowledgeable?
We didn’t know.
And for some reason, Sidharth was not interested in revealing that.
Ten minutes into the meeting, however, even without exchanging a word, we knew exactly whom we were dealing with.
When we sat at the round table, Sidharth took his place right next to his colleague. That was the first mistake he made.
It was a mistake because whenever he tried to exchange a glance with the latter, we noticed it.
He could have done that without making it so obvious had he been sitting on the opposite side or a little farther away.
His second mistake was to look at his teammate immediately after asking his unnecessary questions, without even waiting for our answer.
It was a clear indication for checking if this other person was impressed by his questions or not.
We were a bit frustrated by his queries, and most likely his colleague was too. In the middle of one of Sidharth’s sentences, his partner started looking at our brochure, like a father who hides behind the newspaper so that his son keeps quiet.
It was clear: this colleague was his boss, the main guy, the final approver.
After so many giveaways, my teammates started looking only at him while addressing their points, making Sidharth completely lose control of the meeting.
Understand: The boss hadn’t made himself more important, Sidharth had made himself weak.
Powerful people often reveal their authority by keeping quiet and making it difficult to read their thoughts on their face.
Those who want to come across as important, however, often speak more than required in an attempt to command attention.
The more they speak, the more they appear out of control. The more they speak, the more likely they are to say something foolish.
If you want to come across as more grand than you are, a straightforward way is to keep control over your tongue and body language.
The more bland you appear, the more difficult it is for people to read you. This uncertainty intimidates, which in turn, makes one command greater authority.
We were able to close that deal because we pointed out all the benefits that a boss might want at his company, like 360-degree KPIs of individuals and teams with just a few clicks.
All thanks, of course, to Sidharth’s giveaways.