Selling is about Guts & Humor

March 7th, 2011

It may be difficult to remember this when you just had your 10^th “No,” or when the biggest deal in your pipeline falls through but think about it… using some guts and a little old fashioned humor can help in many ways.

First the obvious: sales is stressful so using a little humor can make it fun for you. The prospect is probably not making you laugh so make yourself laugh. Also think about it this way…you are already interrupting the individual’s day when you call or stop by, so you might as well make them laugh and get noticed. You might even get lucky and be able to learn more about the type of person you are calling on be using a little humor—do they laugh, ignore it, etc.? This way you can adapt to fit their communication style.

When it comes to having guts and being nervous about calling a prospect out or being afraid to ask a tough question, think about what you have to lose? NOTHING! You can’t lose something you don’t already have, so you might as well be gutsy. Wouldn’t you rather practice on a prospect that is going nowhere? And, believe it or not it is those gutsy moves that will get you noticed. There are times when we challenge our prospects in the correct manner they actually do the opposite of get upset—they end up respecting you more.

So some ideas if you dare: be honest when cold calling. Tell the prospect you hate making the calls probably more than they hate receiving them. Joke about them having to call the police because you have left so many voicemail messages, and they are scared of you. Send an e-mail with a pattern interrupt of Sales Call in the subject line! You might as well state the obvious, and by doing so guess what they will read it? My favorite call ever was one that ended on the note that it was the weirdest sales call ever. Some might be embarrassed or worried about what that meant, but I wore it as a badge of honor. I stood out by using guts and humor and eventually gained a new client.

Karen Casey

Related Posts

• What Kind of Leader are You?
• Real Sales Pain or Just an Indicator
• Sandler Sales Training Indiana

Read the Story