How important is a good sense of humour to your sales success? The answer to that lies in the old entertainment adage, “funny is money.”
That is not to imply that you should be loud, raucous, insensitive, bawdy or crude. What it does mean is that there is a place for humour that is appropriate and tasteful.
It also means that seeing humour in every day situations is essential if you are to maintain the positive, expectant attitude that successful salespeople must have. The following are some dos and donts to consider when using humour to sell.
DON’T
Use off-colour humour at any time either publicly or privately in a sales situation.
Use humour that is racist, gender biased or politically charged.
Tell jokes in a sales situation.
Get in the habit of sending suggestive, off-colour or inappropriate faxes, e-mails or cartoons to prospects or customers.
DO
Look for humour in every situation. No matter how bad something is, there is always a way to twist and turn it so that you can find some light-hearted nugget in it.
Learn what each of your prospects or customers find amusing, entertaining or funny. Then be on the lookout for appropriate news stories, relevant cartoons, greeting cards or ideas that tie into their personal sense of humour.
Don’t take yourself so seriously. Salespeople shouldn’t deal with themselves, their jobs, products or services in ways that make it seem as if they are dealing with nuclear fallout!
Find ways to insert humour and fun into as many situations as possible.
As children we would often find humour in the little things. But what happens to us? The weight of the world (we believe) comes down on us.
We feel the need to be “serious” about our careers, responsibilities and obligations. We get to the point that the burden forces us to become addicted to this seriousness of purpose…then we become cynical, negative and, eventually, even burn-out.
Joe DiMaggio was asked once why he was such a great baseball player. Not noted for long and involved responses, DiMaggio answered, “Because I never heard the umpire start the games by saying ‘Work Ball’!” And the Yankee Clipper was right.
You need to lighten up. Lighten up with yourself, co-workers, your job, prospects, customers, the way you conduct business and yes, the way you prospect, sell and service accounts.
Drudgery breeds a sense of hopelessness and despair. Humour fosters a sense of light-heartedness, expectation, creativity and fun. Which will you choose?
