Prospect: Hello?

Salesperson: Jeff?

Prospect: Yes, who’s speaking?

Prospect: Jeff it’s Mark, how’s things?

Prospect: umm…. Yeh good, do I know you?

Salesperson: To be honest.. No not really.. But don’t worry.. I’m not trying to sell you a phone plan or calling from an overseas call center, so we are off to a decent start

Prospect: Haha, Ok… Salesperson: I promise you what I’m calling about is ACTUALLY relevant to your business Jeff..

Prospect: Yes, ok, what do you do?

1) I’m initially disarming them by building rapport first over the fact they are likely getting a few scam calls a day, trying to get a laugh and brighten up their mood

2) I’m reminding them that I’m local, someone fimiliar, possible friend of a friend who knows?

3) I make them really curious at to what the hell I’m talking about. Over time, with experience, you kind of fit funny lines into your presentation, ones that have worked in the past(they actually laughed).

The above is an example of opening with humour. And just like comedy itself, timing, time and your personality all play a part with what you can actually get away with. You will benefit as a sales person if you are naturally funny it will open doors that other’s cannot crack and on volume create more conversations with more possibilities. Not to mention longer term, really solid relationships with customers where perhaps more is shared with you about them and their competition and referrals, etc. Being humerous will also mean that you are a good conversationalist, as sales people we are in a way putting on a performance, make it compelling. Passion is one way, and humour helps at certain places.

Like when I have someone on the phone and we have been talking for awhile, toward the end of the call I will say something like: “Hey Jeff, I’m just sending you a friend request on LinkedIn at the moment, so if you see a handsome Bald Man come through, with a youthful exhuberance and a baby face, dressed like a real estate agent, that’s me ok… Don’t worry, I’m alot more fun than my profile picture suggests, and I hate real estate agents…”

There’s another time in my script when I explain that one of my colleagues has a PhD in Occupational Health and safety, and I sell that credibility, but it is also an unusual study to have a PhD in, in a way, so it lightly poke fun at it by saying “He even has a PhD in OH & S, if you can believe THAT?” and the prospect will always laugh and say “Haha Yeh gez, he must be a fun guy to go to the pub with,” that then gives me the opportunity to further explain his excentricity, intelligence and the fact that he is actually quite personable but the “super nerd” that you WANT doing this job for you, who better? It also softens them up to the fact that he might not have the best people skills.

So I use humour alot.. To break the ice, to deflect, to buy time, to build rapport, humour demonstrates emotional intelligence. Also, often customers want someone who they can actually stand spending them with.