Whose Sale is it anyway?

Sometimes thinking about improvisation is kind of scary. Having to think so quickly on your feet? How do the guys from Saturday Night Live and Whose Line pull it off so well? (And not to mention make it funny at the same time). Luckily, as a salesperson you are not necessarily trying to make a person laugh until they cry or really at all for that matter, but believe it or not improv has its place in selling. Interesting how selling used to be forced to be scripted. Think about old time salesmen trying to sell their corky products- every word that came out their mouths had been practiced ahead of time and they knew exactly the lines to say if someone accepted or rejected their product. While this isn’t really a think anymore, except for maybe telemarketers, it is important for us salespeople to learn how to think on our feet and be ready to respond to any situation!

We aren’t left to figure this out blindly. There are a couple rules or “tips” that should be followed when improvising in a selling process. The first of these is to “Hear offers”. This simply is tied to concepts of attunement and listening. In order to be able to have a conversation on your feet with your prospect- you have to hear them out. You need to know what they are desiring, what their pain is, and what their problem is- if they even know that at all. By asking good questions and then listening to the answers- you will go far. So many people simply want to be heard when they are having a problem and you will get so much information if you ask the right type of questions. A second tip or question is, Say “Yes, and…” So often people are used to hearing the false hope of, “Yes! But…” usually resulting in a negative feeling. Instead of the “but”, switch it out with “and” and not only will this sound more positive, but it will sound like there are even more opportunities than originally presented. The last rule of improvisation is, make your partner look good! This is what this style is all about. The minute you say no or reject their idea- the game is over. You want to do everything you can to make your customer look good, and in this way, you are in a win-win scenario with your prospect as they are feeling good, and you might be getting a sale!

These simple rules can help you become a master improve artist before you know it. Maybe not good enough for TV, but if it works for your customers- that is all you need.