Sales can sometimes be a very stressful and serious subject in business. No company wants to buy a product it cannot take seriously, and no salesperson wants their product to be dismissed as a joke. Yet in sales, establishing a personal relationship with the client is essential, and sometimes a little humor can go a long way in relaxing the client and easing tension. In an article based on a book by Gray, Parkinson, and Dunbar, several tips for introducing humor into sales are presented.
First is a technique they call “throwing in the frog.” At an expensive art auction in 1981, the auctioneer casually added “and I’ll throw in a pet frog.” This humorous tag line resulted in some laughs and relaxation from the bidders, which actually led to higher sales.
Next, self-awareness of the product can be humorous when applied well. For airlines, using the phrase “May Contain Nuts” is a self-aware reference to the in-flight snacks served on many commercial airplanes. Such jokes can put the client at ease and increase their trust in the salesperson.
Finally, there is some danger in incorporating humor into a sales. At Disney World, there is a saying: “don’t knock the mouse.” In other words, no matter how enthusiastic you may be about your product or the sales pitch, do not speak badly about the product itself. By doing so, the client will get the sense that even the salesperson isn’t confident in his product and will be much less likely to trust the sale.
Overall, while humor can be a good way to diffuse tension and relax the sales conversation, it can also be dangerous if it decreases the reliability or trustworthiness of the product or salesperson.
BoweryJE22
Its good to be serious in sales, but at the same time you want to keep it chill almost. Great Article!
Great post! I agree humor in sales can be used to break the tension and I believe it can be used very effectively. Although it is good to use sometimes, you never want your product to be perceived as a joke.
I thought this was an interesting post that is not thought about nearly as often in a sales conversation than it should be. I do agree that the wrong type of humor in a sales conversation can lead to the wrong perceptions, but at the same time, using humor in the ways defined above, it can be extremely beneficial to making a relationship with a buyer.
I love humor, and the way that I speak conversationally is almost always in a humorous capacity, so taking the time to consider how humor fits into sales is important for my own personal benefit. Even though I normally like to wing things, having a game plan as to how to effectively introduce humor into my sales pitch would be a good thing to look out for.