Laughing All the Way to the Bank

Everyone enjoys a good laugh. Laughter lightens the spirit and gives us a more positive outlook. Furthermore, we tend to find the person who made us laugh instantly likeable. All of which suggests that if you can get a prospect to laugh, you’re that much closer to getting him to buy. “Humor is a great avenue through which you differentiate yourself from the horde of other bland, boring salespeople,” says Dave Anderson, president of Dave Anderson’s Learn to Lead (www.learntolead.com) and author of the new book, How to Deal With Difficult Customers (John Wiley & Sons, 2007). Still, we all know the appropriate use of humor is no easy feat. It takes “creativity and finesse,” says Anderson, who identifies the following instances when humor can turn around a sale.

1. When you’ve made a mistake. No one likes to make mistakes. Spilling a drink, forgetting a prospect’s name, giving a prospect wrong information – all can feel like you’re just going to go downhill from there. But humor can turn that mistake into an asset that helps you close the sale. For instance, say you told a prospect something that turns out to be wrong. After correcting the information, you could say something like, “Boy, I should visit a mind reader after our meeting because I’d probably be charged half price!” This type of self-deprecation “resonates with others” and makes even the toughest prospect “cut you some slack and puts him or her on your side,” says Anderson.

2. When the customer says no. With humor and a little probing, you can ultimately move the no to a yes. Anderson suggests saying something like, “Bob, it’s good to hear you say, ‘no.’ I just got back from a sales class that taught me 80 percent of sales are made after five ‘no’s. So if we can find four other things for you to say ‘no’ to, we ought to be pretty close to making the deal.” From there, you’ll have some leeway to probe into the objection a little more deeply, which can give you the ammunition to turn around the sale.

3. When dealing with complaints. When a prospect is angry or otherwise emotionally charged, he’ll go over the edge if you say something like, “It’s not my fault,” or, “You’ll need to contact so-and-so.” Instead, offer an “I’m sorry this happened,” acknowledge that the situation must be pretty frustrating, and then drop a line to make them laugh: “Thank you for calling me yourself and not sending Tony Soprano to break my legs.” Then immediately move toward a solution: “Let’s see what we can do to fix this right away.”

4. When you follow up with prospects and customers. When you send a fax, don’t use the standard boring cover sheet. Instead, write something funny on the cover sheet or include a relevant cartoon about annoying faxes. Anderson says you’ll get comments, laughs, and be remembered. Use humor in your voice mails, as well. Come up with something lighthearted and different and you’ll not only stand out from the crowd of salespeople, you’ll be more likely to get your call returned. Anderson gives this example: “Mr. Jones, this is Dave Anderson, and I’m sure you’re busy but I knew you would probably be horribly disappointed if I didn’t call you back right away and try to get another appointment for you to look at our product. Please call me at 555-1234 so I know that you know I’m still thinking of you and want your business more than anyone else in the business.” As you leave your message try to strike the right balance of sincerity and levity.