Selling Yourself with Wit

“Have you heard the one about the traveling salesman?”

How do you react to the above line? Do you groan because you’ve heard a thousand traveling salesman jokes? Do you cringe in anticipation of the expected slur against your profession? Do you feel sorry for all the deprived farmers’ sons who never in their whole lives heard a story about the traveling saleswoman? Would you like to hear one?

Well, it seems there was a traveling saleswoman who was stranded out in the country with no place to sleep. So she knocked on the door of the first available farmhouse and the farmer answered the door and said, “What can I do for you?” She said, “You can put me up for the night.” The farmer said, “Certainly, if you don’t mind spending the night with my son.” The saleswoman gasped, “Oh gosh, I’m in the wrong joke but in the right house.”

I bet your reaction to that one ranges from boredom, to amusement, to outrage, depending on your sense of humor, your mood, or your sex.

People are attracted to humor, their own and others’. Anecdotes, stories, jokes and spontaneous wit usually get a favorable reaction – if they’re funny. That’s because humor makes us feel good. It breaks down barriers and helps unite people, if only for a laugh or two. Besides that, it generates good feelings, camaraderie and trust.

For humor to work, it has to be on target for the time, the place and mood of the recipient. It has to be relevant to the product and the situation. Humor can open the door and close the sale. It can enhance credibility and ease tension. It can convey your message, or mess it up, depending on your skill.

Let’s take a look at humor, see what it is and how you can use it…to your advantage.

Develop a Style

As a salesperson, you probably have your own selling style. It’s based on your personality, regardless of the content of your sales presentation or your product. So it is with humor: It has to fit you like a second skin. It has to be your comedic identity, your point of view. Your uniqueness determines your individual style of delivery, not to mention your choice of material. If you’re a satirist, be one. If you love to do topical stories, do them. If you’re a clown, join the circus. In other words, know your own style of humor. Develop it, study it and practice it.

Planned vs. Spontaneous

If you decide to add a little spice to your sales strategy, consider two approaches: planned humor and spontaneous humor. Unless you’re a natural wit it’s best to plan ahead. Effective ad-libs should be painstakingly prepared in advance, then put on a back-burner of your mind and allowed to bubble over onto your tongue when the temperature is just right.

Practice, practice, practice. Your stories, anecdotes and jokes should be firmly entrenched in your consciousness that any situation you encounter will trigger a response to bedazzle your client. This puts you in control, gives you the power to take a given situation and use it to amuse – all to your benefit.

If you can think fast on your feet and the situation lends itself to on-the-spot repartee, forget the practicing and go on with the joke. A story from my own experience is a good example of fast-talking my way out of an embarrassing situation.

I was trying to sell a column on public speaking to the editor of a local newspaper in my home town. Not only was the editor tall, dark and handsome, but he was also tough, cerebral and imposing. Well, picture me in my best Guccis with my chin up, my tummy tucked in and my heels clicking rhythmically. When I got to within six feet of his desk, my new Guccis slipped, and I went down on my derriere and slid across the remaining space, stopped only by the desk that loomed above me like some monstrous steel and wood skyscraper.

Peering down at me from behind his desk, dumbfounded, was this tall, dark and gorgeous editor. I had lost my stage presence, I’ll admit, but I still had some of my presence of mind left. And without missing a beat, I said, “Well, I was hoping you’d fall for me.” He burst into laughter.

The good news is, I got a date. The bad news is, he didn’t like my column. Incidentally, that proves my point: Humor isn’t the end-all and be-all of sales success. Falling on your you-know-what isn’t either.

Whether your asides, jokes or stories are spontaneous or planned carefully, if it works, you get a laugh. If it doesn’t work, you don’t. But don’t give up. Just rework, redo, retell, again and again until you hit the mark.

Three Keys

Three factors will help make your brand of humor work for you: 1 ) appropriateness, (2) timing, and (3) delivery.

Is your story or joke appropriate to the situation, the product or the prospect? Make sure your humor doesn’t get in the way of an effective presentation. There are times when humor confuses. So don’t drag in irrelevant asides that will distract the prospect from concentrating on your presentation.

You have to be sensitive to whether humor will be construed as just simple time-wasting. There are many times when your humor may go unappreciated because you aren’t sensitive to the needs of your customer in a given time or situation. So hone your awareness to a fine point and pull out the stops when you’re sure the situation is right.

Timing is the ability to deliver your material confidently with just the right amount of tension and release, and the right measure of waiting for the punchline to hit its mark. You need the perfect sense of when and how to deliver the goods so the buyer will buy.

Another type of timing involves knowing when to use that story, joke or witticism. In talking to a number of salespeople skilled in their use of humor, I’ve learned that the two best times to use humor are during the opening and when objections are encountered. The former are what we call icebreakers. Regarding objections, let’s hope you never encounter any. But if you do, sometimes a witty remark can turn away wrath.

For example, the prospect says, “I can buy this table cheaper from your competitor down the street.” The sales rep might answer, “Maybe so, but are you sure it has four legs?”

Be careful of wit during objections. You must know your customer. What’s funny to one person may be downright hostile to another. Get to know your prospect before you start with the humor. If your timing is off you may lose the joke. But if you’re offensive, you may lose the sale.

Remember this: It’s OK to be quick with a quip, but don’t be too funny. Here’s where exquisite timing can pay off. Give the other person a chance to shine. In the battle of wits, you may win the laugh, but your objective is to win the sale. So let your prospect get in a few zingers and don’t try to top him.

Delivery depends on your individual style, but here are some hints. Do what comes naturally. Don’t imitate, don’t hesitate and don’t intimidate. Your point of view should be, “We are all in this together – it’s you and me against them.” Always try to forge a strong bond with your audience. Make sure the stand you take is the same one your customer takes, or what you’ll get will be controversy instead of communication.

Try out your style of delivery on other people before you try it on your prospects. This isn’t to find out if it’s funny, but rather to find out how to deliver it so that you’ll get the best possible reception, the biggest laugh and do the most good.

Use self-deprecative humor. Poke fun at yourself, not at the client.

“Rules” of Humor

There are no ”rules” of humor, so to speak. The best thing to do is just to try it. But here are a few things you might want to keep in mind.

As a sales rep, your goal is to deliver a message about your product, not just to entertain. So make sure your humor has a point and that the point coincides with your message. Tie it in if you can. If you’re in doubt, leave it out.

Don’t throw away a good joke or story just because you used it with one prospect. Almost every chunk of humor can be adapted to fit a variety of situations and people. Use your stories and jokes often and with different prospects. Good jokes and stories are hard to come by. Going from the ridiculous to the serious can cause a shock. Ease your way into your presentation with a pertinent transition that ties your joke to your message.

Well, suppose your humor bombs. Have a couple of “savers” in your arsenal. “That line should have stayed on my face,” may get you through such tough moments. Don’t make wisecracks – poke a little fun at your prowess as a joke-teller.

Keep it short. If you spend all your time telling stories, you’ll cry all the way to the bank.

Keep it clean. If you know your customer, you might get a little provocative in your choice of material. But know with whom you’re dealing.

Remember that your goal is to make it easier for your customer to think, not just to laugh. If you’ve done a good job, the client will do both and be more relaxed and receptive to your serious message.

Keep away from ethnic and religious jokes. You don’t know with whom your prospect is associated.

Keep an eye open for humor that pertains to your job and keep a file on it. Cross-index it so that you have materiel on every subject when you need it. And take it out and memorize it from time to time.

The Pay-Off

Humor is like a firecracker. It can sparkle, go off with a bang, backfire or fizzle, depending on your awareness and skill. Humor is not for everybody or for every situation. For those with the knack, humor is a marvelous tool that enhances persuasiveness. It opens doors, alleviates anxiety, builds credibility, helps you sell yourself or your product.

Remember: humor can open the door and close the sale.