Selling with Humor (and a Sorry Butt)
Selling with Humor (and a Sorry Butt)
“So there’s no question it’s the right service for the right price,” I once told a prospect.
“It’s a great service. It’s a good price.”
“And this is certainly the right time.” It was. And I’d given him any number of excellent reasons why.
“I’m still not convinced that I need to sign up right now, today,” he said.
I nodded. “That’s because I forgot to mention the best reason.”
“Oh, and what’s that.”
“Because that’s the quickest way to get my sorry butt out of your office.”
“Sold!”
That became known around the company as the Sorry Butt close. Not only did I use it again from time to time but a couple of other people started trying it as well. It worked just often enough that every new hire got to hear about Barry Maher’s Sorry Butt.
A young sales rep once had a meeting with the top executive team of his number one corporate client in the office of the CEO. He was trying to build a little rapport before they got down to business, but the others were all a good forty years his senior. The small talk soon became miniature talk, then microscopic talk, then no talk at all.
Searching for something he could use to generate a little conversation, the entrepreneur spotted a large silver picture frame on the CEO's desk. Inside the frame was a picture of an attractive young woman. She wasn't Miss America but she was certainly attractive, and he was desperate.
“Wow, she is absolutely gorgeous,” he enthused.
The CEO’s face lit up. This was the right thing to say.
Then the entrepreneur asked, “Is that your granddaughter?”
A stunned silence seized the room. The CEO shot him a look that could have frozen fire. “That, sir,” he muttered, “is my wife.”
Now it was the young entrepreneur who was stunned. All he could think about was all that business—far too large a percentage of his business—vanishing as quickly as the CEO’s smile. He glanced around nervously but no one would meet his eye. He did happen to notice a ceremonial sword resting on a shelf on one wall.
He thought for just a moment. Then he rushed over. He grabbed the sword. He snatched it off the shelf. He dashed back to the CEO’s desk. He dropped to his knees in front the desk. He raised the sword high over his head. He shrieked. Then he plunged the sword down . . . into the space between his arm and his body. He fell face down, twitched once or twice, gurgled a death rattle, and lay still.
Yet another stunned silence filled the room.
Then the place erupted into laughter. After a moment, the young rep peered up cautiously and saw that the CEO was laughing too—not as loudly as the others perhaps, but laughing nonetheless.
The tension was broken. The account was saved.
Have fun selling. Have fun with your prospects and your customers. As far as I’m concerned, he or she who has the most fun, wins. Tattoo that on your arm. Just remember laughter is a two edge sword. It works a lot better when it’s pointed at yourself.
Selling with Humor and a Sorry Butt - To learn more about this author, visit Barry Maher's Website.
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Obviously you have to be careful with humor in sales. You don’t want to offend anyone. That’s why self-deprecating humor can be so powerful. You’re poking fun at yourself. No one else is likely to be offended. It makes you seem modest and likeable while at the same time demonstrating that you’re confident enough about yourself (and by extension your products and/or services) to laugh at yourself. In effect, you’re bragging about your own negatives.
“So there’s no question it’s the right service for the right price,” I once told a prospect.
“It’s a great service. It’s a good price.”
“And this is certainly the right time.” It was. And I’d given him any number of excellent reasons why.
“I’m still not convinced that I need to sign up right now, today,” he said.
I nodded. “That’s because I forgot to mention the best reason.”
“Oh, and what’s that.”
“Because that’s the quickest way to get my sorry butt out of your office.”
“Sold!”
That became known around the company as the Sorry Butt close. Not only did I use it again from time to time but a couple of other people started trying it as well. It worked just often enough that every new hire got to hear about Barry Maher’s Sorry Butt.
A young sales rep once had a meeting with the top executive team of his number one corporate client in the office of the CEO. He was trying to build a little rapport before they got down to business, but the others were all a good forty years his senior. The small talk soon became miniature talk, then microscopic talk, then no talk at all.
Searching for something he could use to generate a little conversation, the entrepreneur spotted a large silver picture frame on the CEO's desk. Inside the frame was a picture of an attractive young woman. She wasn't Miss America but she was certainly attractive, and he was desperate.
“Wow, she is absolutely gorgeous,” he enthused.
The CEO’s face lit up. This was the right thing to say.
Then the entrepreneur asked, “Is that your granddaughter?”
A stunned silence seized the room. The CEO shot him a look that could have frozen fire. “That, sir,” he muttered, “is my wife.”
Now it was the young entrepreneur who was stunned. All he could think about was all that business—far too large a percentage of his business—vanishing as quickly as the CEO’s smile. He glanced around nervously but no one would meet his eye. He did happen to notice a ceremonial sword resting on a shelf on one wall.
He thought for just a moment. Then he rushed over. He grabbed the sword. He snatched it off the shelf. He dashed back to the CEO’s desk. He dropped to his knees in front the desk. He raised the sword high over his head. He shrieked. Then he plunged the sword down . . . into the space between his arm and his body. He fell face down, twitched once or twice, gurgled a death rattle, and lay still.
Yet another stunned silence filled the room.
Then the place erupted into laughter. After a moment, the young rep peered up cautiously and saw that the CEO was laughing too—not as loudly as the others perhaps, but laughing nonetheless.
The tension was broken. The account was saved.
Have fun selling. Have fun with your prospects and your customers. As far as I’m concerned, he or she who has the most fun, wins. Tattoo that on your arm. Just remember laughter is a two edge sword. It works a lot better when it’s pointed at yourself.
Selling with Humor and a Sorry Butt - To learn more about this author, visit Barry Maher's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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Speaker, Trainer, Barry Maher - EvanCarmichael.com expert Barry Maher is a motivational keynote speaker and workshop leader, who speaks and trains on leadership, management, communication and sales. And when it comes to sales training, as Selling Power magazine writes, "To his powerful and famous clients, Barry Maher is simply the best sales trainer in the business."
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