“Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing” -Mark Twain
A recent report that was published by McKinsey Global Institute stated that automation will dramatically impact the careers of salespeople. With the advent of automation and various activities that are geared to improve the performance of almost any business, many of the roles that salespeople fill will be replaced by AI and automation.
49% of sales activity can be managed effectively through automation. The report stated that the remaining 51 % is where you bring in the human factor to build trust and make a personal connection.
Sure, artificial intelligence and automation can handle tasks such as scheduling and keeping a sales funnel brimming with activity, but it cannot make someone laugh or compel someone into a decision about a product or service you’re selling. That human factor holds the key to success to anyone who has a role in sales or business development.
Jon Selig is a stand-up comedian who has made a career out of being funny. He has recently focused his efforts on identifying humor’s impact on selling. Selig states “The tech gold rush has turned modern sales into a series of clinical experiments. Humanity and personal connection have been replaced by “TMMA” Technology, Metrics, and Meaningless Acronyms. Prospects are overwhelmed by bland, personality-free cold outreach.” Jon’s mission is to help sales reps to make meaningful connections with prospects through humor. “Making prospects laugh (on a cold call, scheduled phone meeting, LinkedIn, email, or face-to-face meeting) helps sales reps to relate, show empathy, and build likeability – all of which starts conversations or keeps them flowing.” His efforts have helped multiple companies and thousands of team members write their own jokes, craft humor into their sales efforts with great results.
I have worked on dozens of teams over the span of two decades and the one constant I have seen is that successful sales reps laugh and laugh often. At one company there was a person on my sales team who had done stand-up comedy. Building on his years of comedy writing and performing, Ben Bradley went on to win a coveted hosting spot with a comedy festival and he was recently advanced in his career to Sales Development Manager.
Luke Stevens, another leader on my sales team says that “I try within the first five minutes to get them laughing. It humanizes the interaction and puts the client at ease.” There are always funny things in the workplace, situational, observational and even self-humor can be very effective. Learn from feedback, experience, and other people. Spend time with peers and colleagues who use humor effectively
Chris D Amico, one of the Territory managers I have worked with says “Disarm, and just be real. The client you are speaking with is a person who likely speaks to more than a dozen salespeople every day “
Understand that using humor in sales is another tool to be used to stand out from the crowd. Even though sales isn’t really a battle and no one has weapons to disarm, it can feel like a struggle to gain access for discovery.
The key duties of the role are to:
1) Ask the prospect what problems are they looking to address
2) Qualify the opportunity
3) Find out as much information as possible.
By using humor in sales, you have the opportunity to stand out in their mind as someone who is genuine and speaking to them as a real person. This can serve to imprint on your prospects very effectively.
On a strategic level, remember to let others be humorous. Some of my best interactions have been when someone I am talking to makes me laugh. There is an almost electric feeling that happens when someone gets your joke, and business owners you talk to can surprise you with their frank and open honesty. Be ready to receive this and build that connection.
Hugh Sidey was a legendary journalist who covered many of the greatest Presidents and he had this to say about a sense of humor. ”A sense of humor is needed armor. Joy in one’s heart and some laughter on one’s lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.”
