A Guy Walks Into a Bar

Just wanted to share a little idea that could help you in the course of your day with earning some extra money while making your customers happier in the process. One of the things we know is that people love to smile and laugh. And it’s really important in sales and customer service.

It’s also important in business in general because when someone makes you laugh, it releases endorphins in your brain. It obviously makes you feel good. But what’s crazy is that studies have shown that those good feelings are attributed to the person who made them laugh. And it makes people fond of you. It makes people begin to trust you because we like people who make us laugh.

Bad to the (Funny) Bone

And so in business and sales, this can be really, really helpful. If you’re a CSR, for example, you can make people smile on the phone, which will bring a little bit of laughter or happiness to their lives. Now you may not be able to see their smile, but you should be able to hear it in their tone and word choices. Their smiles translate directly to great feelings towards you. So when you answer the phone, say something unusual, say something charming or something light-hearted. Maybe, “This is Weldon from Pike’s Peak Home Performance; how can we make you smile today?” Or “How can we save you money today?” Or “How can we serve you today?” “How can we improve your day?” You get the drift.

Answer the phone with something different, something unusual, and you’ll be amazed. It will bring a smile to people’s faces because they call other contractors, they call other businesses. And a lot of times businesses act like they’re frustrated and annoyed when they answer. Other companies are almost always neutral or negative.

And when your phone rings, that’s the lifeblood of your company. That’s money ringing. That’s money talking. So go out of your way to come up with greetings that will make people remember you and your company in a good light — something humorous, something memorable, something unique. This is the genesis of them feeling good about you and trusting you. Then you’ll have a lot better chance to book that call or begin a relationship.

On the sales side, on the service side, it’s the same thing, but obviously, you’re face-to-face. We know that sales is a transference of emotion and people buy from people they like and trust, so the sooner you can get your customer to like you, the better the odds of something good happening. So getting them to smile is a biggie.

Slippery Slope

The most successful people typically have a great sense of humor. But a word of warning – you have to be careful with humor. Because if it goes wrong, it can go really wrong sometimes. But there’s a couple of things you can do to help.

There are websites and apps that can tell you what the celebrated day of the year today is. There’s a national day of whatever for everything, right? There’s a National Cat Day, a National Brownie Day, an International Peanut Butter Day, a National (whatever) Day, and some of it’s pretty funny. So go there and search for it, and you can use that the entire day. For example, February 9 is National Pizza Day. (Really.)

“Hey, Mr. Homeowner, I’m Weldon from Pico Performance. Did you know today is National Pizza Day? What are your favorite toppings and crust style?” You know, anything. I’m not saying it’s going to work every single time, but always in business we talk about process and outcome.

You have to focus on the process, and hopefully, the outcome works out, keeping in mind the homeowner controls that eventual outcome.

You might say something lighthearted and funny to a homeowner who’s a jerk, who doesn’t crack a smile, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. So find something interesting to start every conversation with. I know a lot of sales and service people, and when we’re in a home, we’re wearing our booties, you know, the blue fabric shoe coverings. The homeowner always says, “You know, you don’t have to put those on.” They always say that, right? Instead, I see an opportunity for humor. So after getting a feel for what kind of humor fits this particular customer. And if I’ve read the audience right by choosing the right word, I usually get a big laugh.

A Laugh a Day Keeps the Slump Away

Or again, “Did you know today is National Coffee Day? Are you having a decaf or espresso kind of day so far?” Just find some light-hearted way to start the conversation, whether you’re on the phone, whether you’re on a service call, whether you’re on a sales call. If you can get people to smile and laugh, it will release endorphins. They will attribute the good feelings to the person who made them laugh, and that should be your goal.

Marilyn Monroe once said that if you can make a woman laugh, you can make her do anything. Well, that doesn’t apply to just women, it’s everybody. If you can get someone to laugh, you can get them to do anything because people like and trust people who make them feel good.

So get out there, keep it light-hearted, make your customer smile, and great things are going to happen.