"What happens when you need a part right away and your supplier on the East Coast has left for the day?"

More Details for the Smart Calling College online training course 

After 23 years, hundreds of live programs across the US, and over 5,000 graduates of the public Smart Calling College (formerly Telesales College) training workshop, we will be delivering the program for the first time online, accessible to anyone with an internet connection. 

The program will be delivered over a several-week period beginning in mid-January. You can attend at your leisure, and there will be live coaching/webinar/Q&A sessions during the program, which also will be recorded.

We have just released more details today, and more will be coming, along with registration invitations shortly. For now, you can get information, and on the  Early Notification list here.

Use Seinfeld Techniques to Sell More 

“Hello Newman.”

“No soup for you!”

Double dipping.

“There was shrinkage!”

Man hands.

If you instantly identified those lines as coming from “Seinfeld,” welcome to the huge club. The “show about nothing” was one of the most popular TV series of all time, and still kills it in syndication, with a huge following by people who weren’t even alive when it ran.

I don’t even want to think about how many times I was channel surfing and clicked on and watched an episode I had seen multiple times before.

Much has been discussed about why Seinfeld was so popular.  I was thinking about this while watching the “low talker” episode. 

What the show in general did so well is very similar to what we do to be successful in sales.

Seinfeld the show used “situational humor,” which is just as it sounds: characters are shown in everyday situations that are funny.

The humor comes from the characters’ strong emotional and sometimes outrageous behavior and reactions to trivial situations, and each other.

Part of the appeal of situational humor, and observational humor  which Jerry Seinfeld used extensively in his stand up routines is that we identify with the characters and situations.

When viewing, we become engrossed in the situation, as if we were there. We’re thinking how we would react, or have reacted in similar situations.

Our mind travels to that time when we were in the elevator with the person who had horrible body odor. 

Or the maddening situation when the person entering a building just a step in front of you doesn’t hold the door and it slams in your face.

The connection to sales is that we have a much greater chance of getting someone to take action when they place themselves in a situation where they see and feel a problem or pain. 

And then they are much more likely to be receptive to visualizing our description of the situation they’d ideally want.

One of the best and easiest ways to use Seinfeld techniques is with our benefits/results. I have mentioned this before, and I cover it in almost every training program I do.

List out your benefits/results. For each one, I suggest first defining what specific needs those benefits fill and the problems they solve.

Then formulate your questions to get the listener to transport themselves into that situation:

Consider starting with phrases such as,

"Remember the last time you had a situation where...?"

"What happens when...?"

"How often do you notice that you are...?"

"When was the last time you needed to...?"

"What do you do when...?"

"What if...?"

"How would you handle...?"

"What problems does it cause you when...?"

"How often...?"

Frame your questions so they get the listener thinking about need or pain they've experienced (one you can fill or solve the benefits from your list).

For example, let's say that one of your "benefits" is guaranteed next-day delivery, for orders placed all the way up to 7:00 in the evening.

You might ask,

"What happens when you need a part right away and your supplier on the East Coast has left for the day?"

Use these situational and observational “Seinfeld” techniques and you’ll find your listeners more engaged, instead of just hearing “Yada, yada, yada.”

Continue making it your best week ever! 
(And do begin your 2016 on a roll and take your skills and sales to the next level by attending the Smart Calling College--Online.See the early details here.)