To be perfectly blunt, the office receptionist could be a real
witch. She'd been there over 20 years and lorded over the place like
she owned it. On the first day it snowed this season, she went as far
as to order one of the salespeople to warm up her car for her. Much to
everyone's surprise, the salesman agreed.
A few minutes later the salesman came back holding a broom. Placing it over the heating vent, he told her loud enough for the entire sales department to hear, "Just give it a minute and it'll be ready to go!"
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to be successful at sales you have to be able to get along with some pretty gruff personalities. One proven method of softening such tough people up a bit is to use humor. If used properly, humor can deflect others anger or rage often resulting in more appropriate interactions.
"People like to talk more than they like to act. They like to sit there and complain and vent. Somehow they think that changes things. Which it doesn't." - James Patterson
A few minutes later the salesman came back holding a broom. Placing it over the heating vent, he told her loud enough for the entire sales department to hear, "Just give it a minute and it'll be ready to go!"
Moral of the story. True sales professionals know that in order to be successful at sales you have to be able to get along with some pretty gruff personalities. One proven method of softening such tough people up a bit is to use humor. If used properly, humor can deflect others anger or rage often resulting in more appropriate interactions.
"People like to talk more than they like to act. They like to sit there and complain and vent. Somehow they think that changes things. Which it doesn't." - James Patterson
