I count myself as fortunate. Before Saturday Night Live, before Mad TV, before Comedy Central, a few of us (all too young to have done it and gotten away with it) went to Second City in Chicago. It’s been too many years to remember who was up that night but I do recall how much fun it was. And how much more fun it was to watch the improv portion than the standup routines.
A few years ago I was hooked for a while on “Who’s Line is it Anyway?” The crew was funny and there were some great skits but what got me was the improv! Improv draws me in like a sales rep to commission. Improv engages us more deeply than a standup routine because we aren’t “watching and texting,” we are paying full attention. There is surprise, suspense and expectation. In other words, “Improv, you had me from ‘Didn’t I see you eating a hamster yesterday?’”
Standup is fine, but standup is more about the routine, the prepared speech, gestures, timing and delivery. Don’t get me wrong, Henny Youngman was a hoot, but the best he could get out of me was a clap and a chuckle. Watch Robin Williams doing improv… that’s a whole different level of engagement.
I know, “What does this have to do with your sales style and its effectiveness?” Let’s take a look at two “sales routines.”
Typical Sales Routine (Standup): Goes something like this, “my stuff, why I am great, your stuff, why my stuff would be great for you, a little testimonial here and there to add credibility and viola”! Pitch closed. Dictionary.com defines “Standup Comedy” as, “A comic monologue performed by one person standing on a stage.” Unfortunately that describes a lot of sales pitches. The performance may not be all that comic but they do tend to be monologues delivered by one person who is in no way connected to the audience.
Engaged Sales Experience (Improv): As Robert Kulhan, Adjunct Professor at Duke University states, “Improvisation isn’t about comedy, it’s about reacting – being focused and present in the moment at a very high level.” Improv teaches us how to accept what is thrown at us, really focus on listening and then add new information to move the person in the direction we need them to go.
Now let’s get something straight, we are NOT talking about “winging it.” I am not suggesting that you drop in to see Mr. Bigshot Prospect next week without a plan. And I am definitely not suggesting you “utter, execute or arrange anything without previous preparation” as is the definition of “improvisation” from dictionary.com. A single viewing of any great improv comic at work and it is very apparent that they are not working without prior preparation. They are highly trained and highly prepared.
Andrew Tarvin lists out “10 Life Tips from Improv Class.” I think we can take his bullet point sound bites and find some application in the world of sales. The bullet points are his, but the applications are mine, so if you don’t like or agree, don’t blame Andrew.
- “Dare to be dull.” Application: Unless your product or service is truly revolutionary, don’t oversell it. Cure for cancer? Sure, shout it out! Reducing the costs of inefficiencies in the office? Don’t overhype it. I see proposals all the time that revolve around claims that no one is going to believe. Tone it down. Do the hard work. Leave the roof-top shouting to someone else.
- “Make a connection with the other player.” Application: There are at least two of you in the selling situation, aren’t there? You will want to build the relationship a little before you pull out your magic hammer (supplied by those good people in marketing) and start beating the prospect into submission.
- “Make it about the present.” Application: Learn what got them to where they are (you know this, it’s called, “Discovery” kids), give them a taste of what things can look like (the wonderful future you will deliver) and then keep the balance of the time focused on the present (the conversation here and now where we get to outline the steps of moving this forward).
- “You have to understand why you’re playing the game.” Application: What is driving your participation and what is driving theirs? I know, you’re in it for the commission, because you have to close X new accounts, because there is some requirement placed upon you (just kidding). Is that really the only reason you are on that stage, at that time, with that audience? And what about the other half of your show – the other player? Why did they come and why are they still there? As the unknown actor is famous for saying, “What’s my motivation?”
- “Never expect a certain answer or reaction.” Application: Just listen and react to what was actually said. This is a biggie! It calls for actively listening. As sales producers we can be guilty of jumping to our great verbal return volley after our ears receive their serve of information. When we do that we may completely misread the serve and brilliantly respond irrelevantly. Listen, listen, listen.
- “Make your fellow players look like geniuses.” Application: I watched a senior sales leader debate a prospect recently (not my guys!). It appeared that he was more interested in proving how smart he was than in understanding what the prospect was saying. Remember, there is no audience here; both parties are participants. Make it an enjoyable experience and give some credit to the other players.
- “It doesn’t matter what you’re doing on stage, as long as you sell it.” Application: Ok, this is a bit of the old self confidence issue. I don’t mean you talk a load of shinola, but you do have to be confident. Confidence sells.
- “Be more brave than impressive.” Application: Cut the excuses. You don’t need to know more. You don’t need to do more research. All your smarts aren’t that impressive anyway. Pick up the phone and make the call.
- “Just make a choice.” Application: Here’s the choice I suggest, choose to really listen. Choose to really focus on the needs of the client. Choose to really deliver what only you can deliver. Choose… ok, maybe make one positive choice at a time.
- “When in doubt, have fun.” Application: This is not “do or die” stuff. It is pretty unlikely that even if you totally blow the meeting or the opportunity that you will end up eating cold Alpo from a can under the freeway. So relax a little, enjoy the interaction. If it really wasn’t fun, you would probably be doing something else by now… wouldn’t you? Hint.
I sat through a canned pitch the other day. It was a monologue. It was incredibly boring. It was a “selling seminar.” You know the kind of thing; the speaker purports to offer some educational nuggets but in reality is wholly focused on hawking her wares. Done right, these events are powerful. Done like this one, and it was the worst kind of standup. The kind where the standup guy fell over and died. Why? Because he had a speech to deliver instead of creating an interactive event where the audience became part of the cast. To put this in context, later that same day I participated in a great session. The speakers had their material down cold. The information was relevant to the audience and they ended early! Why? So that they could move from standup to improv (Q and A). Question after question, more and more of the audience was participating. The audience stopped being the audience and became part of the event as they began interacting with each other. Truly great improv.
Try a little more improv and a little less standup. At the very least, you will make some people smile.
