A Good Sales Joke Can Help You Get Ahead In The Competitive World Of Sales

With a good understanding of your audience, a little training on delivery, and the right mind frame you are well on your way to using humour to be a better sales person. The world of sales has never been more competitive than it is today.

Every sales person needs that special tool that will set them apart from the crowd. Whether you are selling small widgets by the gross or engineering services for large capital projects you need to have the best approach you can.

Sounds easy doesn't it? Well, in practicality it isn't but there are some things you can do to help set you apart from your competition. One tool that costs you absolutely nothing is humour. Yes, a good sales joke when delivered effectively can help you close the sale.

If you think about humour this really makes sense. It's an old saying that laughter is the best medicine. Science has proven that humour can break the tension of a stressful situation, lay the ground work for better relationship building and facilitate good conversation.

For a sales person this means that artfully delivered sales jokes can help you communicate better with your customers. When you communicate better your customers are more likely to listen to what you have to say and more readily overcome any objections they may have to buying your product.

So what do you need to consider once you have decided to use sales jokes? If you follow a few common sense rules you'll be effectively using humour in no time at all.

You've heard it a thousand times before but it bears repeating - know your audience. As a salesperson you know that this simple rule applies to all the material you deliver, not just to humour. When you consider that what is funny to some people is not at all funny to others this just makes sense. A group of upper level executives, for example, may not find sales training jokes amusing but sales meeting jokes may strike a chord. Just use your sales intelligence and you'll find sales jokes that will hit the mark.

A critical concern is the type of humour that you choose to deliver. You should avoid offensive material at all costs. Jokes about race, religion, or politics are risky and can have unintended effects. Adult sales jokes can not only offend someone but they can get you into trouble. In other words, avoid any material you are not sure will be perceived in a light-hearted manner.

So you've decided to liven up your presentation with a few sales jokes. Now what? IF you are like many people you were not born with a natural sense of comedic timing. That doesn't mean that jokes should be off limits. With some practice and coaching you can deliver your sales jokes well enough to produce the intended effect.

There are numerous resources available on the Internet that can help you improve your story telling and joke telling ability. If you are comfortable with self paced, self taught instruction these can work for you. If you prefer to work with an instructor you can find a good sales training school in your local area. Most of these schools offer workshops and classes on how to deliver humour.

They can help you improve your timing and guide you in learning how to select the proper material.