When People Laugh, They Buy.

[xrac]

100 best sales & marketing ideas: 81-90 | LifeHealthPro

86. When people laugh, they buy.
Get them to laugh and a client is far more likely to do business with you. The best way to make them laugh is to poke a little fun at yourself. It frees them up to laugh with you, and it says “I’m far from perfect … just like everyone else.” If you think there is nothing funny about you, then ask a close friend and they will give you a long list of humorous qualities. This can be a great exercise in humility, too! Our industry can be intimidating to a client and they can feel inferior in spite of our best efforts, so loosening them up at our own expense is priceless!

— Shawn Meaike, President & Founder of Family First Life

 

[Cash]

There is a lot of truth to that statement.

I will add this: If you are not funny then don't try to be funny.
I have set with too many agents who try to be funny and they just aren't. It makes for a terrible experience for everyone involved.

But if you're not funny you can still find something to laugh about.

 

[Rearden]

Comedy is just like sales, it can be learned.

 

[Jerard]

There is a lot of truth to that statement.

I will add this: If you are not funny then don't try to be funny.
I have set with too many agents who try to be funny and they just aren't. It makes for a terrible experience for everyone involved.

But if you're not funny you can still find something to laugh about.

I try to be lighthearted and funny. If I can't think of anything to be funny about I can always make fun of their kids or grandkids.

 

[Cash]

I try to be lighthearted and funny. If I can't think of anything to be funny about I can always make fun of their kids or grandkids.

Yes. If you can't make fun of the wife for being overweight, then yes, making fun of the kids is the next best thing.

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Comedy is just like sales, it can be learned.

Comedy and sales have a lot in common. Comedy looks easy when it is done right, just as sales does. Of course, comedy, specifically stand up, is very difficult.

I used to do stand up comedy irregularly and was actually pretty good, not great by any means but pretty good. I can remember all the people that wanted to be comics who did their set week after week and month after month and were down right terrible. But they wanted to be seen as being a comic so they just kept at it. Most of them were desperate losers at life.

Comedy can be learned but no matter how good you get there is also the very real risk that no one will find you funny and you will hurt yourself. When you are on stage doing comedy and you are not funny, people will not laugh and it is awfully uncomfortable. In a social setting, like selling, people will still laugh because they are trying to be nice.

That is why I say, if you are not funny don't try to be funny! People may laugh but they are dying to get rid of you in reality. And the joker that isn't funny but thinks he is is the last person to recognize a fake laugh.

I have been on probably 20 appointments with an agent that tried and failed miserably at being funny.... he still thinks he is funny. I finally had to tell him to stop telling jokes and get to the point with the clients.

Yes comedy can be learned but stick to laughing about things and being lighthearted before trying to be funny because most likely you are not.

 

[xrac]

I am not a comedian but I am not bad with humor. In Toastmasters I won the humor speech contest at two different levels the only time I participated. I find that that somewhat stupid silly humor and laughing at yourself goes a long way to disarm people. For example I might give an initial reply to the "how much does it cost" with "all we can get" and then smile big or laugh. With most people this is very disarming and if they don't smile I know to not use humor with this person.

 

[John Galt]

I am not a comedian but I am not bad with humor. In Toastmasters I won the humor speech contest at two different levels the only time I participated. I find that that somewhat stupid silly humor and laughing at yourself goes a long way to disarm people. For example I might give an initial reply to the "how much does it cost" with "all we can get" and then smile big or laugh. With most people this is very disarming and if they don't smile I know to not use humor with this person.

So can you tell us the last time you used it to close an insurance sale and exactly what you said and how it worked out? How much premium? Was it wl or term? Or GUL or IUL? Let it rip...we wanna hear it and it might help new agents add it to their in home presentation and improve their closing percentages.

 

[amandaturton]

You have to connect with the prospect if they are going to trust you. I listen for any detail I can build a conversation on. Finding similarities to relate to the person and warm them up will almost always deliver a sale. A laugh=money in the bank.

 

[arbetovinsurance]

Make your client laugh ALWAYS helps. People get naturally more comfortable with you which means they will more likely close the deal with you. And yes.. it can be learned even if you are not the funniest guy out there. Just go for it step by step and study the reaction of people. You will be surprised how easy it is.

 

[Surancedawg]

I tried to be funny with a client the other day. Come to find out, he was burying his wife later in the day. Bit awkward, that was. He was funnier than me, though. Trying to get a policy that he could pay for with PayPal. Ha ha ha. He told me he only smoked cigars, one or two a week. He reeked of cigarettes and there were cigarette butts everywhere ( he lived alone with his wife gone). Ha ha ha. I told him he should really get a checking account, a real one with a real bank. He didn't think that was funny.

Comedy ain't easy.

But I sold him a damn policy. Ha ha ha.