How bout that ride in..
Making the Most of Small Talk
Welcome to Commission Breath! The quick weekly newsletter that helps sales professionals stay on their game and be their best self. If you’re reading this but haven’t subscribed, you can do so here.
Morning friends.
Happy Monday!
2 years ago at a sales conference I got to listen to Brian Kight, a motivational speaker for Fortune 500 co’s and college sports programs like Ohio State Football.
My main takeaway from his presentation was how to establish a connection during small talk to build trust with prospects, and people in general.
After months of quarantine small talk via video calls, I thought it was a good time to revisit this.
Let’s get to it.
So how ‘bout those Yankees?
Major sports leagues like the MLB and NBA are up and running again.
This means people can bet on sports again and finally stop betting *ahem* I mean investing with Robinhood, and it’s also a new conversation starter for sports enthusiasts.
Starting Sales Convo’s
If you have a set meeting with a potential client, you don’t just jump right into your sales pitch/presentation. What usually comes first? A little small talk.
How was your weekend?
Did you see sports are back?
How ‘bout that ride in…
Pretty much everyone goes through these little conversations in the midst of their real sales conversations.
Whether you’re waiting for the last person to join a Zoom meeting, or being polite before jumping into a presentation, small talk helps ease any potential awkwardness.
Get More Out of Small Talk
Typically small talk is a conversation about unimportant things, but us sales folks know it’s an opportunity to establish a connection i.e. a shared interest or experience with a prospect and use it to build early trust.
Whether it’s where your prospect went to school, a city they live in, etc. it doesn’t have to be super specific, and should be easy enough to find via LinkedIn.
But once you identify the connection, it’s how you bring it up that makes all the difference.
Key 🔑 : Get the Prospect to Talk About It
When we discover a shared interest, our instinct is to speak up immediately.
You celebrate holiday’s? Me too!
Blurting out our thoughts or experiences to a prospect isn’t really connecting with them though.
Instead, we should strive to get them to talk about it.
Example
You discover the prospect works in Austin, Texas, a city you’ve visited before.
You could say, “I see you work in Austin, I went there for a fun music festival last year”. OR you could try, “I loved Austin when I visited last year, how has your experience been living there?”
It may sound petty, but there’s a big difference.
In the first example you’re just telling the prospect something they didn’t ask to hear. In the second you’re establishing common ground and then getting them to talk about it.
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”
Most people enjoy talking about themselves, so in the context of our examples above, the second version will resonate 10x more in a prospect’s mind.
Are they going to remember the sales person who said they went to a music festival? Or the person whom they shared with what it’s been like living in Austin?
So instead of telling prospects an unwanted story, let’s consciously make the effort to get them to tell us about the interests/experiences we share.
This should lead to building more trust and hopefully more sales, but at the very least will lead to more human conversations!
From the Inter-Webs
cc Morning Brew
Idk who organized this herd of weiner dogs, but they deserve a medal 🏅
Interesting Finds
Amazon, Apple, Facebook, & Google are on Trial
This is a big deal: Bezos, Zuck, & the Big Tech CEO crew are on the (virtual) hot seat with congress for anti-competitive practices.
WHITE CLAW SUMMER
A twitter thread on the entrepreneurial journey of the founder of White Claw, the sparkling beverage that stole millennials hearts last summer.
KFC Will Test 3D Printed Chicken Nuggets
Lol yes, that’s a real headline. If successful, the lab-grown nuggets will have only a fraction of the environmental cost of real nuggets.
Podcast: Tim Ferris Interviews Hugh Jackman aka Wolverine
Amazing insight into the mind of the famous actor, including how he prepares for his performances, his daily manifest routine, workouts, etc.
Food For Thought
The former speech writer for President Obama, Jon Favreau, was a commencement speaker at my alma mater, Holy Cross.
I find myself re-visiting his speech at least once a year, as it’s a great mental check on how I want to think about career goals as well as live my life.
His three pieces of advice:
1). Be a person who wants to do something, not be something
2). Actively be present for the people you care about
3). Remain positive amidst a world full of negative headlines
“The chase to be something, to be rich, famous, powerful, praised..that is a race without a finish line, because there will always be more money to make, a fancier title to pursue, a higher accolade to achieve. In my experience, you are far more likely to find lasting fulfillment if these fleeting pleasures are a by-product of a decision to do something rather than be something”
If you have time this week - before turning on Netflix or hitting the Insta feed, give this a watch, I promise it’ll be 18 minutes well spent.
Have a great week y’all!
-Buck$
P.S.
Please provide any feedback by emailing me: pdbuck15@gmail.com . Open to any constructive criticism you have to offer!