“The one advantage of playing with fire…is that no one ever gets singed. It is the people who don’t know how to play with it who get burned up.”
-Oscar Wilde

Did you watch the Super Bowl this year? Well of course you did! Well, at least you had it on the tube, right? In fact, you might have been having too much fun to watch the actual game but when those commercials came on you immediately became glued to the set, right? And why is it that viewers are more interested in those commercials than on any normal viewing day? It’s because most of them get a reaction out of you and usually that reaction is a laugh or a smile. In fact, 86% of commercials played during the Super Bowl contain some sort of humor or fun message. Why, you ask? It’s because FUN WORKS! The sponsors realize that if they can get those muscles around your face to move in a positive way, there is a chance you will make a move for your wallet in a way that’s positive for them.

So what about you? Do you have a Super Bowl commercial mentality? If not, it’s time to step it up. While you might not control the advertising budget at your company, you DO control the amount of fun and laughter you bring to your customers and prospects. So this week, think of something creative you can to do light up your sales territory. Become a commercial on every call. And while your competition is busy being “professional” (aka boring), your risky creativity will take the customer mentally away from work, and off to a happy place that makes them want to spend their money with you. And don’t be surprised if your competition is burned up by your results.

I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.
-Walt Disney

The definition of entertainment is: an activity that is diverting and that holds the attention. So when delivering your product presentation, do something that diverts your prospect’s mind to keep your message interesting. If you are a team leader holding a meeting, do something entertaining to make your audience want to listen to your vision. Below is a list of some entertaining things you can do to spice up your delivery:

•    Smile and laugh more frequently. When your audience sees you loosening up, so too will they. And when their mouths are open with laughter, so too are their ears…and their wallets!
•    Tell a story that illuminates your message. As you paint the picture, their imagination brings them closer to your words. Stories are salespeople’s most effective yet most underused sales tool.
•    Use images, audio and even video to stir the senses. These can be used in email, voicemails, PowerPoints or any other place you make customer contact.

In short, have a BLAST when selling or presenting, by adding entertainment to every contact you make. Because the Sales Business can be just like Show Business. And there’s no business like it! So let YOUR Show begin!

Funny works. It sells a ton of product, brings the walls of resistance down, get’s you the attention of a tough audience and can create the type of business culture that makes people comfortable to be themselves. So if funny actually can mean more sales, more influence and less stress, why don’t more people use it as one of their greatest business weapons? Well they should, and so should you!

But what if you just aren’t that funny? Well fear not! You don’t have to be Jerry Seinfeld to add a spark to people’s day. You just need to be willing to be a little funnier than you are right now. For instance you may choose to:

•    Take funny pictures of customers with your product and use them in a monthly newsletter to other prospects.

•    Go to Google Images, type in a funny topic that you and a client discussed (i.e. Octomom, Attack Gorilla, 401K … now that’s funny) and add that image to a follow up email. Then find a way to work it into the text of your email.

•    Speaking of email, create a tagline at the bottom of your signature that describes you in a “less than serious” way. For instance, “Your Industry Bailout Specialist” Or perhaps a meaningless quote like, “96.7% of all statistics are made up” or “Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?”

•    Open your next meeting with the funniest story you tell your friends (clean it up!) and FIND a business message in it (believe me, there is one in there).

If some of the above ideas made you feel a bit “goofy,” GOOD! Because that’s what humor is supposed to do. It is meant to take people out of their routine and into a place they would rather be. And when you make a habit of combining humor with the serious business value, you become the unstoppable force that your competition will not find very funny. And only then will you be laughing all the way to the bank.

To learn how to find your Humor, go to www.preciseselling.com/Radioaccess.htm to hear Brian interview humorist, Brad Montgomery, co-author of the book “Humor Me-America’s Funniest Humorists on the Power of Laughter.”  As president of PRECISE Selling, Brian Sullivan helps improve sales, customer service, negotiations, leadership, and presentation skills through seminars and Internet training programs. He also hosts “Entrepreneurial Moments,” a radio show on business and personal development. For more on his speaking, consulting or book, visit: www.PreciseSelling.com or email: bsullivan@preciseselling.com.