Use humor!
"If you can get the prospect or customer to laugh, you can get him to buy," according to "The Sales Bible." "The earlier you get a customer to laugh, the better. Laughter is a form of approval."
Bush is eager to crack wise. While the president might be warning of a grave national crisis, he's being a laugh-riot about it. Bush loves joking about how he "married up," how he's "gettin' all gray" and how he goofed off in college. In Little Rock Friday, Bush was joined onstage by Gloria Bennett, a part-time food inspector from DeQueen, Ark.
To which Bush says, "That's right next to DeKing."
Silence is followed by friendly groans that evolve into laughter and applause. And a message endures: Reforming Social Security can be fun.
Stay positive!
The president keeps mentioning "the problem" that awaits Social Security. But he rarely addresses it in terms of sacrifices and costs. Only "challenges," "opportunities" and "confronting problems," all staples of the sales parlance.
Likewise, the word "privatization" is verboten at the social security rallies. It is used by critics of the Bush plan (such as the protesters holding "Don't Privatize Social Security" signs outside each event). In Great Falls, Mont., when an eager Bush supporter in the audience innocently says "privatization" when asking a question, the president promptly corrects her. "'Personal retirement accounts' is the proper terminology," he says.
"Don't tell me negative things," Gitomer writes. "I want everything to be great." By staying upbeat, the president keeps the optimistic high ground. "I believe that the role of the Congress and the role of the president is to confront problems, not pass them on," Bush says. He speaks about courage -- implicitly his own, and the audience's.
He reassures, reassures, reassures. "Those of you who are fixin' to retire -- that's Texan for getting ready to retire -- have nothing to worry about."
Use your audience!
Bush is, in campaign-speak, playing to his base, which also applies to sales. "I would rather have 100 satisfied customers to do business with than 1,000 prospects," Gitomer says in "The Sales Bible." They provide the valuable currency of testimonials.
At each event, Bush hold his "conversations" with four handpicked panelists. They are props for Bush to exhibit rapport and illustrate how his ideas on Social Security affect their demographic.
Bush asks questions of his panelists, keeping things interactive, proving his empathy. "Great questions can help build you a sense of urgency," says Hopkins and co-author Laura Laaman in "The Certifiable Salesman."
