Humility and Humor in complex sales
By: Nicholas Spallitta
Tags: Salesforce, Change Management, Sales, Humor, Leadership

Nietzsche, while never actually providing a formal theory of humor, said:

“Perhaps I know best why man is the only animal that laughs: he alone suffers so excruciatingly that he was compelled to invent laughter. The unhappiest and most melancholy animal is, as might have been expected, the most cheerful.”

I wrote a little article on suffering and complex sales and thought that it would be good to address the other side of that equation. I find joy in the effort it takes to orchestrate or participate in the complex sales cycle. I see that happiness show up in many different ways for me and many other people that I enjoy working with on an opportunity. Humility and Humor are two of my favorites.

Roles where you are accountable and compensated based on the success of complex sales are notoriously tough. Because of that they are often very rewarding for those that can manage to exceed their goals year after year. The market is always commoditizing products and services, while looking to simplify the buying process.

The competition is tough and more often than not your taking new products/services or better ways of doing it up against well established incumbents. You are working with bright people on both the buy and sell side of the equation, you can’t cut corners or just hustle. Then there are quite a few people out there that want to do your job better than you can do it.

If you don’t have some humility it’s just a matter of time before you get humiliated in this game.

It’s just a game. You have to remember that. If you want to win then you have to want it more than the competition. If you lose, life will go on. If you want to get better than you have have to treat it like a sport or an art.

Humility is equally important in the complex sale. Contrary to popular belief and a lot of pundits you are rarely if ever selling yourself. You are selling a concept, a product, a service or other people. You might be demonstrating your ability to help them get what they want, but they don’t invest in a sales person. They invest because of them.

Humility show signs of humility, people see authenticity and you develop trust. It is far easier to drive change or success with your product and service when you are not viewed as a pompous a-hole.

Humor has been a friend of mine since I was a kid. I’m not a comedian and clowns creep me out. I do enjoy a good laugh and if you take the game too seriously it will drive you insane.

Find your own type of funny and keep it professional. You don’t have to be a comedian. You just need to be able to get people to crack a smile or have quick laugh during their work day. Including your own self.

If it’s not humor then make things fun. One of my favorite things to do for a new customer is to make things easy or simpler. The point is that people don’t buy things from people they like. They buy things from people that they have good experiences and outcomes with during those interactions.

Myself or my team rarely wins because we are friends with the buyers. Relationships only grant you access if that. Sometimes they can actually waste your time if your not careful as you get put in the friend zone. I laugh when people weight this heavily or hire horrible sales people because they have a “relationship” with a buyer.

Have fun and stay humble.