How to Trick Yourself into Being the Sales Rep You Want to Be

Good Morning. Apparently, OpenAI has a meeting recorder problem. And this one involved the FBI. An engineer was arrested earlier this week after allegedly hiding a recorder in an executive conference room where some of the company’s biggest secrets were discussed. And according to the WSJ, it was wrapped in toilet paper. This sorta makes the three AI notetakers asking to join your sales call seem less excessive. Now, let’s get into today’s Follow Up. (:

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One of the sales leaders I worked for early in my career had a trick for cold calling that worked like a charm.

For the sake of this story, let's call him Robert. When he got on the phone, he became Robbie.

Robbie was the more confident version of himself. He pictured playing that person in a movie, then tried to bring that character into his calls. Like method acting, with more voicemail.

But telling a nervous rep to “be more confident” is a bit like telling someone who's wide awake at 3 a.m. to “just fall asleep.”

So here's how to build a version of yourself you can borrow for the next call...

Before a call, it's easy to get stuck on the what-ifs. What if they ask something you haven't prepared for? What if you stumble over your words? What if they push back and you have no idea what to say?

It’s a classic case of analysis paralysis. 

Psychologist Ethan Kross and his team asked people to give a speech about why they should get their dream job. While preparing, one group thought through their nerves using “I” as in, “Why am I nervous?” The other used their own names, as in, “Why is Robert nervous?”

The judges gave higher ratings to the people who used their names, and those speakers beat themselves up less afterward.

The researchers think this helps because we usually use names to talk about other people. Using your own name encourages you to look at your situation from that same outside perspective. In related experiments, people who did this saw stressful situations as more manageable.

Try imagining a coworker who's nervous to pick up the phone because the prospect might ask a question they can't answer. What would you tell them? Probably something like, “So what if they do? You can check and get back to them.”

Before you dial, ask: “How would the most confident version of me handle this?” Picture their response, then practice saying it out loud.

Start with what you're selling and who you're talking to.

If you sell cars, maybe your character is outgoing, enthusiastic, and a little pushy. They'll chat with anyone, get excited about the car, and nudge the buyer toward taking it for a spin.

If you're trying to sell a big enterprise deal, you might want to be confident, consultative, and diligent. You speak to the buyer as an equal, ask good questions, and calmly work through the details with them.

That choice can change from one call to the next, even when you're selling the same thing. An excited prospect might want to talk through everything they could do with your product. 

Someone who's been burned by their last vendor might need you to slow down, ask what went wrong, and be direct about what they can expect from you.

If you already know someone who's good in that situation, use them as your reference, and pick the qualities you want to borrow for this conversation.

In his memoir, Roll the Calls, Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel describes how he started borrowing gestures and lines from Ari Gold, the Entourage character based on him.

Then he sat down with UFC's Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta to talk about representing them. Both were fans of the show, so Emanuel gave them his best Ari Gold performance.

He talked and talked. He showed off his connections and compared UFC to WWE (which went very badly). Looking back, he says he should have asked about their backgrounds and their business. He could see that they wanted to tell their stories, but he kept going. He left knowing he'd blown the meeting.

All because he was playing the wrong character. 

You can change how you play the role once the conversation starts. If you get on a call ready to joke around and the buyer tells you they're dealing with a serious problem, slow down. Let them finish, and ask about the part that's worrying them.

Look, you'll still get tough questions and fumble deals that you should have in the bag. But playing a character can help you borrow some confidence when you need it. 

This newsletter was written by Nic Conley.