Sarah Palin, Pit Bulls, Lipstick, and Smart Selling

Smart Selling Lesson #1: She Used Affinity To Build Rapport

I’m ranking affinity first because it’s what Sarah Palin did first. She built rapport by using affinity. (And it’s the first thing you want to do as well, if you want to be a successful salesperson. And it doesn’t matter if you’re using print media, broadcast media, or you’re in a face-to-face situation.)

If you want to create trust, build credibility, and ‘predispose’ someone to like you — one of the quickest ways to do that is to convey to them the message, “I’m just like you.” We’re actually drawn to others whenever we perceive a common bond. And the best part is it happens subconsciously, below any level of awareness.

Affinity is very powerful emotionally, and ridiculously easy to create – because it happens “naturally”, (it’s natural, but I put that in quotes, because even though it’s a naturally occurring process, it’s also something we can create intentionally) You’ll quickly see why I say ridiculously easy by a couple of examples:

Let’s say you’re from Oregon, but happen to be vacationing in Florida. Suddenly, a car pulls into the parking lot with Oregon plates … how do you feel? Don’t you feel friendly? Don’t you want to let them know that you’re from Oregon too?

Here’s a true story of something that actually happened to me:

In 2002 my wife and I moved from Lincoln, NE to Roseburg, OR. Not too long after arriving I went into the Roseburg Chamber of Commerce one day to get a map. When I came back out there was a note on my car windshield. It said – “My family’s from Nebraska too. We moved out here a couple of years ago.” But that’s not all. He also included his name, his phone number. and where he worked at. And I was a total stranger he’d never even seen! Isn’t that powerful?

I’m sure you can think of examples in your life too.

So how did Sarah Palin Do It?

In so many ways. Did you see her speech? She started out by introducing her family to us, to tell us who she is. She’s a mother. A “hockey mom”. A member of the PTA. She married her ‘high school sweetheart”. And she’s not immune from struggles – she has a teenage daughter whose pregnant. A Downs Syndrome baby. Her oldest son will be serving in Iraq. By every measure you’d have to say that families all across America felt like they knew Sarah Palin — and that she knew them!

Listen to what a female commentator said on CNN after the speech. After one of the male journalists tried to minimize her credentials the woman spoke up. As best I recall she said something like this: “what you don’t understand is how a woman viewed that speech. Seeing her with her family like that had an impact on me, as a woman I made an emotional connection with her.”

Smart Selling Lesson #2: She Used Humor To ‘Lighten The Mood’

The quickest way to disarm someone and get them to lower their defenses is to use well-timed humor. People are naturally attracted to those who can make them feel good. I can’t count the number of sales calls I’ve been on where initially you could almost feel the tension in the room, and then seen it evaporate ‘into thin air’ by saying or doing the unexpected.

Here’s an example you may be able to relate to:

While calling on businesses to sell advertising I’ll occasionally walk into an environment of “good ole boys”. At different times during my sales career I’ve had territories out in the country — leading me, for example, to a rural country store, or a shop area on a farm. Picture this scene:

It’s early in the morning on a cold rainy day. A circle of farmers are sitting around a stove at an old country store. They’re dressed in bib overalls, some are chewing tobacco and spitting in a tin can, and a couple of them are rocking back on their chairs. I get out of my car wearing a white shirt, carrying a briefcase, and approach them like any good salesperson would – with a big smile on my face.

The conversation stops. They’re all looking me over with a suspicious eye, wondering who this intruder is, and what he wants. Not knowing which of them is the store owner I introduce myself and ask for the owner. Without saying a word all eyes turn in the owners direction and he knows he’s been identified. He starts squirming in his seat, because he’s not in the mood to have his morning chit-chat interrupted, plus, he doesn’t know where this is leading yet. The room is quiet. You can feel the tension build.

Confidently, I walk over with authority, stretch out my hand, and say, “Hi, My name is Virgil with the IRS!”

The room erupts in laughter and the owners buddies begin playfully taunting him, saying things like, “He’s got you Chuck”, and “you’ve had it now man.” In an instant the atmosphere has changed, and the room is filled with warmth and laughter. After assuring my new friend Chuck I was only joking I say, “I figured that anything I would say after that would be a step up.” He agrees, and asks “how can I help you”? And ‘just like that’ his attitude has shifted from suspicion to curiosity. All because of a little humor.

So how did Sarah Palin Do It?

She did it when she acknowledged the women in the crowded audience who were waving “Hockey Moms For Sarah” signs. She smiled from ear to ear, gave them a ‘thumbs up’ and then, seemingly out of nowhere, blurted out, “Do you know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?” She then paused, pointed to her face and said, “Lipstick”.

The place erupted. It was so unexpected, and it was hilarious. And from that moment on she had them. The audience was hers the rest of the night. She’d made them feel happy, understood, and identified with. And, most (unusual) of all, she’d bridged any gaps that may’ve remained between them, and was instantly transformed from ‘politician’ to ‘friend’.

Smart Selling Lesson #3: She Converted A Perceived Weakness Into A Strength

Before Sarah Palin was introduced to America the #1 criticism thrown in her direction was that she was ‘too inexperienced’ to be vice-president. After all, it was (constantly) asserted, she was ‘just a mayor’ from ‘just a small town’ . Was this a weakness? Some believed it would turn out to be her Achilles Heel.

One of the hallmarks of a true sales professional is the ability to anticipate and overcome objections during a presentation, before they can be brought up and used against you. The way they do that is to look for any weaknesses (or perceived weaknesses) in their offer, and transform that very weakness into a strength.

As a publisher, an author, and freelance copywriter I can relate to this very well. My perceived weakness is that I’m not a copywriting “guru”. I haven’t been in copywriting all my adult life, and I haven’t written blockbuster controls for the major direct mailers, such as Nightingale-Conant, Rodale Press, Boardroom Reports, etc. Yet I’m able to convert that into a strength because I bring something else to the table – more than 25 years of experience as a direct salesman making a living on strictly commission.

Because I’ve had to study and learn persuasion techniques to make a living on the ‘cold hard streets’ I’ve had a finger on the pulse of how businesspeople and consumers think for a long, long time. And that qualifies me to write powerful sales letters for marketers who want to increase sales. After all, as I like to point out, Claude C. Hopkins – a man whom many ad agency directors and copywriters acknowledge as ‘the greatest copywriter of all time’ said the following:

“Many of the ablest men in advertising are graduate salesmen. The best we know have been house-to-house canvassers. They may know little of grammar, nothing of rhetoric, but they know how to use words that convince”.

Case closed.

So How Did Sarah Palin Do It?

Again, she identified herself even further with Americans all across the country. She pointed out that her opponents seemed to discredit her experience as a mayor, because she’d come from a small town. Then with pride she described the virtues learned by growing up in a small town, and working with neighbors she’d known all her life.

She said it was men and women from small towns all across America, who were the backbone of our society. She said they grow our food, work in our factories, and send their children off to fight our wars. She talked about becoming involved in the PTA and trying to bring about change. About running for mayor, and not needing to use focus groups because she knew her neighbors, because she was one of them, and knew how they felt, what they wanted, and what they needed. And she converted a perceived weakness into a strength.

In Summary

To summarize, a good salesperson, like Sarah Palin, will create an affinity with his or her audience, will use well-timed humor, and will convert perceived product weaknesses into strengths. And who knows, maybe someday, if you have the ambition and desire, we’ll see YOU up on the stage, warming up your audience, and endearing them to you, as you seek a leadership role in this great country of ours! Best wishes to you!

Virgil Stanphill is an author, a publisher, and freelance copywriter with a background in direct sales, having sold on strictly commission for more than 25 years. Get information on his book: The Beginner’s “Easiest Book in the World” for Learning How to Write Powerful Sales Letters and get a FREE Sales Letter Template at: http://www.LetsIncreaseSales.com

Sarah Palin, Pit Bulls, Lipstick, and Smart Selling

Recent Comments:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Sarah Palin Info

Sarah Palin News