To say that most of humanity operates on autopilot would be an understatement. We go through life reading lines from a pre-written script that keeps petty annoyances at bay and saves us from decision fatigue but piles on heaping amounts of boredom and predictability in its place.
Take, for example, shopping at a retail store.
Thousands of times a day, all across America, a worker will walk over to a customer who just walked in the door and say, “May I help you?” Then, thousands of times a day, just like clockwork and right on cue, the customer will respond, “No thanks, I’m just looking.”
For people whose livelihoods depend on commissions, you might think that they would go off script and think of something else to say in order to keep from getting shut down by the customer.
Alas, most do not.
Salespeople in other industries often face the same problem, only in slightly different forms. Most likely, their problem is getting past the gatekeeper (“He’s out of the office; may I take a message.”) or getting the prospect to make a decision (“Thank you for your time. We’ll think it over and get back to you.”)
It can be a tough and frustrating grind when the script your prospect is reading from is not the same one they taught you in sales training. So, what do you do when you want to get them on your script and off of theirs?
Well, that’s the time you just throw all the scripts out the window!
The way you do that is with a pattern interrupt.
Basically, a pattern interrupt is when you do or say something unexpected or “off script” to break the pattern of the prospect giving you rote or boilerplate answers to your questions.
Let me give you a quick example.
Years ago, I was at a county fair in Wisconsin and I bought a giant baked sweet potato at one of those stands at the fair. The guy running the stand was a genius at striking up conversations with everyone who came up to order. The line was long, and it took a few minutes to get up to the front.
Almost there, I watched as the lady in front of me ordered a turkey leg for her son, who I’d say was probably around 11 or 12.
The vendor started to grab a leg with his tongs, then paused and, with a slight smile, asked her if she wanted a right leg or a left one.
Let me tell you…
That one question completely shut down her operating system!
She had been digging in her purse for money, but when the question finally registered with her, she just stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.
Completely flustered, she looked down at her son and asked, “Do you want a right leg or a left?”
I just remember the boy looking up at his mom with the most confused look on his face. It was hysterical!
Fortunately, the vendor broke out in laughter and told the lady he was just kidding as he handed her a turkey leg.
I was next, and I ordered one of their beautiful baked sweet potatoes. When he asked if I wanted marshmallow and brown sugar on it, I said, “No, just butter, please.” He replied, “No marshmallow? Sounds like there’s a story there,” he said with that same slight smile.
“No,” I replied, breaking into a laugh, “Just trying to be healthy.”
I had to go, but honestly, I wish I could’ve stayed there all day. That man was conducting a master class on how to break patterns, go “off script,” and engage with people.
Here are three things he did that you can copy in your own sales career to build rapport with customers and break them off of their script and onto yours.
1) The Unexpected Question
Though it was silly, the question he asked was so off script that she couldn’t even comprehend what he was asking — and it was funny!
When you’re selling radio airtime, you could say, “Do you have a good delivery address, or will you be picking it up yourself?”
Don’t judge. I’m just spitballing here, but you get the point. Funny, unexpected, and original is a great pattern interrupt.
2) The Oddly-Timed Question
Not only was the content of the question unexpected, but the timing of it was too.
The lady in front of me was on the part of her script that read, “The woman digs in her purse for her money, hands it to the vendor, receives turkey leg and exits stage right.” There was nothing in the script about another question being asked — especially at that time.
In sales, one of the prime times to ask the oddly-timed question is when the interview or call appears to be over, or even after the prospect has said, “No.”
As you’re packing up to leave, highlight the main objection and say, “Just out of curiosity, if we had been able to get your spots on drive time by next week, what conversation would we be having now?”
This is straight out of the Sandler Method, so if you want to read more about it, check out YouTube or get David Sandler’s book, *You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar*.
3) The Non-Question Question
In a previous post, we discussed non-question questions, and in my interaction with the vendor, he used a great question in a humorous way to get more information when he said, “Sounds like there’s a story there.”
That may have been a question he used a hundred times that day, but it was a good one and shows you the power of having a solid question in your back pocket to pull out whenever you need it.
Now the rest is up to you.
Venture out into the world and start using these pattern interrupts to get your prospects off of their scripts and onto yours.
Pic designed by Freepik.com.
Brent Hoodenpyle is a Texas-based digital marketing and sales specialist with over twenty years experience working with a wide range of companies to improve their digital stats and revenue.