I see they just finished the Roosevelt Island Tramway.
That’s nice…
The city’s going bankrupt,
they’re putting up rides for us.
Next thing you know, there’ll be a roller coaster through the South Bronx,
that would be the first roller coaster where the people scream on the flat part of the ride.
Jerry Seinfeld, “Roosevelt Island Tramway”, Is This Anything?
I can get on stage with Jerry‘s jokes and get a chuckle. It’s great material, they’ll get it, but I’d be missing something.
If you can’t see Jerry in person, you can catch him on Netflix, and it’s funny, but it’s not the very best, it’s missing something too.
In comedy, something happens when you’re in person, at a club, seeing a real professional. That experience is hard to beat, and it slowly degrades as you get more removed. Streaming, audio, or your buddy retelling some of the jokes. It’s still funny, but the energy is different. The delivery is off.
It’s the same thing that happens in music and business.
It’s the same thing that happens in parenting, management, and sales.
Jokes are funnier on stage, in person, from Jerry.
In service industries, sales, finance, accounting, the ingredients are mostly the same. What’s different are the people and their delivery.
Communication, not accounting software.
Temperament, not trading algorithms.
It’s Jerry. That’s who makes the difference. It’s Jerry and how he makes you feel.
Accenture is a great company, but not if you get the new guy, the overworked guy, or the depressed guy. Worst of all is behind the run line guy, eager to close deals and move along.
It’s their delivery. How they get “it” to you.
In a world where we have infinite information and tools, it’s how we deliver that changes the game.
How we make the customer feel.
Zig Ziglar said that sales is the transfer of feelings. Your feelings and emotions for the product or service, and your delivery will dictate what feelings you are transferring.
Confidence or confusion.
Passion or panic.
Imagine Jerry on stage again, telling that joke, nervous that it won’t land. Timid. Face flush. Anticipating hecklers. If he tells it that way, he is sure to fall flat.
The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun.
John D. Rockefeller
Parents know all too well that they can get more done by dropping to a knee, looking their kid in the eyes, and calmly asking how they can help. The alternative is intimidation, a nervous kid, and no one’s best effort.
Body language, tone, preparation, listening. These are skills you can develop. Just like Jerry.
In comedy, the material matters but timing and a confident delivery is what makes the material work.
In parenting, it’s the morals and the values but it’s also your delivery, how you get that message across with love and caring and understanding rather than intimidation.
And in sales it’s the way you speak with clients, the way you make them feel, the transfer of emotion, and exactly what emotions you transfer that differentiate you from the competition.
It’s not only what you say, but also how you say it.
It’s how you make them feel.
