Laughing, kissing and the secrets to closing a sale

While watching the film She’s the Man, one line stood out to me. Viola, dressed as a man, is coaching Duke on how to get a woman to like him. She says, “If you can get a girl to laugh she will fall in love with you…?”

This made me think – what is it about laughing which changes a person’s mind? And how relevant is this influence on other activities?

Laughter is one of the few activities which can change the chemistry of the whole body. Laughter provides input into three areas of the body:

1. Energy

Laughter is the simplest and best way to quickly recharge energy reserves. (You can read more about the energy in the article ‘What can you do when you hit the wall…’)

2. Chemical

When you laugh, you generate a wealth of healing biochemical compounds. Deepak Chopra said “…your body can produce any drug you can buy from your chemist or drug store…” and one short burst of laughter can produce the life saving chemicals which drug companies sell for thousands of dollars. When you laugh your cortisol and catecholamine levels reduce and the left and right side of your brain come back into electrical balance.

3. Physical

Laughter helps circulate lymph fluid and helps your organs by removing waste products, increasing your body’s ability to fight infection. Laughter also increases oxygen supply, allowing your body to generate more energy. Higher levels of oxygen produce a natural ‘high’. Laughter, especially outrageous laughter, can give your body a real workout.

What about kissing and closing a sale?

Two of the top stress-inducing activities are making a decision to buy something and closing in on that first kiss. As it turns out, laughter affects the brain and body in much the same way to reduce stress.

One side of the brain is saying “You can do better than this”, or “Let’s look at more options before we make a decision”.

The other side of the brain is saying “I like the way the colour will look in the living room”, or “I wish he would just kiss me”.

As the brain considers the statements, each side of the brain produces a small electrical charge, one side (+) positive and the other (-) negative, not unlike a battle in the brain, creating stress. By helping a person laugh, this barrier is reduced by discharging the two sides.

Viola was right. If Duke could get the girl to laugh, her barriers would come down. Even if these barriers were raised by months of bad behaviour, a single session of laughter will bring all the barriers down.

The same thing happens in a sale. If a salesperson or business owner can use laughter to reduce the stress being experienced by the buyer, all the barriers are gone. It is then just a matter of handling the real objections to getting a decision finalised.

Questions and actions for this week

Laughter is a serious matter. Here are some things you can do to help:

• Be prepared with a series of really funny stories. Like I say to my mother, “Never let the facts get in the way of a good yarn.” Practise them and use them appropriately – you will find people start to respond to you better as you develop your library of humorous stories.

• Join a laughter club. A simple Google search will bring up your local club. Even a few meetings can change your life.

• Examine the blockages to some of your sales. You may be surprised to see there is a minor point creating tension or stress. Make it into a point of laughter, with the joke being on yourself, and then watch the process move ahead.

Allow more fun into your life and you will be surprised at how many more people will listen and be influenced by you.