Humor in Sales

To the tune of, “The Christmas Song”, by Mel Torme…

Chipmunks roasting on an open fire

Your boss stepping on your toes

Girls named Carol being hung by a choir

And boys dressed up like Eskimos,

but wearing panty hose.

La la la la la… Songs like that just bring joy to your heart and a tear to your eye, huh?

Sigh….

I love parody songs.  I’m not sure if I developed that from listening to Weird Al Yankovic over the years; or if I enjoy Weird Al due to my predisposition to loving that type of humor.

Either way, I love humor in music – especially when I personally make up words to a song that everyone else would readily know.  Based on the grimace on her face, this is a habit that brings much discomfort to my wife.  I have ruined many of her favorite songs over the years by making up my own words.

“Stop it!” she will suggest 🙂

That will be followed by, “Great! Now you’ve gotten THAT song stuck in my head!”

I enjoy that power.  I try to only use if for good! 🙂

I loved to use humor in my sales approaches.  I also used humor to raise my children and to lead large groups of people.  My feeling was that if I could make them laugh, I could also move them into action.

Using humor in your daily work is powerful, if appropriate.  A light heart can lift the soul.  However, it can also be a deal-breaker if used in the wrong way or in the wrong industry.  For example, I can’t imagine a funny funeral home director.  Nor can I imagine a doctor giving a physical and singing, “Whoop! There it is!  Whoop! There it is!”

So, as a special shout out to my fellow college mates who majored in music and played the tuba or euphonium along side of me… you may remember this one from the early 1980s.

To the tune of, “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin…

I’m dreaming of a new tuba

One Zimmerman would approve of

With no dents or scratches

And a case that matches

And plays high mellow tones (tow, tow, tow, tow, tow, tow, tow)

I’m dreaming of a new tuba

With every 20J I play

May your tones be mellow and high

And may Joel cancel your applied

Merry Christmas!