The Best Way To Start Sales Calls
The Amplified Impact Podcast
August 10th, 2023
In today’s episode, I’m sharing my ultimate sales secret.
I’m in the real estate game, pitching investment opportunities to folks looking to ride the wealth train with us so it’s a high-stakes, high-ticket game, and nailing that sales call is crucial.
So, the counterintuitive trick I use to kickstart my sales calls? Weather talk.
Studies from the book “Persuasion” reveal that weather affects our mood, whether we’re aware of it or not.
When I jump on a call, I kick things off by mentioning the weather. “Hey, it’s a rare 72 and sunny day here. Perfect for a walk, you know?”
This seemingly innocuous chat opens the door to a weather discussion.
If it’s raining at their end, I guide the conversation toward a positive spin.
By subtly redirecting their focus, I’m setting the stage for a more receptive audience.
So, next time you’re about to dive into a high-stakes sales call or any persuasion scenario, give the weather a nod.
It might just be your secret weapon to tip the scales in your favor.
TWEETABLE QUOTE:
“So if we are trying to make a sale, if we’re trying to persuade and influence a person, and we know that just a subtle thing like the framing of the weather has the effect of preconditioning the person either to be more susceptible to influence or less susceptible, well, that is a very powerful tool, right.”- Anthony Vicino
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Episode Transcript:
Anthony Vicino:
Alright, so I’m gonna give you my number one secret for how I start my sales calls. A little bit of context. I don’t really sell things per se anymore. The, the business that we have, a real estate private equity firm, we present the opportunity for investors to invest with us and we will go and buy these assets. We’ll manage them together. But it’s not like selling a widget or a service per se. It’s slightly different, but the principle is still the same. It still applies regardless of what you’re trying to sell.
Anthony Vicino:
And the way I think about this is that is a very high ticket sales. So our minimum investment is $50,000. We get people coming in anywhere up to $2 million. And so this is a very high pressure, high stakes, rather sales call. So it’s got to be dialed in, it’s got to be really good. And so I’m going to share with you the best way to start these sales calls. And it’s very counterintuitive. It took me a long time to figure this out, but then I read something in the book Persuasion.
Anthony Vicino:
I reread it like for the fourth or fifth or 6th time. Robert Childini wrote persuasion. He also wrote a book called Influence, two of the best books on sales marketing influence Persuasion in the world. I highly recommend it for everybody because you are constantly trying to influence people in your life, whether that’s in a sales environment or in a relationship. And so these are practical skills that pay dividends regardless. But I read something upon one of those rereads that caught my attention and it really stuck with me and it had to do with talking about the weather. Now this is really interesting because most of us, if we’re talking with a stranger, if we’re in the elevator, one of the safe default topics to go to is how about that weather? Goddamn, it’s really hot outside. Oh, it’s Minnesota, it’s 52 degrees below zero.
Anthony Vicino:
I think everybody hates talking about the weather, and yet it’s the conversation we all default to. And so the first thing you would think is like, well, I don’t want small chat, I don’t want small talk, I don’t want meaningless. Just like, let’s talk about the weather and see how that’s going. Right? And so we put this negative connotation on talking about the weather. And yet it’s, in my experience, the absolute best way to start a sales call for a couple of reasons. Number one, from the book Persuasion, there’s this idea that our mood is affected by the weather in a subconscious way. In a lot of cases, right? If it’s sunshining outside, you’re probably going to have a higher elevated mood than if it’s dreary, it’s cloudy, if it’s been raining or anything like that. Now, you might not be conscious of it.
Anthony Vicino:
You might not be aware that you’re in a higher state or a lower state, or that the weather might be bugging you and might be causing this residual anxiety or frustration or whatever, and yet it is having a biological effect on you. But only if we are not aware of it. Okay? So what I mean by that is they did this interesting study where they were looking at people’s moods in relation to the weather patterns and the susceptibility of the person to being persuaded or being influenced was predicated on the weather around them. So if the weather was nice, if it was sunny and beautiful outside, the person that you were trying to persuade was more apt to be persuaded. If it was cloudy, if it was raining, that person was less likely to be persuaded and influenced. So if we are trying to make a sale, if we’re trying to persuade and influence a person, and we know that just a subtle thing like the framing of the weather has the effect of preconditioning the person either to be more susceptible to influence or less susceptible, well, that is a very powerful tool, right. Assuming we could control the weather. Now, we cannot control the weather.
Anthony Vicino:
If we could, then we would always make it sunny. We’d always make that person in a good mood and make them more susceptible to influence. However, because we can’t do that, we have to start thinking, okay, what else can we do? And here’s the most interesting part of that study that they found, is that the weather affects the individual’s susceptibility to persuasion and influence only if they are unaware of it. Okay? So what that means is if it is cloudy and rainy and cold outside, and we go into a sales environment and you try to start selling me something, I’m going to be naturally less prone to being influenced by. You in that scenario unless we address the weather directly and we draw attention to the fact that it’s dreary and it’s rainy. Something just about reallocating our focus and addressing that issue. Then resets the person’s baseline. This is really crazy.
Anthony Vicino:
It’s truly crazy that the weather could affect our susceptibility to influence unless we talk about the weather first and become aware of it. So what I always do in any of my calls is because I live in Minnesota, there’s always like 80% chance that it’s below zero. And so to start the call, it’s all about building rapport and trying to get somebody to talk about the weather with me so that we can draw attention. If it’s shitty outside for them in their condition, we can then turn that and be like, hey, but it is what it is. So what I do is this. Hey. Yeah. Today it’s 72 degrees and sunny.
Anthony Vicino:
It’s like one of the three days of the year that it’s beautiful outside. So I got a good walk this morning. It’s absolutely gorgeous. I’m feeling great. I’m in a really good mood. And the other person, it might be rainy where they’re at and they’re like, oh, yeah, we got a little bit of rain. But honestly, it’s a really good thing because we’ve been needing that rain, right? Like we’ve been in this drought. And just by getting them to talk about it and address it and start to reframe it in a positive way, the person is now more likely to be influenced.
Anthony Vicino:
Even though the thing that you’re going to talk about has nothing at all whatsoever to do with the weather. I’m telling you guys, this is one of the craziest things, but it’s absolutely true. And it’s been a great icebreaker for me as well because, again, I live in a place where the weather is always garbage. And so it’s an easy way to immediately position myself as what’s the word? Almost in the position of not victim, but in the position of lower status, right? Like, it immediately gives them an opportunity to come in and be like, hey, yeah, my weather isn’t so bad because by contrast, it’s not 50 degrees below zero. So even if it is rainy, it could be worse, right? Low status or inferior position? That’s not necessarily the way I meant to word that, but hopefully you guys get the idea. But anyways, start your sales calls with a quick quickly addressing the weather. Just doesn’t have to be long. Don’t have to go into it for too crazily, but just a quick, hey, how’s the weather been over there? And if it’s rainy, if it’s crappy or whatever, help them turn that into a positive, right? Oh, it’s been 20 below for the last week, haven’t been able to go outside and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Anthony Vicino:
Yeah, I totally feel that when it’s like that and I can’t get outside, my energy levels start to drop. But I know that it can’t last forever. And that that first day when it’s like 52 degrees and sunny is going to be the most blissful experience of the year. And it’s something that people who are living in places where it’s like 90 degrees all year round, they’re never going to be able to relate to it. And that person’s going to go, oh, yeah, man, I can’t wait for that day. It’s going to be awesome. Now their mood is elevated. Now they’re more susceptible to persuasion and influence.
Anthony Vicino:
So take that trick. It’s my number one sales trick for starting a conversation. Use it, go forth and crush. And as always, guys, I appreciate you being here. Until tomorrow, stay hyper focused, my friend. Bye.
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