I know most people hate salesmen, and they have the right to. I'm a salesman, and I'm proud to admit this fact!
When I say the word sales, you probably think of Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Wolf Of Wall Street" and you imagine this pushy sales person who keeps annoying people by calling them day and night, and that's only partially realistic.
Sales is a form of art; it's a combination of social skills that makes you somehow superhuman. It's about mastering a vital skill; communication! Communication involves things like active listening, negotiation, persuasion, public speaking sometimes and of course closing.
Now, why did I come up with this long introduction? I was taught the principle I'm about to reveal in sales; it's called a "pattern interrupt".
How do sales people usually approach prospects? It usually sounds something like this: Hey, my name is ....... I work with ........ and the reason why I'm calling you is .......
After less than 10 seconds, 90% of prospects have already hung up; they already know it's a sales call so they think: I neither have time or money for this call!
I used to be this average salesman who gets hung up on a hundred times a day, but this completely changed when I learned this principle. Now, it's so simple: all what you need to do is not to sound like other salesmen!
So, if all salesmen sound assertive, you need to sound confused! You're probably now thinking: it couldn't be that simple. It is!
Let's change the example. Let's assume that all novelists start with the phrase: "once upon a time". Then that's the one phrase you should never use!
If all influencers brag about how awesome their life is, you have to show the other side of the story so you could make a pattern interrupt.
Three years ago I had MASSIVE success with a page that raised awareness about porn addiction, and the pattern interrupt was: I'm no doctor or specialist! I'm an addict exactly like you who suffered with porn addiction and found a solution. I've got over 10 million views in less than a couple of months, exceeding all the doctors and specialists who covered the same topic then.
There are many examples where a pattern interrupt could go terribly wrong, we could never deny this! But, you get to apply the principle as it best suits you.
There's a reason people follow the patterns, but you should be able to find a better reason not to, as it makes you stand out!