You should cuss more

Not to beat the same drum too many times, but the sales game is very different than it used to be.

Nine years into my career, here are some of the biggest changes I’ve witnessed:

Getting the obvious out of the way - remote work & advancement of tech/AI, etc. Big changes of course. A few others:

• Rockin’ a suit & tie to work was table stakes in 2014, now that level of formality makes prospects uncomfortable.

• You could hit your meeting quota from cold calling alone, today you need to leverage 4-5 channels in a coordinated effort.

• In 2014 there was zero “art” to cold email - you simply introduced yourself, company, product, value prop, and asked for a meeting. And it worked. Today’s prospects are so tired of email that we have to do everything in our power to not sound salesy, otherwise we go in the trash immediately (even they even bother to put in that much effort).

• This one’s my favorite - you can genuinely be who you are when during prospect and client conversations. In fact, you need to be who you are. Now more than ever people are craving honest and direct interactions.

Which leads us to the main point….

If you’re not cussing with your prospects, you’re losing deals. No bullshit.

Don’t believe me?

Gong analyzed thousands of calls and noticed an 8% increase in closed/won deals when the buyer and the seller both curse on call, compared to when there is no cursing.

Side note: can we talk about how these win starting 42% and going up to 50%?! What the f**k is that about?

Makes sense this data was publish in January of 2020 - I don’t think any of us have seen win rates this high since the pandemic. Fingers crossed we see those days again soon!

Here’s why that’s incredible:

We’ve all collectively decided to stop having “work” versions of ourselves and just be who the f**k we are. Everyone is overworked and extremely busy - we don’t have time to be anything other than ourselves.

Not only is this improving overall mental health in the workplace (because we threw our facades in the trash), this also makes sales a lot more fun.

Why?

Two reasons:

First & foremost - this is our time to shine!

Knowing it’s never a good idea to make large generalizations, I’ll do it anyway.

If you’re in sales, there’s a really good chance you’re the type of person who curses. Which means you know the impact a well placed bomb can work.

As long as you’re dialed into what your prospect is saying, trust your gut and tap into your “expletive excellence” to let your new friend know you’re on their level.

Second - it’s a chance for us to build stronger, deeper relationships. And regardless of tech advancements, GenAI, etc. - the ability to connect with other people and build strong ties is the most crucial ingredient to consistently finding success throughout your career.

Now, don’t get carried away with this whole cussing idea. There is one crucial rule to the game:

Rule #1: Don’t cuss first. Wait on your prospect.

Yes, the workforce is way more casual than it used to be. But, your job is to make them feel so comfortable (by being your authentic self) that they let their guard down and let it rip.

Once they cuss, that’s your signal to join the party. I’d even suggest it hurts you to not drop some bombs in solidarity with your prospect — they’ve opened up to you, time for you to do the same.

Note: In the spirit of being our true selves at work, if you don’t cuss, then this may not be the move for you.

Your main takeaway: profanity plays.

In fact, your goal should be to get your prospect to cuss as early as possible in their buying process.

This will tell you 1) that you’re doing your job well and 2) they’re going to be honest with you about where they stand — as long as you ask directly, you’ll have a good pulse on whether or not you’re progressing the deal.

It’s a whole new world out there, folks.

Drop those linguistic grenades when you can.

Next weeks issue: How I lost a $25k deal this week 👀

Stay tuned!