Stop right there.
Sorry, did I interrupt you?
If you’re still reading at line three, good for you! (And you might as well keep going.) This article presents a deep dive into pattern interruption and why it works so well as a sales technique. It explores where the idea comes from and how you can make it work to give your own sales pitches a boost.
What Is Pattern Interruption?
Human beings are creatures of habit. Our brains are quick to fall into patterns of behavior that we repeat over and over again. Most of the time, that’s fine. In fact, it can be useful.
That’s because patterns involve repetitive actions that can save us time and help us behave more efficiently. For example, do you have a favorite meal you like to cook regularly? If so, you probably don’t have to think very much about how to prepare it. The muscle memory is there, and it’s an easy option.
Reducing the stress of making new decisions is a major factor in why we develop these behavioral patterns. However, this useful trait can misfire and cause trouble.
Many issues, from minor bad habits like nail-biting to more serious problems such as addiction, have their roots in this tendency toward establishing behavioral patterns. In the neurolinguistic programming (NLP) approach to behavioral psychology, therapists try to tackle problems by finding ways to disrupt these cycles of behavior.
This is what’s known as pattern interruption.
So what does all this have to do with sales? Is it even relevant to cold calling? Let’s dive a little deeper.
Why Use Pattern Interruption in Sales?
Salespeople know that they have seconds to grab their prospect’s attention if they’re to have any chance of converting. That applies across the whole spectrum of the omnichannel customer experience, meaning cold calls, emails and any other method of reaching out to potential customers.
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What might seem like intransigence on the part of the person on the receiving end of the sales pitch is actually a behavioral pattern. It’s just like cooking the same meal regularly without a thought of trying something new. Most people’s default setting is to shut down a sales approach automatically.
So it’s vital to try to disrupt that and break through. And that’s where pattern interruption comes in. In NLP practice, pattern interruption techniques are generally divided into the following categories:
Blocking: If you think about it, blocking a pattern is the simplest way of interrupting it. When you notice a familiar pattern beginning, you simply step in and put a stop to it.
Redirection: This is where you interrupt a pattern by distracting the subject and making them think of something else. Parents of small children may recognize this one as the “look! A fluffy bunny! Let’s pet it together” crying shutdown technique.
Overload: When you’re overwhelmed by something, it can make you forget your train of thought. If you’re working at your desk and you suddenly smell smoke, for example, all thoughts of closing that sale will stop until you’ve figured out whether you’re in danger.
Confusion: A classic interruption technique beloved of magicians and hypnotists everywhere. Say something utterly absurd, and the person you’re talking to will pay attention to you. Simply because the weirdness of what you said just wiped everything else from their mind.
Spinning out: A fairly subtle technique where you deliberately feed the end of the cycle back into the beginning so that it repeats and continues to loop around itself. NLP practitioners say this is useful because, essentially, the looping pattern becomes unstable after a while and collapses. This one might be a bit ambitious for a cold call though.
Pattern Interruption Techniques for Sellers
That’s all very well, but how does this translate into practice on the sales floor? What kind of concrete negotiation tactics can sales professionals use to actually close a sale? What if I spook a prospect and send them off searching how to block a phone number?
In other words, how do you actually pull off pattern interruption in this context?
Great question. Here are seven ideas for how to take the theory of pattern interruption and get it to work on a prospect.
1) Verbal Ambiguity
In his book Tricks of the Mind, the British illusionist Derren Brown recounts the tale of how he once got himself out of a dangerous situation using verbal ambiguity.
One evening, he was approached by a man who was very aggressive toward him, and felt sure he was about to be beaten up. Instead of trying to run away or prepare his fists for action, he simply looked at the man and said:
“The wall outside my house is not four feet high.”
The story goes that the man was so confused that not only did he calm down immediately, but he actually burst into tears and began to tell Derren about his problems.
Now, not everyone is lucky enough to have Mr. Brown’s skills, of course. Nevertheless, it’s a useful illustration of how effective this technique can be. On a sales call, you could try saying something like:
“What’s the most useful insight your data analytics tools have delivered for you since they last delivered something very useful?”
Your prospect will be forced to stop and think through your question, which means they’ll be receptive to whatever you say next.
2) Personalized Messaging
This one is all about doing your homework. Fire up your best email finder tools, dust down your search skills, and get digging.
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Find out some information about your prospect before you contact them. I don’t mean indulge in stalkerish behavior. It’s not necessary or desirable to look into every detail of a person’s life before you try to sell to them.
However, learning a little about them can be an effective way to get them to listen. This technique lends itself particularly well to B2B sales, especially to people in some position of seniority. That’s because they’re the ones who are likely to have written or been quoted in trade press articles, been on a panel at a business seminar or guested on a podcast relevant to your niche.
When you get in touch with them, whether by phone, email or web conferencing, you can open with a note of appreciation. Pick out a specific aspect of their article or commentary you enjoyed and say why you liked it.
Everyone likes to feel appreciated. But more importantly, doing this will let your prospective customer know that you are well-informed. It makes it much more likely that they will give you a fair hearing and maybe even become one of your most positive customer review examples.
3) Acknowledge the Interruption
Also known as “get your excuses in first”. One of the biggest cold calling mistakes is to choose a closed question like “do you have time to talk right now?” It nearly always results in refusal and a quick end to the conversation. Choosing an open-ended question instead can open up the conversation.
Instead, you can use a pattern interrupt based on blocking. You explain upfront that you know you’re taking up their precious time, but in a specific way:
“Can I steal 27 seconds of your time?”
You’re not asking for ten minutes or even one minute. With luck, the irregularity of the number blocks the kneejerk “no” response and you have a way in.
4) Unexpected Written Elements
Somewhere between confusion and redirection lies the tactic of approaching prospective customers with messages written in an unusual way. It disarms and intrigues.
“What’s this?” people think, and often can’t resist clicking on the email or direct message.
Focus on the subject line. Ideally, it should be between six and 10 words long to attract attention. Be a little cautious about using emojis, though. According to research by user experience consulting experts Nielsen Norman, using emojis in email headers induces negative sentiment. That might be the opposite of what you’d expect, so be careful there.
Apart from that, the possibilities here and in the main body text really are only limited by your imagination. One trick to try is messing with the expected format of cold approaches. Drop greetings and “I hope this email finds you well” starter sentences. Mess around with capitalization and grammar. Maybe even simply miss out your CTA altogether.
Those happy to throw caution to the wind could try sending an email that is just an image with the word “thoughts?” appended. It’s a high-risk strategy, but if you’re having trouble cutting through the clutter, a bold move like this can pay off.
5) Humor
The idea of using humor in sales calls is nothing new. It breaks the tension with comedic relief. If you can use humor as a framework for explaining how you can solve your potential customer’s problem, that creates an immediate bond of trust.
The only problem is: everyone’s sense of humor is slightly different.
So this is one where you have to exercise some restraint. Keep it professional, for one thing. A joke you may find pleasantly risqué may just turn out to be risky. Avoid anything to do with illness, recent tragic events, or romantic relationships.
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Don’t be put off, though. We’re all human and there is a lot of safe common ground. You don’t need to blow the prospect away with your astonishing wit. All you’re after is fostering a little empathy.
Let’s suppose you’re selling application integrations tools for businesses. To enliven what could otherwise be a very dry conversation, you could say something silly like:
“I know what you’re thinking: application integration is so exciting that you can’t stop talking about it all the time, so I thought I’d help out!”
Okay, it’s not going to win any comedy awards, but it strikes the right mixture of light-heartedness and professionalism. If you’re unsure where to pitch it, imagine you’re telling your grandmother a joke. That usually does the trick. (Please note this doesn’t apply if your grandmother happens to be particularly ribald in her tastes.)
6) Bond Over Shared Experience
Another way of creating that sense of empathy is by drawing attention to something you and your prospect have in common. This can be quite straightforward to do if you work in the same industry. For instance, you could say:
“From one salesperson to another…”
“I think we both went to the Digital Marketing conference a few weeks ago?”
If you can find a point in common, it’s an excellent foundation for further conversation.
Let’s say you want to discuss tools for scaling up an ecommerce business. You might start by talking about your own experience with launching a site and all the details that have to be sorted out: polishing brand visuals, researching the legal need for a reseller certificate, optimizing inventory and so on.
You don’t need to go on at length. The goal is simply to form a shared connection that you can build on to create mutual trust.
Don’t go over the top, either. Something like “I saw you mentioned your cat on LinkedIn. I’m a cat person too! Here’s a pic of my gorgeous kitties…” is unlikely to go down well in a professional setting.
7) Surprise!
As you’ll have noticed by now, what all of these tips have in common is the element of surprise. That’s crucial. The key to grabbing someone’s attention is to interrupt their patterns, which means presenting them with something unexpected.
So let’s finish off this list with full-on shock and awe tactics. Present your prospect with a statement or thought so stunning that they can’t help but be intrigued:
“How would your business cope if there were a global internet blackout that lasted a month?”
“What if I offered you a partnership marketing opportunity that could boost your quarterly revenue by $5 million?”
You might need to give them a definition of partnership marketing, but you get the point. Pose a question or introduce an idea that’s so huge it has immediate impact. There’s no better way to get yourself heard.
Supercharge Your Sales
As you know, sales skill is as much of an art as a science. Some of these tips will suit your style better than others. But the principle underlying all of them is the same.
Whether you’re using sophisticated VoIP call center solutions or good old-fashioned email to reach out to your prospect—it doesn’t matter. Pattern interruption is one of the most powerful techniques available to sales professionals today. So give it a try and close that sale!
