Everyday Persuasion: The Sales Tactics That Work With Kids, Bosses, AND Clients - with Dean Karrel

Productivity Gladiator

Dean Karrel, a sales trainer and career advisor, joins Brian to discuss everyday sales tactics that can be used to influence and persuade, not just in a sales role but in all aspects of life - with kids, family, bosses, and clients. They discuss emotional intelligence, listening, understanding the other person's perspective, telling stories, being prepared, focusing on benefits over features, building trust through integrity, and character, as key skills for effective "selling" and positive influence in all your relationships. Selling is a valuable skill in all your roles throughout your life. Everyday persuasion is right!

See the full details and links on the episode's page.

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Links to References In This Episode

Dean Karrel's book "Mastering the Basics: Keys to Career & Life Success"

Dean Karrel’s courses on LinkedIn Learning

Brian Nelson-Palmer's TEDx talk on the value of your time

Movie Glengarry Glen Ross - the Alec Baldwin "Always Be Closing" speech scene

Movie - The Wolf of Wall Street - The Sales Speech Scene

Movie - Tin Men - scene on deception & Aluminum Siding

Dr. Todd Dewett's episode on storytelling

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Everyday PERSUASION

We all have an aversion to “sales” and “selling.” Visions of high pressure, scammy salespeople immediately come to mind thanks to negative stereotypes perpetuated by popular media. However, the reality is sales skills are invaluable in all aspects of business and life – with your colleagues, your family, even your kids. Sales, influence, and persuasion happen everyday in a variety of relationships and scenarios.

So how can you utilize sales tactics effectively without manipulation? The key is authenticity. Success lies in enhancing your natural abilities rather than pretending to be someone you’re not.

Emotional Intelligence Sets the Stage

The first and most critical sales skill is emotional intelligence – self-awareness and understanding others. You can’t sell anything without first reading the emotional state of the other party. Listen more than you speak to pick up on cues revealing how the other person is feeling and what objections or concerns they may have. Empathize and find common ground. No progress will happen if emotions run high or trust lacks. As one quote puts it, “take it easy, they’re doing the best they can.” Meet people where they are first before launching into a proposal or request.

What’s in It For Them?

We all ask ourselves “What’s in this for me?” when presented with an offer. The key is to flip perspectives. Demonstrate how your product, idea, or proposal specifically solves a problem or adds value for the other party. Generic benefits don’t compel action. You have to understand motivations and goals from their angle. Do your research to craft messaging hitting on tangible outcomes the other person cares about.

An example shared was utilizing AI to help clean out and use up food when moving houses. The benefit of convenience connecting with a pressing real need in the moment led to adoption of the technology. Even though general usefulness had been touted before without impact. Think benefits over features and make it personal.

Stories Resonate More Than Stats

Stories speak directly to emotions and relationships. Data and facts have their place in selling, but stories forge human connections vital for influence. One powerful anecdote relayed was of a salesperson standing on a couch to physically demonstrate the “no sag” benefit of that particular furniture product. Visuals showing 350 pounds of force exerted without damage tell the durability story far better than talking springs and fabric quality.

Stories also help deliver difficult news or major changes that require buy-in from your team. Explaining the reasons behind a shift through story gives helpful context. Even during painful layoffs, the “why” behind restructuring won empathy and preserved future relationships with those impacted.

Authenticity Starts with Self-Awareness

A sales pro knows both strengths and growth areas – they have clarity on natural abilities that can be enhanced versus trying to force behaviors not aligned with innate tendencies. As one leader learned, aggression and manipulation don’t work long-term even if you initially close more deals. You burn trust quickly through not being genuine.

Leaning into authenticity requires self-awareness. What unique value do you bring based on abilities, experience, and personality? Lead with your true self to build trust and likability that enables influence.

The Foundation: Character

At the root, your character determines the trust you instill. One story involved calling out a rude customer and then encountering them later as a job candidate. Treating people respectfully regardless of power status or external pressures reveals strong principles. Do you help others when there is no advantage or audience? How you act when no one is looking shows who you truly are.

Relationships Drive Referrals

Finally, sales has shifted from one-off transactions to relationship focus because referrals now drive revenue. While AI supports many business functions, people ultimately still decide to do business with people. No software builds rapport and trust for you. Use technology to enhance but not try to replace human connections.

Listening and learning about the other person before launching into a sales pitch proves more persuasive than glossy brochures or elegant features. Sales at its core sits on this foundation: genuinely knowing, helping, and collaborating with humans.

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Today’s Guest

Dean Karrel
Sales Trainer, Career Mentor, Author

Dean Karrel is an expert in executive coaching, career mentoring, sales training, and leadership development.

Dean has been in sales management and leadership positions for over three decades with some major global publishing companies. Most recently, he was senior vice president of sales of John Wiley & Sons based in Hoboken, New Jersey. His sales teams were focused on direct sales to major retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Costco, and other national chains, along with initiatives aimed at B2B and B2C sales. Dean now has his own consulting business providing sales training programs along with career and executive coaching. In addition, he is a Certified Professional Career Coach. Dean is the author of Mastering the Basics: Simple Lessons for Achieving Success in Business.

Website: linkedin.com/learning/instructors/dean-karrel

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/deankarrel

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About The Creator/Host: I’m Brian. At age 4, I was diagnosed with insulin dependent (type 1) diabetes and told that my life was going to be 10-20 years shorter than everyone else. As a kid I took time for granted, but now as an adult, time is the most precious thing that I have. After spending a career hands-on in the trenches as a senior project manager, I now help others to level-up through my Productivity Gladiator training. These Gladiators wield email management superpowers, a laser-guided ability to focus, samurai-grade prioritization skills, a sniper-precise task tracking approach, Jedi time management skills, and a secret sauce for maximizing their personal life balance. If what you’ve seen here intrigues you, reach out, let’s chat! Time is the currency of your life, spend it wisely.