The Sales Technique You’ve Already Mastered Without Realizing It

Today, I want to introduce you to an important sales technique. Well… technically… you already know it. You’ve deployed it — or a version of it — countless times in conversations with everyone from your mom to your spouse to your best friend to strangers on the street. But, until today, you might not have thought about how truly powerful the technique is, and I want to change that. Do you know what technique I’m referring to?

It’s a technique I guarantee you’ve used at some point on an elevator. As you were standing inside a cramped metal box, feeling the discomfort of being alone in a small space with someone who, for all you know, could be a billionaire or a serial killer (or both!), you awkwardly asked:

“Can you believe the weather we’re having today?”

As soon as the person began answering, you mentally congratulated yourself for breaking the uncomfortable silence. “Conversation with a complete stranger successfully started!” you told yourself. And that’s the beauty of asking about the weather. It’s one thing in this world — perhaps the only thing — we all experience together. No matter our gender, race, social class, profession, age, sexual preference, or any of the other ridiculous things that seem to divide us as people, we all experience the weather.