Can Music Make You A More Successful Salesperson?

Do you use music to help with anything you do? If not, you should think about starting.

Music is a great tool, and using it can boost your sales if you learn a little about how, when and why music is used in sales. This article explains some of the finer points of using music to boost your sales performance.

(Another way is to use a sales automation CRM, like Spiro!)

What Does Music Have To Do With Increasing Sales?

Well, simply enough, music changes your mood when you listen to it. That’s why they have soundtracks in film and such – when romantic music is playing, you feel for the characters who are most likely in love. When tense, dramatic music is playing, it heightens the stakes of an action scene.

When your mood is changed by music, you can think about things differently. For example, surgeons performing operations will often listen to music, which has been scientifically proven to increase their effectiveness, as well as put patients at ease if they have to be awake for the procedure. As for a big name sales company, Salesforce.com always plays upbeat music at their events and conferences to put people in a good mood.

How Does Music Impact The Salesperson’s Brain?

Music can change your mood, but it isn’t mind control. Only sales robots think they can brainwash people into buying whatever you’re selling just because you play a song. What it can do, according to a study from our friends at Buffer, is:

• Make people more likely to read other people as happy.
• Make you more motivated to exercise.
• Increase creativity.

To return to sales, retail outlets often play happy, upbeat music, which has been statistically proven to increase sales figures. One study found that customers spent more time at a stall with pleasant music than not with music, and that music caused a positive effect on sales volume. The same study also curiously found that the type of music played, plays a role in results. A store which sold wine, sold more expensive bottles when classical music was playing, compared to the Top 40 playlist.

The use of a music doesn’t stop in a retail store. I strongly recommend you listen to a motivational playlist before heading out on a sales call to get yourself in the right mindset.

How To Use Music To Increase Sales

Clearly, music isn’t the only thing you need to know about to make a sale. You still have to listen to your potential customers, know the industry and your product, etc. Like I’ve said before, music isn’t a magical instant-sale button, but it can certainly help.

A big part of your job as a salesperson, is to present yourself as an engaged and excited representative of your company and its products. Using music to get yourself fired up before a call is a great way to unobtrusively use music. In general, you don’t want to play music for customers unless it’s in the background somehow.

What Sort Of Music To Use And When

Whether it’s old-school tracks from Bruce Springsteen or newer pop music like the latest Taylor Swift, it’s important to find something that will get you excited and ready to sell. As a general tip, it’s a good idea to have something with a good beat and without lyrics that are too distracting. It’s also important to have a playlist, or Pandora station, that will last for a while – going back constantly to load a new song will just break your concentration.

Whether you’re playing it in the background of a motivational meeting, listening to it on your way to work, or playing it on the sales floor for your customers’ enjoyment too, music can really change the way you and others feel. It’s not magic, but don’t discount the power that a well-chosen song can have on a sales interaction.

Photos courtesy of Flickr user Ronald Woan.