What Salespeople Can Learn to NOT Do From Matt Rife

Imagine you had exactly what you wished for handed to you on a silver platter. Everything you prayed about before you went to bed, the opportunity to make it all come true; in fact, it was coming true for you!

This is exactly what comedian Matt Rife had.

This guy blew up on Tiktok for quick, funny videos of him doing crowd work on stage that gained him a huge following (well, crowd work and a great jawline). He had it all: fame, sold out shows, tons of attention for being funny and attractive... and he completely fumbled the ball with his most recent Netflix Special.

Despite his considerable comedy chops, Rife made a critical error that often catch several salespeople, including those perfecting their cold calling and emailing techniques. Instead of understanding and catering to his core audience's sensibilities, he decided to deliver material that was controversial and disturbing to many. He pushed his agenda over the crowds agenda; rather than getting them onto his.

He violated the benign violation principle and offended the audience, rather than entertain them.

The Benign Violation Principle

The benign violation principle, a cognitive-emotional theory of humor developed by Peter McGraw and Caleb Warren, indicates that humor results when three conditions are simultaneously met: something is a violation, it is benign, and both perceptions coincide. Essentially, if a scenario is wrong yet safe, and if these two events happen simultaneously, the scenario will be funny.

In the realm of sales, this principle can and should be applied, albeit with some modifications. Like comedians, salespeople are in a business of rapport building, and a targeted, non-offensive humor can be an effective tool to warm up a cold call or email. We can learn a lot from Matt Rife's mistake. By neglecting to understand and cater to his audience’s sensibilities, he ended up damaging his rapport with them.

In a practical sales situation where we're trying to capture a prospective client’s attention via a cold call or email, it's crucial to understand the prospect's interests, the industry peculiarities and their daily challenges. This information allows us to frame our product or service in a manner that directly aligns with these interests or challenges. If we can wrap this in relatable humor instead of shocking it, we're on the right path to create a bond with the prospect.

How it works in practice

Consider this scenario: a sales professional selling digital marketing services to a local bakery might begin a dialogue by genuinely acknowledging the baking industry's recent increase in competition due to the meteoric rise of home bakers during the pandemic (I can't be the only one who created a sourdough starter). This invokes empathy, indicating an understanding of the baker's situation. A pinch of humor related to 'burnt banana bread experiences during lockdown', while not offensive, has the potential to lighten the mood and make the conversation memorable. This strikes the right balance of violation and benignity, also known as achieving the optimal violation point as proposed by McGraw and Caleb.

Expectations

Another noteworthy lesson from Matt Rife's missteps is the sincerity in setting expectations. Rife's audience had certain expectations from him which he failed to meet. He got good at the pitch, the crowd work, but didn't back it up with good deliverables. In the realm of sales, this underscores the importance of only promising what you can deliver at every step of the sales process, be it an intro call, discovery call, or sales presentations. Overselling can lead to dissatisfaction and potential loss of customer trust.

Remember, our goal in sales is not to shock but to create a connect. Don’t be the Matt Rife of sales. Understand your audience’s sensibilities, connect on those commonalities, add a dash of relatable humor, and fulfill what you promise in the sales process. As the toast of the town, you'll be leaving your audience — your clients and potential leads — craving for an encore.