A short YouTube video by Timothy Schucker advising viewers to present themselves as an authoritative figure (e.g., using an object like a pen to mimic a teacher/consultant) to gain respect, reduce objections, and elicit useful information from prospects during sales conversations.
Now for all of you that are watching this currently and you're wondering why I'm pulling a pen out but I'm not writing anything down. One thing that people are classically conditioned to do is to respect someone who presents themselves as an authoritative figure. Think of professors, teachers, parents. Oftentimes you use some form of object like a pen or some form of wooden stick or something to point out things on a note board, on a whiteboard, on a chalkboard, whatever it is. Because the generation before us was conditioned even more to appreciate and listen to professors in college and things like that. Oftentimes, whenever you're talking with someone, if you start to present yourself as an authoritative figure and assume the role of a consultant or a teacher versus a salesperson, not only will they respect you more, not only will they offer you less objections, but they will also listen to what you have to say and offer you information that you need to move the sale down the line.
