Surreal Selling by Zouhair Mahmoud
Surreal Selling on the Phone: Turning Curiosity into a Powerful Sales Tool
In traditional phone sales, the salesperson starts with certainty and conviction:
“I have something that will change your life!”
“This will increase your profits!”
“You can’t afford to miss this!”
The assumption?
That the customer wants to be convinced and will respond positively to an aggressive pitch.
But in Surreal Selling, phone sales are not about persuasion—they are about awakening curiosity.
The Power of Emotional Contradiction in Phone Sales
Human emotions are not static.
We are constantly shifting between curiosity, doubt, fear, and excitement.
The biggest questions in life—‘Who are we? What do we want? Where are we going?’—have no clear answers.
This internal conflict exists in every person, including your customer.
In Surreal Selling, we do not “sell certainty”—we invite the customer into a moment of self-reflection.
The Surreal Approach to Phone Sales: Let the Customer Chase the Answer
Instead of saying:
“I have something incredible to show you!”
Say this instead:
“I don’t know if what I have will interest you or not.”
“To be honest, I hesitated before calling you.”
“But in the end, I chose to call and ask—when would be a good time for you to take a look for yourself?”
Why is this powerful?
It triggers the customer’s curiosity.
It creates a psychological tension between wanting to ignore you and wanting to know more.
It makes the customer feel in control—because they now have to make the choice.
Surreal Selling doesn’t force a decision—it makes the decision impossible to ignore.
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The Psychology Behind This Approach
Why does this work so well?
1. The Contradiction Principle
Humans hate unanswered questions.
When you say, “I don’t know if this will interest you,” the brain automatically wants to find out.
2. The Ego Effect
When you say, “I hesitated before calling you,” it makes the customer feel special—as if your call was not random.
3. The Pull Strategy
Instead of pushing the customer toward a decision, you are pulling them in by letting their own curiosity work for you.
This is why Surreal Selling is not about convincing—it’s about igniting thought.
A Practical Example of a Surreal Phone Sales Call
Customer: “Hello?”
Salesperson: “Hi [Name], I hesitated before calling you because I don’t know if this will interest you or not…”
Salesperson: “But in the end, I decided to ask—when would be a good time for you to take a look yourself?”
What happens next?
The customer leans in—emotionally and mentally.
They are now asking themselves: ‘What is this about?’
You have shifted control to them, making them more likely to say yes.
This is the power of Surreal Selling over the phone.
The Surreal Selling Takeaway
Phone sales are not about pushing certainty—they are about inviting curiosity.
Your goal is not to persuade, but to make it impossible for the customer to ignore the invitation.
The best sales calls don’t tell the customer what they need—they make the customer realize they need to find out.
Are you ready to change the way you sell on the phone forever?
Try it in your next call and watch the magic happen!
Uniqueness, lies in being different despite our similarities, and similar despite our differences
Zouhair Mahmoud
Creator of the Surreal Selling Theory
Redefining how professionals approach sales through creativity and psychology.
