Commission breath is that unmistakable whiff of desperation when sellers focus more on closing than connecting.
Prospects pick up on it immediately, and it’s one of the fastest ways to turn them off.
Luckily, there are proven strategies to help you avoid commission breath and create genuine, trust-based relationships. We’re putting the power of human psychology to work for you. In this post, we’ll cover sales tactics that prioritize helping over hard selling, so you can build rapport, increase your success rate, and close deals without the pushy vibes.
What is commission breath?
Commission breath is when a salesperson’s desperation for a deal is so obvious, it practically stinks. It happens when hitting a quota matters more than actually helping the customer, and prospects can sense it from a mile away. Instead of focusing on understanding and solving the customer’s needs, a commission-driven approach feels pushy, making prospects back off fast. The fix? Drop the pressure, listen first, and focus on building trust—not just closing the deal.
9 pro strategies for alleviating commission breath
Commission breath will kill a deal as quickly as bad breath ruins a date.
Here are the best strategies to solve this problem.
1. View yourself as the prospect’s partner or consultant
Self-perception theory states that people infer their attitudes from their actions. In essence, how you see yourself matters, and your actions shape that view.
When you show up as a helpful resource—not a pushy salesperson—you start to see yourself as a partner in your customer’s success. This shift boosts your confidence and encourages helpful behaviors in future interactions.
So, make sure to proactively view yourself as a helpful guide and keep taking actions that reinforce this belief.
2. Be very mindful of first impressions
You’ve heard of confirmation bias, right? Prospects will attempt to confirm their initial impression of you. People tend to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms their preconceptions.
For example, if a salesperson comes across as solely commission-focused, the prospect is more likely to interpret future interactions as pushy. But when salespeople shift to a "help-first" approach, they start to establish a different bias. The prospect begins to view them as a trusted advisor rather than just another salesperson.
One way you can get ahead of your first impression is with social selling. Work on creating an online presence that helps people look forward to speaking with you.
“My content is very approachable with lots of humor and sarcasm. I’m all about memes. I don’t try to write smart posts that are going to intimidate people. My angle is to talk to someone. I want them to feel like we met at an airport and are sharing a beer. What are you up to? Where are you flying? That’s the kind of vibe I put out with my content so I can help people feel comfortable when they talk to me on the phone. There’s low pressure and no big expectations.” - Roy Schuhmacher, Enterprise Sales Manager at HireVue
3. Find ways to help
The principle of reciprocity states that people feel a natural obligation to return favors or kindness. When salespeople provide genuine value or offer help without immediate expectation, prospects are more inclined to reciprocate by offering introductions, sharing referrals, or even purchasing in the future.
When you provide real value with no strings attached, people naturally want to return the favor. Show up as a genuine resource, not just another salesperson, and your prospects are way more likely to give back.
Here are a few ways you can lend a hand:
- Share relevant industry insights
- Introduce them to useful contacts
- Provide educational resources or articles
- Invite them to an exclusive event
- Send a quick how-to guide that could save them time
- Highlight potential blind spots in their process
4. Turn “not right nows” into warm introductions
Not every conversation is going to end in a deal—and that’s perfectly fine. When a prospect says the timing isn’t right, the budget’s not there, or it’s just not the right fit, it’s easy to feel like the conversation has hit a dead end.
Instead of moving on, keep the door open with a simple, genuine ask: “Is there anyone else you think I should talk to?” Prospects appreciate the candor and are often willing to make introductions. One “no” can open doors to two or three new conversations when handled with a no-pressure mindset.
5. Emphasize value over features
Forget the feature dump—what your product does is less important than what it fixes. Focus on the real problems you solve for your customer, and lead with how your solution adds value to their day-to-day.
Studies show that people are more motivated to avoid losses than to achieve equivalent gains (especially when stressed or struggling). Leverage this by framing value in terms of what the prospect might lose without your product or service.
Subtle use of loss aversion can work well, but if you focus on it too much, your commission breath will reek, so be careful with this strategy. Whether you should highlight gains or losses depends a lot on your audience and solution.
6. Be consistent with pipeline development
A full pipeline takes the pressure off. When you’re consistently filling the funnel, you’re less likely to come across as desperate. For outbound, make sure to optimize every step: refine your messaging, targeting, and signals. Push your tech to the limit and make sure you’re utilizing AI to personalize your outbound messaging.
And don’t rely solely on cold outreach. Tap into warm introductions by actively operationalizing your network. Commsor’s tools make it easy to identify real connections within your team’s personal and professional circles, request intros, and track progress.
“The best opportunities lie in warm outreach. In my experience, especially in the enterprise segment, referrals have made up 40-50% of the overall new business…just purely off somebody knowing somebody. My first approach when joining a new team is to always start with people that I’ve worked very closely with over the last 2-3 years, people that I know will be happy to get me introductions.” - Stanton Quan, Head of Mid-Market Sales at Vendelux
When you build a steady flow of opportunities—both warm and cold—it’s easier to focus on helping, not just closing.
7. Shift your mindset to expect the unexpected
You never know how something is going to come back to you. This isn’t some wishy-washy, trust-in-the universe belief. This is reality. When you truly focus on the needs of the person in front of you, you’re doing a good deed. The foundation of your career is solid. And when you’re building on the right foundation, life gets easier.
Someone you spoke with 6 months ago might…
- Reach back out to implement your solution
- Move onto another company and become your champion buyer there
- Refer you to a VP at another company
Believing that good things will come to you is a powerful mindset shift. It changes the way you approach your to-do list every day. So, don’t just hope these things will happen. Know that they will, and act accordingly.
8. Focus on asking really good questions
Want to build rapport? Ask better questions. Asking thoughtful questions makes people feel seen and valued. It shows you’re focused on what matters to them, not just your own sales goals. And, when you genuinely listen, prospects open up about their real challenges, giving you the insights to steer the conversation toward solving their needs—not just pushing a sale.
Work with your team to create a discovery questionnaire with anywhere from 50 to 200 different top-notch questions to ask (so you don’t have to remember them). Update this on a monthly or quarterly basis so you stay on top of the hardest-hitting questions.
9. Make one small request at a time
If you’re worried that you’re continually coming across as a sleazy salesperson, your process might be to blame.
Your sales cycle should be built off the “foot-in-the-door” technique, which suggests that people are more likely to agree to a larger request if they first agree to a smaller one. For example, asking a lead to get approval for a small request—like a team call or audit—can make them more receptive to future requests. By making a low-stakes, reasonable ask, you work your way towards a larger deal without coming off too strong.
And remember, "no" is a natural response that you’ll hear quite often.
“No” isn’t a complete dead end—it’s a chance to learn what matters to your prospect. Use rejections as a way to get closer to the hard truths you need to be aware of and act on what you learn.
Ready to operationalize and scale warm intros? Learn more about Commsor.
