To Learn How to Sell: Watch Meet Joe Black

Is this a blast from the past, or what?  Do you remember the 1998 romantic drama with Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, and Claire Forlani?  My wife and I watched it over the weekend as part of her Mother’s Day festivities.  I’d never seen it all the way through before, and it’s actually a pretty good movie.  I’m not usually one for a tear jerker, but this one had a lot of different aspects in it you can appreciate.

Of course I’m all business these days and have an eye for good sales teaching, so I was floored when I saw a great teaching moment about 20 minutes in to show when Susan (Claire Florlani) walks into a coffee shop to do some work where Joe (Brad Pitt) is behind a glass wall talking on the phone, supposedly to his wife.  Take a look:

https://youtu.be/DP-8z7_j2bk

The thing that struck me so much about this scene is not how he “won” the sale, by that I mean he won her attention and in reality her heart, but he did it despite a lot of objections.  And he handled them directly, but with immense grace.

Now not many of us can expect to have perfectly scripted sales calls like this every time, but the thing that stands out to me from this example is how Joe Black is not afraid of what NO might look like.  If you’re afraid of NO then there’s zero chance in hell you’re ever going to sell anything.

I’ve been doing this for 12 years now and am constantly amazed at how many times just a quick reminder or a stop by someone’s office will result in a sale.  Don’t think that you’re “bothering” someone or they “aren’t ready” to buy yet.  If you have a quality product that’s priced appropriately and you’re explaining the value proposition well they should be going out of their way to buy your product or service.  If that’s no the case then you need to change something about your approach.  Change what you’re selling, change how you feel about your product, or change how you relay that dynamic to your customers.

Wrapup

Sales is about 80% just showing up and 20% value.  If you nail that value proposition then you’ll be more successful, and more wealthy, than anyone you know.  That’s the beauty of sales.  Unlimited upside potential.

Now get off your ass and go sell something.