“Colonel, I’ll just need a copy of Santiago’s transfer order.”
- Lt. Danny Kaffee (Tom Cruise) in the 1992 movie “A Few Good Men“
First, there are seven exceptional sales meetings embedded in this movie. Today and tomorrow, we’ll touch on a handful of them.
#1 – Instincts matter! In the scene (language/content alert) quoted above, Kaffee instinctively asks what seems to be an innocuous question. It’s not innocuous, though. It’s instinctive. He learns something about Colonel Jessup that will play a massive part in the story later. Lesson: Trust your instincts, especially if you’re Blessed with a leader who will invest in helping you develop them.
#2 – Professional selling is the passionate transference of belief. Kaffee and Lt. Commander Joanne Galloway (Demi Moore) argue early and often about belief. Kaffee, the risk-averse son of a legendary trial lawyer, is focused solely on “what he can prove.” From 54:39 of the movie to the 56:08 mark, a brilliant exchange ends with Galloway declaring, “All that matters is what we believe!” (Spoiler alert: Combined with instincts, it turns out to be true…)
#3—Preparation is priceless! Knowing the decision process your Client will follow is absolutely table stakes. If you don’t know that, you don’t know anything. Kaffee quotes his father: “…a jury trial is not just about the law; it’s about assigning blame.” So is “decision by committee,” so we’d better know what can go wrong if they buy from us and what the impact will be on the deciders.
Tomorrow, if you’ll hang with us, we’ll touch on two more. In the meantime, if you know someone who’s sales team could use some learnin’ up, send them this way!
Leave a Reply