Relationships, Rapport, and Too Much Talking: Sales Lessons from Dunder Mifflin Paper Company

“Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica.”

If I asked you what TV series this quote is from, what would you say? If you answered with “The Office,” then congratulations, you are well versed in American culture, as this is one of the most quoted lines from the very popular American Mockumentary Sitcom. Despite the comedic and mocking theme of the show, there are actually many sales principles, both good and bad, that we can pull from The Office to inform our own selling methods and techniques. Let’s take a look at just a few of these principles by examining two characters that you know and love: Michael Scott and Andy Bernard.

Let’s first take a look at Michael Scott. Despite his constant tomfoolery and usual inability to take things seriously, we’re occasionally reminded how it is that the man still has a job: He’s a good salesman, and a great one at that. Somehow, a man who continually fails to function within social parameters succeeds again and again with interacting with clients. Throughout the show, we eventually come to realize that what makes Michael Scott a truly outstanding salesman is his value of relationships. He desperately wants a family of his own, but he also views those under his management as one big family and is always pursuing new relationships. This trait that makes him a pretty terrible manager is the exact quality that helps him excel as a salesman.

No episode better demonstrates this then “The Client.”

Michael and Jan meet with a possible client who could save Dunder Mifflin from having to downsize. Jan wants to get right down to business, but Michael continuously derails the conversation with what seems like useless topics of conversation that are a waste of time. While Jan grows exceedingly frustrated with Michael’s behavior, Michael is in fact building a relationship and rapport with the client in which the relationship comes before the sale. Finally, after a few hours of this, Michael brings up the subject of business and, not surprisingly, makes the sale. In a later episode, Michael says that sales is about people. He doesn’t see his customers as an obstacle to get over, but rather as real people who should be treated just like you and I. This is a very important sales concept, the idea of putting the customer and the relationship you form with them above anything else. If you start with this principle in your selling, there’s a good chance that the sale will follow naturally.

Now let’s look at Andy Bernard, often the person with worst sales record at Dunder Mifflin, the one who continually undermines Michael Scotts’ methods, and is the epitome of when good sales principles aren’t applied. Andy often tries to be braggy and arrogant, telling the client all about how great Dunder Mifflin is. But you don’t make sales by acting smart or overselling. In one episode, Andy overly stretches the truth as he explains to his client about how big Dunder Mifflin is, only for the prospect to explain that they have had bad experiences with large companies and are looking for a company smaller, ultimately resulting in the loss of the sale and business for Dunder Mifflin. He talks so much, assuming he knows what the client wants, instead of actually listening to their wants and needs. This is a perfect example of what is not following the “two ears, one mouth” principle. It is better for you as the salesman to listen to your customers’ needs then to try and sell them on things that may not matter to them, or answer questions that they never even had. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason.

It is by looking at both these good and bad examples of sales principles that we can better discern what techniques would best make up our own selling methods.