The Music Man went to River City, Iowa, and sang a little ditty about trouble to seduce the town into buying his musical instruments. In the movie, it worked like a charm. But would such tactics work in real life?
Aside from the very basic idea that no, singing a song will not get a client standing in front of you to buy (generally speaking, unless you are a musician), there are a couple other fundamental problems with how professor Harold Hill sold to his audience. He loves to tell them the problems of their city, and what they need to do to fix the city. But a fundamental start to a good sale is not telling the consumer what their problem is, but rather, interacting with them and asking them what their problem is.
If River City was filled with normal people, there would not have been success for that swindler Harold Hill that day. But without it, we would miss out on a great story.
Luke Owen 
Molly McCommons
I love the Music Man and the connection between the sales aspect and the musical. One comment within the end of the post you say “asking them what their problem is.” Would it be asking what their problem is or asking them questions to lead to a realization of what their NEED is? Just a thought.
I never noticed what was wrong with this scenario! I knew it was something but I could never put my finger on it. I agree that what makes the salesman so awful at first introduction is because he is telling his buyers what they want. Then the whole town (of questionable intelligence) falls for the lie that they NEED instruments. This goes against what Coach D has taught that trustworthiness is everything in sales – thanks for sharing!
What a scene! This truly is a great example of a famous sales scenario in movies and you have broken it down very well. Like Lindy said above, we always knew when we watched the movie that there was something wrong with the way Harold Hill sold but we could never truly identify what it was. Today, I don’t think that we would get swindled by Professor Hill and his slick ways but you never know! He was one of the best and who can resist a singing salesman? He presents an outward appearance of trust and honor but on the inside that is not the case. In the end though, these false pretenses don’t work out so well for Harold. His downfall is a good example of what can happen when honor is not at the forefront of selling. Good thoughts Maverick!
The perfect example of a man who knows exactly what he wants to sell and exactly how to sell it. These kind of guys both make me cringe and make me wonder how those people fall for his lies so easily! It’s still entertaining for sure but it unfortunately feeds the salesman stereotype.