Analyzing the Sales Techniques of Boss Co.’s Breakup Service

If you’ve watched any episodes of The Middle, you know that Axl can come up with some pretty wild ideas. In this episode Axl and his friends, Darrin and Sean, find themselves running low on cash around Valentine’s Day. Axl recognizes that there is a common pain among guys around this time of year and believes that Boss Co. can be of service. He sees that several guys want to break up with their girlfriends before Valentine’s Day to avoid spending a lot of money and taking their relationship to a new level, and he proceeds to propose that Boss Co. should offer to do the break ups for a fee. Axl is trying to relieve the pain guys have of doing the breakup themselves. Now I’m sure you can see where this is going, and no, the ending will not be pretty. However, Boss Co. expressed both good and clearly bad sales techniques while delivering on their service.

One way in which this scenario displays good sales techniques is that a pain was very clearly identified and acted upon, because as we discussed in class: “No pain, no sale.” Axl clearly has found a pain, as demonstrated by the couple breaking up at the beginning of the video clip. The boys also somewhat try to handle the breakups with gentleness towards the people and demonstrate that they care. This can be seen when Darrin gave a rose to the one girl when they broke up with her, and when he tells the teacher that she was too good for him anyway. Though they try to handle the breakups with a kind spirit, it is clear that their efforts fall short of demonstrating actual care. Another way Boss Co. used good sales technique would be their post sell via a request to fill out a survey and like them on Facebook. This, however, was not delivered in a very positive manner, as the request was made while the pain was still being felt.

In these situations, instead of eliminating pain, the pain was just transferred. Those who hired Boss Co. avoided the pain of handling breakups on their own, but in return others felt pain, including Boss Co, who ended up with a multitude of girls angry with them by the end of the episode. Other ways Boss Co. fell short was with their contract, as they were not super open about explaining it to their prospect when he asked questions, they simply assured him that it was a standard release form and did not dive into any concerns the prospect may have.

Overall, Boss Co. had good intentions to solve a pain, however things did not turn out as planned. In all reality, I’m not sure how these sales could have ended on a positive note, but it sure does make an entertaining sale to analyze.