Sales from the movies: There Will be Blood

A scene from one of my favorite movies, the “I’m an oil man” scene from There Will be Blood. This is a scene where Daniel Plainview (an oil miner), the protagonist is introducing himself to a group of people who have oil on their land. He clearly states who he is and then tells people what new value he can bring to them. I really like how he gives them his value proposition as a story not as a boring list of features and benefits that he had. It reminds me of what we learned in class of how “Older Sales Models” focused on a list of features and benefits but how New Sales Models focused more on personal selling.

I think even as sellers ourselves, people like more personal stories and interactions rather than your usual “here’s a list of why you should buy from me.” People are more open when they are drawn into a conversation rather than when they’re confronted with a list. To put that into perspective think about when you talk to the person you’re interested in: you’re not going to go tell them a list of reasons as to why they should date you, but you’re going to be more personal, more involving and engaging – which I think should also be a part of an effective sale.