Tommy Boy is a salesman who has to take over his father’s company and has to save them from going bankrupt by selling a certain amount of brake pads. Having to live up to his father was a concern for Tommy Boy because of how much of a legendary salesman his dad was. He did not have any previous sales experience and was anxious about what to do in a sales meeting. His partner he was selling with was more of the technical type who knew about the brake pads so he was telling Tommy Boy strategies and what they have to do to complete the sale.
They go on sales call after sales call and keep getting rejected but Tommy Boy keeps his hopes alive because his career and employees jobs are on the line. After all those rejections, Tommy Boy and his partner get one client to say maybe. Both are genuinely surprised so the technical salesman starts talking about the features and what the product provides and the client immediately stops him. This technical terms is not what the client is worried about. Tommy Boy then uses the cars on the client’s desk to demonstrate what would happen if they did not buy their brake pads.
This scene shows that the client does not care about the specific features, they want a story or for them to apply to his needs. Everyone can get anxious when going into a sales call but it is important not to overdo it. After this scene they then go on a sales run and start selling more brake pads because Tommy Boy got some sales calls under his belt and felt more comfortable in his own skin. Even if you go on a cold streak and get rejection after rejection, once you are comfortable with yourself and appeal to the client, the sales will eventually come.
BoweryJE22
I think that is a great lesson. Sharing the features immediately is a poor way of selling something. Portraying a story though evokes emotions in the prospect which can get them to buy into it. I would rather buy from a good story rather than a list of features.
I love this example! The fact that Tommy Boy kept trying after so many rejections demonstrates the concept of buoyancy from Pink’s book. Even if you fail, you need to get up and keep trying. I also liked how you mentioned that the customer was not looking for features and details, but a connection through a story that eventually made the sale. Good post!
It is definitely good practice to make sure you can provide stories and examples when selling because people are programed to engage with stories. A good story is always going to be a better tool in a sales meeting than a specification sheet. A potential customer does not want to meet with a salesperson to discuss specifications that they are probably already familiar with, but in order to see if they believe you can satisfy their personal needs.