Mad Men TV Show - Selling in 1959?

Several years ago I met the Founder and CEO of a large, national department store chain. When he learned I was in the sales training business, he said, “What do you know about selling? Do you know how it has changed?” I talked about it being more customer need-focused, more competitive, the availability of information … and asked him for his view.

“I can sum it up like this,” he said. “In the old days, if a customer wanted to return something, you took him by the collar and threw him out. Today, if the customer wore it for three weeks, you thank him for bringing it in and apologize. That’s how it’s changed!”

Watching Mad Men, the AMC TV series on Thursday nights, about a Madison Avenue advertising firm (which has gotten overwhelming critical acclaim for its attention to detail and authenticity of dress, attitudes, prejudices, social structure, etc.), I have been taken aback by the style of selling depicted by the show’s hero, Don Draper.

Because everything else is so authentic, it reminded me of the phrase the Founder/CEO used — “throw them out.”

While Don Draper doesn’t “throw” his clients out, he does the next closest thing by threatening to walk out on them. On the September 13th episode, (early in the call and sales cycle) when a million-dollar client rejected Don Draper’s idea for an ad campaign for a lipstick, without any provocation from the client whatsoever, Don Draper stood up and in a critical and rude tone announced the meeting was over — only after bluntly telling the client, in the presence of the client’s executive team, why the cosmetic company was number four. When the client responded by asking Don to sit down, before agreeing to do so, Don extracted an agreement from him that Don’s time would not be wasted.

Don’s behavior in that episode resulted in him getting an unexpected bonus for $2,500 from his boss, a considerable sum for 1959.

Frankly, in my 30 years in sales, I never saw such arrogance in selling. Granted, in 1959 there were far fewer competitors in all fields and much less knowledge sharing, but factors like this could hardly account for such behavior. Since everything else is so authentic and 1959 was before my selling time, I had to question if the writers just fabricated this kind of selling.

I’ve never witnessed a salesperson acting in such a manner. Have you? And how would your customers respond today if a salesperson pulled a stunt like this?


What movies or TV shows depicting sales and salespeople’s approach and philosophy should we watch out for? One I particularly like is Edward G. Robinson’s depiction of a salesperson in Double Indemnity.

Looking forward to your response.

Linda

Linda Richardson is founder of Richardson, a leading global sales training and consulting firm. Please visit our web site at http://www.richardson.com to learn more about our customized sales, sales management, and service training that incorporates diagnostics, eLearning and instructor-led programs.

Best Success Sales Story — What is yours

The best success story I heard, I heard over dinner a few nights ago. A neighbor, a person who could be very difficult, was selling a home he owned which was located directly across from the home he lives in. When a very successful executive who runs a sales organization in the area made an offer 25% below the asking price, our neighbor was deeply offended and instructed the agent that he would NEVER entertain any offer whatsoever from this executive.

The executive was not deterred (persistence). He researched the seller and learned he had an 8 year old son (preparation). On a bright Saturday morning he knocked on the door with his son by his side (personal connection). He apologized (rapport) and explained how he had not intended to insult the owner and that the price he offered was all he could afford (rationale). He said, what’s important to you. The seller said the price. The executive asked, “Anything else?” and learned that the person/family was important too. The executive said, “I am a family guy. I have a nice family with an 8 year old boy. You have an 8 year old son … Do you want me for a neighbor or some grouch you might get?” The dialogue continued.

Result: The executive bought the property for the price he originally offered.

Bottom line: Emotional or personal needs are often stronger than financial needs.

Lesson Learned: Building relationships is one of the keys to and joys of selling. And persistence, preparation, and positioning to needs of the buyer pay off.

Any reactions? What is the best success sales story you know?

To learn more about Richradson's end-to-end sales training solutions, please visit us at http://www.richardson.com