These movies about sales have invaluable lessons for you to learn.
Hollywood often depicts sales culture in extremes – either you’re a money-hungry eccentric or you’re a lying, sleazy piranha. Though not all movies about sales showcase unlikeable characters. Some movies have valuable sales lessons that we can either learn alongside the main characters or through their mistakes. Check out these five movies about sales and see what lessons you can bring to your sales team.
Jerry Maguire
Lesson: Treat your clients right
One of the most important parts of your job in sales is building relationships with your clients. When you have a new lead, you need to forge a relationship in order to build trust. If you’ve worked with a client for a while, the relationship is what is sustaining your sales. Your customers can go anywhere with their sale, but instead they chose you.
Jerry Maguire, the story of a sports agent who grew a conscious and in turn lost his job but for one client, is full practical sales advice. What shines the most is Maguire’s journey to understand that the relationship he is building with his current client is what will sustain him in his career. It might be difficult for him at times, as in the famous clip where he begs his client, “Help me help you,” but once the two begin to trust each other, they’re better able to do their job.
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Thank You for Smoking
Lesson: Know your product and learn how to talk well
Sometimes in sales, the message you promote is more important than what you are actually selling. Take Nick Naylor in Thank You for Smoking. In a time when the health conscious world is trying to take down big cigarette companies, his job is to promote and encourage smoking. Doesn’t sound like an easy job does it? It isn’t.
What Nick Naylor has going for him is his way with words. How does what you say influence your clients? Do all the messages you share promote your brand? Do you get clients excited about being your customer? Communication and confidence are what makes a sale.
The Pursuit of Happyness
Lesson: Learn how to hustle for your career
Success comes for those who not only want it the most, but take the steps necessary to achieve it. Chris Gardner, played by Will Smith, has to work twice as hard as his counterparts in the unpaid internship to succeed, as he is homeless and has a young child to raise on his own. This life situation does nothing to deter him, and everything to motivate him.
Part of the reason Chris is so successful is his attitude and his willingness to try bold, new sales techniques. While cold calling alongside his peers, he not only keeps a positive disposition, but he also is respectful and pleasant to everyone he speaks to. He also takes risks. Instead of “calling up the list” like his peers, he decides to take a leap and start with the first person on the list. This is a risky approach, but, in this case, it works out for him and jumpstarts his career.
Glengarry Glen Ross
Lesson: The ABC’s: Always Be Closing
What do you want from every interaction you have with a customer? Simple – you want to close the deal. Know what the ask is, and get your clients to sign on the dotted line. You don’t necessarily need to act cut-throat or get to the point of begging to make a sale like some of these salesmen do. In fact, we’d argue both techniques may lose you the close. Put some faith into your abilities, use your skills wisely, and you’ll have your leads signing on the line in no time.
The Wolf of Wall Street
Lesson: Create a Need to Buy
There is a lot someone new to sales shouldn’t absorb from The Wolf of Wall Street. In fact, many of the characters in this movie are the sleazy Hollywood-portrayed salespeople I mentioned earlier. Though there are still a few lessons you can learn from this movie.
One lesson is so to create a sense of urgency in your clients. Show them why they need to make a purchase. This clip, while it meanders, shows one salesperson’s technique in selling a pen. He tells his friend, “Write your name for me,” but the friend can’t do it because the salesman now has his pen. We’re not suggesting you steal pens from your clients – they’ll need it to sign your contract – but create a need or a sense of urgency in your next sales meeting.
While you’re busy catching up on these movies about sales, Blitz could be sending leads out to your sales staff for you.
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Let our automated software simplify your sales process. Sign up for a 30-day FREE trial of our lead management software and turn more leads into customers with less work!
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What movie about sales is your favorite? There are so many other great ones that didn’t make this list. Let us know in the comments!