Sales Lessons from Boardwalk Empire

Sales Lessons from Boardwalk

Empire

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Sales Lessons from Boardwalk Empire

I was going to write about this in the “Lessons from the Idiot Box” section of next month’s double

issue of…



the Marketing Made Easy Newsletter, but I wanted to get this out there while it was still

fresh.



Anyway, it’s about a couple of sales lessons gleaned from HBO’s

Boardwalk Empire.



If you haven’t seen or heard of the show before, it takes place in the

1920s, during Prohibition…



And its main character is “Nucky” Thompson, former treasurer of

Atlantic City.



Last week there were a couple of scenes that had particularly strong

sales lessons in them.



Without further adieu, here’s a description…



The scene of these lessons takes place at the Union Club in New

York where Nucky meets Andrew Mellon, the Treasury Secretary of

the US.



Being in the presence of such an important man has Nucky off his

game a bit, acting nervously.



Huge mistake number one.



I won’t bore you with the details—or spoil the plot—but in the end

Nucky makes a “sales pitch” to Mellon, and asks for the order, so

to speak.



Then… a pause.



And then Nucky makes his second big mistake of the meeting.



After asking for the order, Nucky jumps the gun and asks Mellon—

who was deliberating on an answer, or possibly just stalling…



—if his silence is to be perceived as a “yes.”



And after another second of hesitation, Nucky asks if the silence signifies a “maybe.”



Huge mistake number two.



OK. Let’s get down to business…



Why are these two actions mistakes?



The first—Nucky’s acting nervously in the presence of

Mellon—is pretty easy to see as a mistake.



When you’re selling anything—and you are always selling—you want to deal from a position of

strength.



Acting nervously doesn’t bode well for that.


No matter who you are, or who you’re dealing with, you are

speaking to an equal.



I don’t care if you just graduated from shoe-shine school and you’re

talking to Bill Gates.



Be respectful, but act as if you’re your counterpart’s equal.



People buy certainty, and nervousness is its opposite.



The second mistake might not appear be as obvious a mistake if you haven’t sold face-to-face or

over the phone.



But in asking for the order and following up with “is it a yes?” or “is it a maybe?” Nucky broke the

first rule in sales…


He who speaks first loses.


Burn that one in your memory if you haven’t already. Make sure

your sales staff knows this, understands it…


And most importantly, follows this rule strictly.


He who speaks first loses.


When you (or your staff) lay your case out there for your prospect and you convincingly ask for the

order…


Say nothing until the prospect does.


No matter how long the pause, or how much you desperately want

to say something, say nothing.


If you do say anything, you will have surely lost the sale.

Until Next Time…

Until next time,

Kevin Oefelein


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Sales Lessons from Boardwalk Empire

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