In his 1984 Pulitzer Prize winning play, "Glengarry Glen Ross”, author David Mamet tells a story of corruption and abuse through the vehicle of real estate sales. In 1992, the play (which was also won a Tony) was made into a movie. This time with less success, as it failed to gross enough to cover its $12.5 million dollar production costs.
For a movie that was a financial failure, it's almost amazing how many people are aware of a key scene. Often people bring this movie up when they learn I am a veteran sales professional and sales coach at both the corporate and collegiate levels. Invariably, they share that scene with its famous/infamous line of "ABC, Always Be Closing!" Picking Alex Baldwin to play the role of the outside muscle, brought in to shake up the sales team, was effective. He definitely looked the part and had a very nasty and aggressive tone in this role, completely different than when he played Jack Ryan in the movie "Hunt for Red October", who was thoughtful, curious, courageous and honorable. I guess it's this versatility that's made Alec successful in his career.
Maybe those of us who are sales professionals need to find an author or playwright to craft a new story. A story where the sales culture is healthy instead of abusive, the sales people are thoughtful, curious, courageous and honorable - not afraid, self-absorbed and dishonest. We can change the meaning of ABC in the famous scene to "Always Be Curious!" This time the actors will demonstrate sincere interest in the challenges of prospects, clients, and family - like hundreds of real sales professionals I've met and worked with during my career. They'll seek to identify opportunities for mutual benefit. Because they're genuinely curious, they'll ask more questions to qualify or disqualify the prospect in an effort to determine if their products and services are a good fit. In this new movie, the prospects will reciprocate by also being open and honest thereby saving everyone a lot of time, energy, and money.
In case you're wondering, I'm not against a "close" being achieved and in fact I'm strongly in favor of it. By being more curious a "close" will take place even more often because fewer prospects will feel the need to "think it over". The close or next step will be by mutual consent vs. mutual mystification. With more questions and transparency, both parties will achieve greater clarity. A decision to not move forward (due to non-fit) will be considered a good next step, as no one's time will be wasted. The closed file can easily be re-opened in the future if circumstances change that create a win/win opportunity. The naturally curious sales pro will think to ask if it's ok to stay in touch and then care enough to do so by following up through social media, network events, newsletters etc.
I hope you'll join me in marshaling in a new, more collaborative and overdue era of professionalism in a position that's the lifeblood to the success of every business.
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