Always be closing ..

Recently, one of my ex-colleagues had the following as his Facebook status message: ” .. had a Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) day today at work!”. So decided to check out what he was talking about.

Seems like an all starcast – Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris – enacting the ALWAYS BE CLOSING mantra for Sales teams. Might still work for cars, real estate(?), and insurance. However, the future (if not already) is all about social decision-making and commerce. ALWAYS BE CLOSING changes somewhat to ALWAYS BE ENGAGING with your leads and prospects .. listen and understand what they need to know and deliver it to them in a relevant and compelling way (content marketing).

Alec Baldwin is powerful and at his “engaging” best in the following:


Glengarry Glen Ross: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI

Below is another “close the deal”, “motion creates motion” Ben Affleck spiel from the movie Boiler Room (2000).

“There is no such thing as a no sale call.  A sale is made on every call you make.  Either you sell the client some stock or he sells you on a reason he can’t.”


Boiler Room (1 of 2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqDtf1aw818


Boiler Room (2 of 2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIT_RMHwCEU

Well, we all know .. and are now living what the always be closing mantra has brought upon on us ..

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  • Dave

    Great post! This play had a strong impact on me right from the point when I first saw it (albeit an amateur rendition). I ALWAYS recommend it…Glengarry Glen Ross along with Death of a Salesman should figure in the top three (you fill in the third blank here) plays/movies that aspiring or entrenched sales folks should see/read, especially in challenging times.

    In the brave New Media world, methinks “closing the Deal” still comes down to Decision, but this BIG D is increasingly being influenced by the participants who are “engaged” with their so-called “weak leads” (to quote The Machine, Jack Lemmon’s character).

    Back to GGR, don’t forget a sale traditionally came down to individual personalities, a nuance which doesn’t seem to get as much respect in the participatory web. For example, two of the key characters come out in stark contrast: the flamboyant “Ricky” played by Al Pacino vs. the timid George played by Alan Arkin in the 1992 movie version.

    So, in this relatively impersonal (minimal “toucch”) new sales environment within a brand’s extended web presence, do personalities (of both the sales person and the lead) no longer matter? Or rather, this now inplies that CONTENT must have personality!

    Musings, musings…but again, great post.

  • inderSTADT

    @Dave — good feedback! I agree with what you are implying, viz., the overlooked PERSONALITY aspect. These days buyers (decisions) don’t want to be sold. They want to be smarter and knowledgeable based on their own information gathering, through content and trusted connections. The mission is one of making a smart and informed decision rather than a “sold” decision. So yes, unless the PERSONALITY is transferred and shouldered partly by the content and partly by people the buyer trusts, he/she ain’t making that buying decision.

    I am exploring this movie genre a bit more. Other than GGR, DoaS, what are others that you recommend?

  • http://www.vccafe.com VC Cafe

    Great post.

    To determine if your start up is actually working on closing, I’d ask three simple questions:

    The first question you should ask yourself is “what is our definition of a conversion?” Is it a sign up? A page view? checking out with a cart with products over $30?

    The second question should be: “What are we doing in our products to deliver that conversion?”

    Read more: http://www.vccafe.com/2009/12/13/a-b-c-always-be-closing/#ixzz0rmQ7bc4s