The Shawshank Redemption

  •   You have to crawl through 500 yards of sh*t to come out clean at the other end.
  •   If you’re planning a secret strategy, cover it up while you go about your everyday business.  Don’t tell everyone else about it, lest the warden finds out.
  •  Understand financials. ROI, ROA, ROCE and learn how your client actually makes money and measures value.

 

 

A Few Good Men

 

  • Don’t blindly follow the rules if it breaches your personal values
  • The General can be probed (CIO, CEO, CFO) so you can understand his emotional triggers such as pride, ego, fear, status
  • Seek and handle the truth no matter what is thrown at you
  • Get the CEO to lead you right where you want him to go. Of course he ordered the Code Red Procurement Strategy. Deal with it.

 

Forrest Gump

  • You don’t have to have an IQ of 150 to be successful
  • Sometimes you just have to run and run with an idea and people will follow you
  • Try different things, don’t over analyse, meet diverse people, listen to other people’s ideas, take action
  • Tell your story to lots of people

 

Psycho

  • Pretending to be someone else never works
  • It can be very isolating by yourself (see Branch Managers/Home Workers) and you get a very distorted view of the world without other people around
  • You can get into an awful lot of trouble harassing people in your workplace

 

The Godfather

  • When deciding your final proposal, make them an offer they can’t refuse
  • Always consider the importance of succession planning and training when sales people and accounts get whacked
  • If you really hate what your competitor is doing, find a way to take them out (er..legally)

 

 

 

Titanic

  • Going full speed ahead without observing what’s going on around you can leave you blindsided
  • If you’re embarking on a maiden voyage new sales approach, don’t become arrogant about its success until you’ve reached the destination
  • If you’re sinking, have enough resources to jump into a new strategy life boat

 

 

Silence of The Lambs

  • Get inside the client’s head. Master Hannibal’s “Tell Me’ and ‘Why’ Questions
  • ‘Tell me about the lambs, Clarice?’
  •  ‘Why do you think he removes their skins, Agent Starling?’
  •  ‘Quid pro quo – I tell you things. You tell me things.’

James Bond

  • Always look the part, even if you’ve had your head blown off by a competitor
  • Learn to use all the latest technology (social media, CRM, mobility).
  • There is always a way of negotiating your way out of tricky situations
  • The bad guys always lose in the end

CEO of Salient Communication, Elliot is a sought after keynote speaker and corporate trainer who has coached and trained over 4000 sales, pre-sales and sales managers. He has consistently coached sales teams to a 4 out of 5 win ratio throughout Australasia and Asia including Hong Kong and Singapore.

Elliot is a specialist sales speaker and trainer for high profile corporates having spoken at over 1500 conferences and workshops on presenting, selling, negotiating and pitching for leading companies such as HP, Avaya, Commonwealth Bank, Hitachi, Computershare, CUB and SEEK. He is renowned for ensuring presentations are engaging, interactive and relevant to winning business in competitive markets.

Email me your favorite movie lessons: elliote@salientcommunication.com.au

Elliot is based in Melbourne where he lives with his wife and two expensive children