John Cleese’s genius in the classic Fawlty Towers is amplified by these extraordinary facts about work ethic: • Each 25-30 minute episode took 6 weeks for Cleese and his then wife, Connie Booth (Polly) to write. • There was a full hour of post production editing for every minute of each episode. One Ep. =25 hours. • The best episodes of all e.g. ‘The Germans’ had two or three plot threads that came together at the end, leaving the audience with resolution, satisfaction and admiration.
John Cleese’s genius in the classic Fawlty Towers is amplified by these extraordinary facts about work ethic:
- Each 25-30 minute episode took 6 weeks for Cleese and his then wife, Connie Booth (Polly) to write.
- There was a full hour of post production editing for every minute of each episode. One Ep. =25 hours.
- The best episodes of all e.g. ‘The Germans’ had two or three plot threads that came together at the end, leaving the audience with resolution, satisfaction and admiration.
Lesson #1 is that to craft a major winning pitch that captures decision makers takes time, skill and artful structure, preparing the night before in a hotel room doesn’t cut it even if it overlooks an ’erupting Krakatoa or herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically’
Here are my other sales lessons from the Episodes of Fawlty Towers.
Waldorf Salad
Basil’s American guest wants a Waldorf Salad: ’Apples, Celery, Walnuts, Grapes with Mayo’
Fearing his lack of stock of these simple ingredients, Basil proclaims he’s ‘all out of Waldorfs’ and tries to sell him a fictitious ‘Ritz Salad’ with the unappetising mix of apples, grapefruit and potatoes.
Sales people today still try and convert the clients requirements into their preferred products and services because it’s convenient, potentially profitable or in stock.
‘Changing the ground rules’ is a phrase heard often and it most often leads to longer sales cycles, frustration, disengaged procurement and lost deals.
‘Satisfied customers, eh? Let’s ask ‘em’
Mrs Richards
Mrs Richards has a bit of hearing problem and doesn’t always turn her hearing aid on because ‘it wears the batteries down’
Remarkably her hearing is suddenly perfect when her sister calls to her to tell her she has a low offer on her house replying instantly ‘ I told them 92,750, Stephanie and not a penny less...why don’t people listen’
Selective hearing occurs in sales when we hear something we don’t like such as favourable comment of a competitor, no budget or long timeframes. Common old school sales responses include deferring, changing the subject, ignoring and refuting, all of which are unhelpful.
No matter what the client says, explore it with questions ‘Tell me about the lack of budget, what is your incumbent doing so well, why such a long timeframe’
You’ll learn a lot more about the opportunity than stonewalling.
Clients need you to recharge your virtual hearing aids and ‘PLEASE, TURN IT ON...’ or they’ll ‘visit you in the small hours of the morning and put a bat up your nightdress’
The Germans
The classic line ‘Don’t mention the War....I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it’ comes after concussed Basil has repeatedly turned everything his German guests said into a WW2 reference.
In my previous blog http://www.salientcommunication.com.au/index.php/blog/item/43-top-ten-things-pre-sales-and-experts-do-that-loses-deals, we discussed the impact pre-sales have on winning or losing deals.
Pre-sales experts and gurus often don’t realise that mentioning the product might not work in some conditions, qualifying any semblance of value the client might derive or reducing the client’s confidence in your solution is tantamount to ‘Don’t mention the war’
Unless it absolutely won’t work...’Shut up, Basil’
In the words of ‘The Psychiatrist’ ‘There’s enough material here for an entire conference
If you would like to learn how to ‘sell someone to a vivisectionist’ or sell to C Level, join me in April for the Salient Executive Level Selling Program here:
You can also email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
As CEO of Salient Communication, Elliot is a sought after keynote speaker and corporate trainer who has coached and trained over 4000 people including CEOs, senior management and successful sales teams throughout Australasia and Asia including Hong Kong and Singapore.
Elliot is a specialist sales speaker for high profile corporates having spoken at over 1500 conferences, workshops and break-out sessions on presenting, selling, negotiating and pitching for leading companies such as HP, SEEK, Avaya, Hitachi , Computershare and CUB . He is renowned for ensuring sessions are engaging, interactive and relevant to winning business in competitive markets.
Elliot is based in Melbourne where he lives with his wife and two expensive children
News From
Salient Communication Category: Sales Profile: As an authority in coaching sales people and leaders, we apply over 25 years of experience in business, sales and corporate consulting to over 4000 CEO’s, senior executives and sales teams throughout Australasia and Asia. Clients include Forbes 100, ASX 100 companies, BRW Fast 100 companies and award winning SME’s, all who use Elliot’s Salient Approach to get real world results and immediate ROI. Challenging the ‘cruise control’ thinking and old fashioned prescriptive methodologies of sales exec ...
