Del Griffith And The Simple Lesson He Teaches Us About SalesPeople
“My name is Del Griffith and I’m the Sales Director with American Light and Fixture, Jewelry division. And I’ve got the deal of a lifetime for you. Do you have a minute?””
Planes, Trains and Automobiles, starring Steve Martin and John Candy and directed by John Hughes, hit theaters on November 25th, 1987. If the trailer was nothing more than those three names on the screen, this would have been enough to vault it straight to number one at the box office. That is some serious comedic genius right there, my friends. It’s no surprise that with Hughes writing and directing it was another 80s masterpiece. It’s the story of two men, polar opposites and complete strangers, Neal Page, played by Martin, and Del Griffith, played by Candy, who are thrust together through happenstance during the rush to travel home for the Thanksgiving holiday. Neal is a buttoned-up, very square, and uptight advertising executive. Del is a sloppy and slightly overbearing shower curtain-ring salesman with a complete lack of self-awareness. He has a big personality and a bigger heart made of absolute pure gold.
Throughout the movie our odd couple has a multitude of transportation challenges (hence the name of the movie) that ultimately lead to a three day road trip home that doesn’t go quite as planned. Flights are cancelled, their bus breakdowns leaving them stranded in the middle of nowhere, rental cars are not available and the one that is eventually catches fire and destroys their wallets, credit cards and cash. They also spend a portion of the trip in the back of an appliance truck and in the back of a pick up truck with an aggressive dog while turning to ice that prompts this classic exchange:
Neal: What do you figure the temperature is?
Del: One.
Just thinking of John Candy’s character Del Griffith brings a smile to my face. He was the definition of a great salesperson: affable, optimistic, and passionate about his product. More importantly, he is passionate about his customers and knows how to close. At one point when the duo were out of cash and desperate to get home for the holidays, he sold shower curtain rings as earrings to other patrons at the bus station. He had people try the shower curtain rings on and then delivered lines like, “I’ve got the deal of a lifetime for you,” and, “These are the Diane Sawyer autographed versions.” How about “This is Czechoslovakian ivory,” describing the pure white ones, and “They are filled with helium so they’re very light,” when selling the clear rings; and perhaps my favorite, “This is an autographed Daryl Strawberry earring.”
Unfortunately, not every salesperson is born with Del Griffith’s gift of gab. If that was the case, we would all have houses full of Chia pets, Ginsu knives, and Girl Scout cookies. I do have to admit that I have a house full of their S’mores cookies so maybe they do have a little of Del’s gift of gab.
When we think of what makes a company great, we often talk about leadership, culture, vision, or brand. Of course, having a better product or service than your competitors certainly helps too. All of these things are very important, but success will come down to how well you sell what you do. For that, you will need your own Del Griffith. Maybe it’s you. If you’re the owner and founder of your company, then you know the hustle involved in building your business. Even if you are the very best at what you do, someone else very important, your first customer, needs to know that and believe it.
When we think of what makes a company great, we often talk about leadership, culture, vision, or brand.
You might be saying, “But, Chris, you’ve been in marketing for over twenty years, and you are admitting that the key to a successful business is a great salesperson? Sales? Not marketing?” I know that the standard line is something about marketing and sales being like cats and dogs or in 80s pop culture terminology perhaps more like Tango and Cash, Riggs and Murtaugh, or better yet, Barbara and Oliver from War of the Roses. But we really should be more like Rocky and Apollo. Fighting and disagreeing but ultimately showing each other mutual respect and coming together as a team to chase the same goal — success.
The reality is that a great salesperson can mask your company’s other deficiencies while you figure out how to make the improvements and create the innovations necessary for the business to continue moving forward.
Besides the owner/founder/CEO, your salespeople are the face of the company. They are who your customers typically interact with first and most often — during good times and more importantly during bad times — when their relationship with a customer could mean saving a crucial account. Every company needs a great salesperson; someone who is affable, optimistic, and passionate about their product or service, and more importantly, their customers. Every company needs a great salesperson. Every company needs a Del Griffith.
