The PBS Masterpiece Theatre period costume drama, Downton Abbey is a masterful example of visual storytelling, featuring superb British acting talent, staged in the magnificent Highclere Castle, (hailed as the best castle in England).
It's the best TV drama I have seen for a very long time and a welcome departure from the US election news; I'm a huge fan and recommend it to anyone interested in quality entertainment.

For those who have not yet seen Downton Abbey, Series 2 is playing on Masterpiece Theatre on Sunday evening in the US, on the PBS channels. 


Downton Abbey has enormous appeal across age groups from 10 years old to 100 and is being shown in 100 viewing territories. It is hugely popular in the US, UK and is the biggest television hit in Spain for 10 years.

Downton Abbey is a beautifully written and visually compelling story from a time of tremedous social upheaval, World War 1. The characters are fully developed; the aristocrats restrained and rule-bound by the mores of the era and the servants, subjugated by dutiful obedience. The superb grounds and the setting of Highclere is stunning.  

“Put yourself in a position to give your clients opportunities to say ‘yes’ rather than reasons to say ‘no.”  – Chris Still

How many times have you been in that sales call where the sales professional started talking about all the wonderful aspects of the product they wanted to talk with you about?  And, in the course of this conversation, they are sharing all the really cool features and benefits of which — they are hoping — you will find one feature that is of interest to you.

Effective sales behaviors and great selling outcomes are not dependent upon your ability to sell, position, or extol the wonderful products you are offering.  In reality, your ability to make your product compelling is the effectiveness with which you concisely focus a particular benefit of the product on a very specific customer driven problem and solution.

Effective product positioning is a process of knowledge, learning, discovery, and application.  Unfortunately, too many selling professionals are overly enthusiastic about their product knowledge (as if that is the most important component of the sales process–it is not). As a result, they find themselves sharing information that is of little interest or value to anyone but you and leads your prospect to say “no” more than “yes” in the sales discourse.

When it comes to presenting product and creating a “yes” environment the following process results in a more productive outcome:

Every sales organization has meetings. But are most of them worth the time? Too many sales meetings happen on a regular rhythm but without a purpose, without an objective, without an explicit need or outcome in mind.

Regular sales meetings are fine, but they should follow a strategy. Here’s a three-meeting rhythm that works for many sales organizations.

Daily huddles
Typically 10 minutes long, 15 at the most. First-thing in the morning so it sets the tone for the day. Everybody stands up. Rapid-fire updates from the previous day – highlights from the floor, quick sales promotion updates, sharing of any industry news or competitive moves. Review your key metrics, the previous day’s performance, month (or quarter) to date, and today’s goal. High energy, in and out.

Bi-weekly trainings
Every other week, take an hour (90 minutes at the most) to train the team. Have a calendar prepared in advance of topics for future meetings, so the team knows what to expect and so that presenters have plenty of time to make the training worth everyone’s while. Training will focus on product updates, competitive reviews, consultative selling best practices, role-playing, the occasional book review, etc.

I read a fascinating Op Ed piece by Tom Friedman in the New York Times, Average Is Over.  It’s a fascinating piece.  As I reflected on the piece it struck me how important this concept is to professional selling.

Friedman makes the point, “”…everyone needs to find their extra–their unique value contribution that makes them stand out…”   Friedman is not writing about organizations, he’s writing about individuals, each  of us.   It’s a profound concept, understanding it is like discovering the secret decoder ring for sales success.

In a buyer’s world, where too many products are undifferentiated, where the differences between the companies that stand behind the products are relatively small, where quality is similar, where everything balances out–and on average they are the same, there are two things that stand out as real differentiators:  price and what each of us contributes as sales professionals.  And in competitive situations, where pricing is roughly the same, the difference between winning and losing is each of us.

It’s no longer sufficient to be “average.”  Each of us has to find a way to stand out and differentiate what we do.  It might be our knowledge of what the customer is trying to do, it might be the confidence we instill about the new solution, it might  be the trust we have earned in working with them.