Five Movie Characters Fit For Sales

(This post was originally written by Brad Fager of the Customer Contact Council, our sister program for heads of Customer Service.  The SEC team has updated it with a sales perspective.)

Whether you're a true film aficionado or simply enjoy the occasional movie on weekends, everyone remembers certain characters they either identified with or were impressed by. One movie-related thought exercise that interested us recently was speculation about which movie characters would be best suited for jobs within sales organizations.  While this is certainly just a fun exercise, it actually does get you thinking about the characteristics that are most desirable for sales reps and managers.

Here's a list of the top five characters we came up with:

1. Billy Beane (Moneyball): As general manager of a poorly financed baseball team, Billy Beane uses an unorthodox scouting style that puts hard data up against baseball's standard scouting methods.  With Billy Beane in your sales organization, you'd have the most effective recruiting system in the industry.  He'd throw out the standard hiring playbook and devise a system that would pack your organization with high performing challenger reps.  

2. Michael Clayton (Michael Clayton): Known in the movie as "the fixer," Michael Clayton's role is to clean up the messiest legal issues his clients face.  In a sales force, the innovative manager assumes the role of a "fixer." Innovative managers help reps to identify obstacles and find new, creative ways to "unstick" stalled deals. He'd be the manager who could put fires out when urgent issues pop up.  His cunning ability to stay cool and always have a resolution would lend itself well to a sales manager role.

3. Leigh Anne Tuohy (The Blind Side): Leigh Anne Tuohy is a good-spirited mother figure who nurtures a high school football player who previously had no place to call home.  Through her support, he eventually makes it to the NFL.  Her ability to identify his individual strengths and skill gaps then help him develop is a classic example of an effective talent development manager and trainer.  Leigh Anne would be an asset to your sales organization, helping nurture internal development, and making sure behavioral change sticks.

4. Nick Naylor (Thank You for Smoking): Nick Naylor is a slick and persuasive lobbyist, so if your organization needs reps that can challenge customers, then he's your guy.  As the VP of a tobacco lobby, he has the monumental task of advocating for a vilified industry, but he does it and he does it well. In order to take on this role, he challenges consumers' (and anti-smoking advocates) way of thinking, and delivers unique insights.  With him on your front line taking control of the buying process and using constructive tension to his advantage, you could convince any customer to buy your products.

5. Tony D'Amato (Any Given Sunday): Our research shows effective coaching has a significant impact on sales team performance, so your organization would be served well by hiring Tony D'Amato.  Having provided quite possibly the most motivating speech in movie history, Tony D'Amato would inspire and lead your staff to greatness. Under his leadership, your organization would "either heal now as a team or die as individuals."  Now that's motivation!

This is certainly just a short list of characters, so please add who you think would be effective in a sales environment, in the comments section below!