sales and creating theatre
Content and credibility are attributes that get you invited to compete for business. After you’ve made the “in-crowd” list, however, content and credibility don’t mean much. Face it…everyone has the best people; everyone has edgy products and the best technology; every company has a vision and a mission; everyone does their part to save the planet. But none of any of that matters once the games begin.
What does matter is theatre.
Think about when you go to the theatre, live theatre, and how much you pay attention to the spoken lines versus the acting. The acting tells the story while the lines shape a plot. Because in sales every competitor’s business case is essentially a variation of some common theme, the differentiation happens in acting out your story. A great script with bad actors will never win a Tony. But great actors with even an mediocre script can rule the day.