Watching Trump versus Clinton taught us some lasting lessons in sales.
We witnessed the classic competitive duel – two large organizations (political parties) raising loads of money to hype their national brands (the candidates themselves) to make the sale (win the election) on November 8.
We got to sit in the buyer’s (voter’s) seat, listening to sales pitches, reacting to experts (talking heads), and watching predictions (polls). We heard what the candidates said, but may have been more moved by what they did.
We saw a renegade salesman (candidate) hit the road, with little or no marketing support, against an opponent who enjoyed billions of dollars of consultants, pollsters, and advertising material.
We learned (again) the value of face-to-face contact. One appeared in person before record-setting crowds, and the other appeared less than half the time before a fraction of the audience. One accepted questions and responded (tweeted) constantly, and the other who didn’t take questions for nine months. One who jetted around the country nonstop, and the other who “took off” the entire month of August.
We gained appreciation for the “elevator” speech: the short but very pointed and time-limited message. “America first” and “Build the wall” versus a droning filibuster. (Memo to self – skip the lengthy sales pitches.)
We found out how they handled adversity. When a scandalous video was leaked just before the debate, Trump responded immediately by showcasing Bill Clinton’s paramours. Conversely, while the email controversy raged, Hillary continued to obfuscate, proving again that “bad news doesn’t improve with age.”
And finally we learned to listen to contrary opinion, especially when it comes from your (always expert) spouse. Hillary ignored the advice of her husband, the past master of the “art of the deal,” yielding the election to a master salesman.