Daniel Craig 'sells it' 007 steps of Selling Process Lock Down

Back in the day there was a simple selling formula ABC. It stood for

Always Be Closing
In today’s complex sale, the skill of closing is a series of lock downs within the overall sale of a  project is still important.

 For many movie goers the Opening sequence of a Bond movie is what sells the movie.

The opening sequence of the SKYFALL lasts around twelve minutes on screen.

 From Emmanuel Levy’s Cinema 24/7 site I read that the opening sequence took three months of rehearsals and two months of filming to produce.

 Stunt co-coordinator Gary Powell enlisted motocross champion Robbie Maddison, former Top Gear’s ‘Stig’ Ben Collins and British rally car champion Mark Higgins to his stunt team.

 “It’s important to lock down the action step by step so my team can learn it like the back of their hand. After rehearsing for months on end, it gets ingrained in the memory, making it less likely to make mistakes,” says Powell.

 

Setting up for the World Premiere of Skyfall in
London's Prince Consort road

Reality beats 'virtual'

While stunt coordinator Powell appreciates the advance in digital technology and computer graphics, he prefers the action to be real.  Producer Michael G Wilson “All of us, Sam and Gary especially, felt that we need to push this movie as far as we could. And we’ve always relied on the fact that we do things for real in Bond movies, and that’s just the way it is.

 If it’s CGI, it’s just to help out, as opposed to creating the scene. Standing on top of a train, travelling at 50 kilometres per hour, fighting with Ola Rapace going over a bridge was probably a stand out moment.”

Lock Down their commitment

·         in contemporary selling,  using the SKYFALL  steps, every sales person's aim should be to prepare and conduct the selling process so well to pre-empt most objections

·         more often than not a simple and direct question is the  lead to the lightest of lock downs – like the last click of a lock

Prince Consort Road Blocked off by the Skyfall Premiere set
 at the foot of the Royal Albert  Hall Steps

 something like "Are you happy that we've covered everything ? Would you like to go ahead?". “Shall we get the paperwork underway ? “

·         the manner in which a sale is complete  will depend on the style of the decision-maker – look out for the buying signals and adapt to different buying personalities:

no-nonsense dominant introverts are likely to decide very quickly and may become  irritated if you leave matters hanging after they've indicated they're happy;

  submissive introverts e.g. some  technical people will want every detail covered and may need time to think, so don't rush them, but keep in touch and  ensure they have all the information they need;

amiable types may actually say yes before they're ready, in which case you need to ensure that everything is suitably covered so nothing can ricochet later

for some worked examples of closes click here for worked examples of closes

 

Producer Barbara Broccoli  “Daniel contributes a great deal to designing the action and the fights in particular and he’s the one who really pulls it off, because he wants to do as much of it as he possibly can.

We were in Turkey for the train sequence and I had my heart in my mouth the whole time; he and Ola were fighting on the roof of a moving train and the moves that they were doing were just heart stopping. Daniel’s the reason why the action works as well as it does because he sells it, he’s up there and I think audiences know that.”

 

An 007 fan outside the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden London

When selling, we need to be 'up there' selling with the Daniel Craigs of 007 selling.

 

Good Selling !