When in search of the lighter side of the sales profession, it strikes me that the list of funny sales movies is awfully short.
There are lots of creative works about the dark side of selling, “Death of a Salesman” being the most obvious example. The humorous side of selling just doesn’t get as much respect from Hollywood.
It’s a shame too! Sales people generally have a great sense of humor. And, the cliche of sales, the manipulative salesperson purposely misleading the customer, is a veritable joke factory!
So, in the interest of lightening the mood I thought I’d put together some clips from movies with funny sales situations. And as I did I realized, sales training doesn’t have to be so difficult. There are 4 or 5 movies you could ask a salesperson to watch and then tell them, “DON’T DO THAT!”.
Funny sales movies – DON’T DO THIS!
Here are a few clips from various movies that are just funny examples of really bad form.
Drop the Mic Sales Speech
This speech from the movie “The Goods” just feels the way every salesperson dreams their presentations would go, every time.
Creating the Sense of Urgency
“Boiler Room” is one of my all time favorite sales movies. Here’s the main character getting his first sale.
“Motivational” Sales Speech – “Coffee is for closers.”
And the classic, “Glengarry, Glenross”. This one is packed with super star actors. Amazing how young they all look now! Such a tremendous drama about high pressure sales and the lives it wrecks.