Selling With White House Fire And Fury

The spin from politicians of all hues can often be worthy of selling note. Usually in how not to frame a particular pitch.

This holiday week a trio of White House attempts to lead the agenda have been noted the globe over.

First up, the quite remarkable instance of two fake news mutineers jumping from CNN to a Facebook feed likened to autocratic regime ‘news’. Parallel to the maintaining of a supposed ‘propaganda file’. Where appreciative stories, positive achievements  and photos that show the President in good light are housed for plentiful reposting.

This reminded me a touch of corporate receptions. Where the company’s PR tries to justify their existence with a folder of favourable press cuttings for waiting visitors to flick through. Do we take heed that any reference touted can be seen as unreflective of the true user experience? Have we ran our spin through the realism wash?

Second, the flat earthers – known in Washington as climate change deniers – sent a memo round one key department suggesting altered vocab ought be now deployed. Including the helpful text;

avoid → use instead

climate change → weather extremes

climate change adaptation → resilience to weather extremes

I’ve blogged many times before on alternative terms for the potentially dreaded “change” on a bid (transmog such a cheeky favourite that it made my Sales Words Of 2016). In what circumstance (if any) could you hear yourself saying, instead of ‘let’s talk about this change’, rather, ‘let’s talk about ending these extremes’?

Thirdly, the phrase “fire and fury” flashed around the world. Maybe the newly in-post Donald Trump worried that he wasn’t hogging enough headlines, so dropped this adlib, just to redress.

I noted the US news networks busily debated whether or not such words had been “gamed”. Where potential impact. is (vigorously) assessed beforehand to refine the tactic. Apparently only the “mood” was discussed, leaving improvised remarks to masquerade as official policy.

Quite a lot to unpack, there. Yet the best salespeople I’ve worked with spend an inordinate amount of time planning for meetings. I’m reminded of the well-worn advice; given a set time to chop down a tree, spend at least half sharpening your axe. Such planning examines what will happen as a consequence, how the other party should feel, and how you get there. Extending to the precise movements that will best enable your desired outcome.