My wife, Christine, and I have recently become devotees of the AMC Original Series, Mad Men. For those of you not familiar the shows follows the personal and business life of a Madison Avenue creative who goes by the name of Don Draper in the early 1960s.
Small spoiler alert if you are planning to watch the show!
In Season 3, Don happens upon an elderly gentleman in the back unused bar of a country club named Connie. It turns out, he is Conrad Hilton. In this later scene, Hilton asks Don for his opinion on a new ad campaign. What follows is a terrific lesson on providing a free sample without giving away too much.
Enjoy!
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Brilliant! Thank you for sharing this. I love how he first held his ground and drew a line in the sand at first, setting the stage for the “free be” to be a “I’ll do it once, but that’s it and you’ll have to pay for more”, followed by giving away just enough to peak the prospects interest in continuing the dialogue and realizing the person is worth paying.
@Michael – Yes, the phrase I love is, “Connie, it’s my profession.” Simple, authentic and (although this is scripted) effective.
Can’t always take the time to read your blogs. But this one makes me want to make it a higher priority. I think I’m going to watch this morning, noon, & night until I stop giving away free consulting!
thank you.
Rob, I could not agree more. The key lines are:
1. “I don’t think you got to the Presidential Suite by working for free.”
2. “Connie, this is my profession, what do you expect me to do?”
3. “I might.” In response to the inquiry if he has something better.