3 ways not to sell your business
Professor Harold Hill provides a prime example of how not to sell your business. Learn what you can do instead.
I don’t like to travel, but when I do, I take the train.
Most commonly, I travel from Boston to Philadelphia on the Northeast Regional Rail. At some point during the six-hour trip, I watch The Music Man. It feels fitting because it opens with a scene on a train.
Every time I watch the movie, I’m struck by Professor Harold Hill. He’s a fine example of how not to sell a business.
Here are three takeaways:
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1. Making a problem to sell his solution
Sitting on a bench in the park, Harold pries his friend, Marcellus Washburn. “I need some ideas if I’m gonna get your town out of the serious trouble it’s in.”
His friend reacts, “River City ain’t in any trouble.” To which Harold replies, “We’re gonna have to create some. Must create a desperate need in your town for a boys’ band.”
Yeah, okay. Making up a problem to sell your solution is a dick move.
But companies do it all the time. Think gurus who concoct a problem that didn’t exist to sell a jargon-laden remedy. Or companies who remove the headphone jack from smartphones, then sell a connector or an overpriced pair of headphones that don’t require a cord.
Or perhaps more commonly, an entrepreneur cooks up a shiny new app and now has to find someone to sell it to. So they make up a problem and try to get people to buy it.
It’s perhaps no wonder that a lack of product/market fit kills more companies than anything else.
Running a purpose-driven business means you exist to deliver value. Don’t start with your solution and search for a problem. Start with a problem someone actually needs solved and design a solution for that specific problem and that specific person.
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2. Faking credentials
“I’m not impressed by your credentials which I’ve not seen nor your manners which I have.”
Marion Peroo shuts down Harold Hill toward the beginning of the movie. He goes around telling everyone that he graduated from Gary Conservatory of Music.
Of course, this is also a lie. But it sounds good.
As a purpose-driven business, your credentials — the proof you know what you’re doing — come down to your outcomes. Do you actually deliver the value you claim to deliver? How well do you do it, and how many people do you reach?
Because measuring impact is complicated, it can be easy not to share anything or twist things to sound better than they are.
Don’t.
You don’t have to be perfect, but you do have to be honest. Share why you chose the metrics you did, document where you got the data and how you came to the conclusion you did, and never share quotes or data out of context.
Someone will figure it out. And it will not end well.
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3. Missing the point
"Remember what this town was like before Harold Hill came? Then after he came? Suddenly there were things to do and things to be proud of. And people to go out of your way for. Surely, some of you can be grateful for what this man has brought to us."
Harold Hill made up a problem and sold a hollow solution to that problem. What he missed was that the town did need something — and his solution delivered that value after all (that’s how we get a happy ending).
Even if you aren’t selling a half-baked solution to a fake problem, you may be missing points of value your people need. Maybe there’s something else they need to be able to do, or perhaps who they want to become has evolved.
Finding the first problem and solving it doesn’t mean you’re done listening to the people you serve. Your input loops exist perpetually so that you can constantly adjust, improve, and go deeper.
Stay focused on delivering value and care about that rather than making a sale.
With that as your focus, it's obvious that Harold's methods aren't for you.
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