In the business world, persistence is considered one of the highest virtues. It’s certainly the stuff of sales and marketing lore.
Everybody remembers that scene from Glengarry Glen Ross — a star-studded 1992 film featuring Alec Baldwin, among others. Baldwin plays the hard-driving trainer, Blake, brought in by the owners of a real estate company to boost flagging sales numbers. In his most famous speech, Blake tells the reps: “A-B-C. A—Always, B—Be, C—Closing.”
After berating them for their failures, he announces that only the top two salespeople will be allowed access to the firm’s most promising leads; the rest will be fired. “Only one thing counts in this life,” he barks out. “Get them to sign on the line that is dotted!”
