I'll be that guy. Actually it's Always Be Closing.

Obligatory Glenngary Glen Ross scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7y6EOGY87U&t=104s

It actually depends on if you are using ecclesiastical marketing mnemonics (soft c like in contemporary Italian marketing) or reconstructed classical marketing mnemonics (hard c).

Esoteric Latin joke? HN rules.

I find hard c marketing is still more effective in US post/pandemic economy.

Latin makes for some exceptionally esoteric jokes. This, to date, ranks among the funniest shit I have seen on the Internet: https://imgur.com/pztVEyh

I'm sure there are dozens of people who agree.

Depends on your product. If you're radio shack, sure, always be closing. If you're selling me an essential component of my business, and I expect to have a long term relationship with you... concentrate on the relationship and trust.

I worked for a small startup that won a HUGE contract because the big guy stopped supporting them to their satisfaction. We twisted over backwards to support their needs and they liked that.

Agreed with the sentiment that there are different kinds of clients/opportunities and sales cycles. However the idea specifically in ABC is the 'close'. 'Closing' is the act of securing payment from an entity. I've seen a lot of 'sales guys' who talk about how hard they're selling. But ultimately getting the money into your bank account is the real goal. Everything else is derivative.

Loosely quoting Eli Goldratt, "Until the money is in your bank account and there is no possibility of having to refund it to the customer, you have not made the sale."

That's literally a plot point in Glengarry Glen Ross. Al Pacino made a sale the night before, but the buyer gets cold feet and wants to back out!

Hah, we're living that right now. Big guy got bought, raised prices and removed features. Previously happy customers start looking around, find us (and others, of course).

Over the top support and flexibility are things smallcos can offer to outcompete bigcos with more $$$ and people.

Of course, but it’s funnier and more memorable when it’s wrong.

Actually, it’s “Always be cobbling.”

https://youtu.be/J_vSirIJEsY

It's a usual joke, based on the fact that "always be closing" is horrible advice.

It's not. It's a reminder that all of your sales and marketing efforts are wasted if you're not actually pushing towards a sale. Calls to action, follow ups, using funnels—all of these are things that increase an individual's likelihood to close. That's "ABC".

Try to close too early and any sensible customer will run away and never talk to you again.

"Always" be closing includes too early as well as too late, after the client has run away and you will gain nothing except to alienate him further.

Yes, a three-letter acronym is incapable of expressing every nuance of a complex interpersonal dance. ABC is about sales and marketing driving towards the close. It doesn't mean you turn a cold call into "Hi, my name is James, buy my product. This is what it does. Buy it. Do you want to know more? Buy it first."

It's "closing" because, from memory, they're selling junk real estate. In the US, the end of a real estate transaction is called closing, beyond which it's (mostly) irrevocable.

Hence Baldwin is effectively saying "get to the end of the transaction."

Yes ;) But in the context, selling makes more sense than closing.

Watch it from the beginning, its great