As a salesman covering the whole country you get plenty of time behind the wheel to think about things and often this is about the process of selling itself. I reflect on this when I hear the prime minister tell us the Brexit deal she seeks will be good for the UK and the EU. It's very hard to sound enthusiastic for something you know in your heart isn't true which is why it comes across so pathetically and why Brexiteers accuse her of not believing in Brexit. Because she probably doesn't. It takes a specially dishonest person to sell a bad thing well and I don't think she is that.
So when I read her comments last night about the EU putting citizens at risk by their refusal to give us access to various crime fighting measures (HERE) I know how she feels. She told EU leaders:
“When you meet as 27 tomorrow, I would urge you to consider what is in the best interests of the safety of your citizens and mine, and give your negotiators a mandate that will allow us to achieve this crucial objective [participation in various existing security measure],” she told EU leaders.
When there are no positives in the proposal you're making you naturally begin to use negatives and you know you are on a slippery slope to failure. I sold packaging systems, but let's consider something else, say a face cream. You can't sell it on the premise it will make you look nicer, smoother, younger, healthier, more vibrant and beautiful because you and the customer both know it's not true. So you start to sell it on the basis that it will stop you looking uglier than you are now. But it somehow lacks that killer USP doesn't it? Especially when the customer has big doubts about that too!
The customer already knows you don't have his or her best interests at heart and all you want is the order and the commission it brings. They see straight through you.
Theresa May will have stood in front of the other leaders in Brussels with her brain thinking that every word coming out of her mouth was weak, unconvincing and ineffective. Because it was.
