The Real Meaning of Bird Box: It’s All About Sales

Netflix claims over 45 million people have watched the movie Bird Box! Wow, 45 million people!

This post-apocalyptic thriller follows the story of a woman who must find a way to guide herself and her children to safety despite the potential threat from an unseen adversary. The story is partially told via flashbacks and takes place during three time periods.

Much has been written and said about the true meaning of Bird Box. Here are some theories—it’s all about:

• The negative impact of social media.
• The inability of people to see racism.
• The careless way some people deal with mental health issues.
• Demons wreaking havoc and driving people to harm themselves.

All these theories are pretty deep, but they miss the real meaning behind the movie. You see, Bird Box is all about sales! 

 5 Pieces of Evidence Linking Bird Box to Sales

1. Following the masses can lead to a bad outcome.

During the movie, the majority of people die as a result of looking at something that is described as desirable. People follow the masses and tempt fate. Heck, everyone is doing it… so should I!

This happens in sales. Sellers tend to follow the masses and follow a sales process designed to sell a product opposed to following a sales process designed to help customers. At the end of the day, if the products and solutions we sell do not help customers, our lives as sellers will be short. 

Here’s an outline of a sales process designed to help customers get a great ROI as a result of buying your product. Feel free to compare it to yours.

• IDENTIFY — Select high potential accounts as prospects.

• CONNECT — Use business insights to develop a valid business reason to stand out and make a connection.

• DISCOVER — Lead with business insights and uncover desired business results (needs, challenges, and opportunities).

• ADVISE — Recommend the best solution to deliver desired business results.

• CLOSE — Gain final agreement with your proposal.

• GROW — Keep your promises, sell success, and grow the account.

TAKEAWAY: Others will tempt you to follow shortcut ways of selling. Don’t follow the masses and get sucked into using a sales process that does not deliver results to your customers! By the way, the process outlined above is an accelerated sales model used by sales superstars! 

2. You need a blindfold.

The key to survival in Bird Box was not looking at the source of evil — the only way to do this was to wear a blindfold.

In sales, a blindfold (or at least blinders) can be helpful to keep you focused on the process and avoid skipping steps.

TAKEAWAY: Omitting steps to speed up the sales process often slows down or derails a sale. Faster is not always better in the world of sales. Stay on task, stay focused, and don’t skip steps!

3. Don’t go on a journey without an alert system.

In the movie, Sandra Bullock uses a box of birds to alert her when the evil force is in the vicinity. Kind of a modified version of a canary in a coal mine.

You should have an alert system that includes key performance indicators (KPIs) to let you know when you are getting off track. Here are some KPIs to consider:

• The number of quality target accounts.
• The number of target accounts sold and a running total of revenue.
• Annual key account attrition.
• Number of quality face to face appointments per week.
• The dollar amount of business sold each week.

TAKEAWAY: Create your own box of bird KPIs and keep the data handy. Review weekly with your manager to stay on track.

4. Trust is essential.

The need for trust was pervasive in Bird Box. In one scene, Bullock pleads with her small children — boy and girl — to listen to her and to trust her in order to survive.

Trust is so important in the world of sales — here’s a list of examples:

• Trust needs to exist between a sales manager and a seller. Without it, the talents and sales potential of the seller will not be realized.
• Sellers have to trust the sales process they use and the products they sell. Simply put, when confidence is lacking in these areas, sales will suffer.
• Customers have to trust the seller, or a sale will not happen. Not much more needs to be said about this is sales 101 concept.

TAKEAWAY: Make sure the level of trust is high in all of these areas. Are there other areas related to sales where trust is critical?

5. Only the few survive.

Spoiler alert: In the movie, only a few survive. The key to survival is linked to avoiding visual exposure to the source of evil. 

In sales, only a few survive! The minority of people who enter the world of sales survive, and only a small percentage of the survivors reach superstar performance levels.

TAKEAWAY: Many sellers fail because they do not possess the required sales talent; most fail because they overlook the items featured in this post.

Be a survivor. Be a sales superstar! The choice is yours.