Confession: 8 Mile is one of my favorite movies. That’s not only because I’m a huge hip-hop fan. The gritty Detroit scenes, the classic hero’s journey, the great acting, and yes, the rap battles all play their part in making 8 Mile one of the movies I turn to when it feels like life is beating me down.
In addition to being such an inspiring and entertaining film, the final scene features a major lesson to be learned for anyone trying to sell. For those who haven’t seen the movie (or if you just want to see some great rap battles), start by watching the video below:
Prior to the above final scene, Jimmy Smith Jr. (played by Eminem) constantly has his physical and personal characteristics thrown in his face as insults, the most immutable being the fact that he’s white in a neighborhood that’s mostly black. On top of that, he and his friends aren’t known for being gang members or drug dealers and are simply people who have regular, low wage jobs at an automotive plant. For the majority of the movie, Smith feels defeated by the constant attacks on something he can’t change. The turning point comes when he realizes that his perceived weaknesses can be turned into his strengths, especially if framed the right way. Nowhere is this seen more strongly than in the final battle:
This guy ain’t no motherf***ing MC,
I know everything he’s got to say against me,
I am white, I am a f***ing bum,
I do live in a trailer with my mom,
My boy Future is an Uncle Tom.
I do got a dumb friend named Cheddar Bob
Who shoots himself in his leg with his own gun,
I did get jumped by all 6 of you chumps
One of the things that shows skill when freestyling is being able to come up with creative insults. When someone calls out everything you’re about to say, how in the world can you respond? Their self-deprecation takes all the responses right out of your mouth and leaves you gasping for air.
Sales Pitch Objections
The preempting insult strategy from 8 Mile always reminds me of something I love to hear in sales pitches. Startup founders and salespeople have heard every objection in the book. Things like:
- Your company is too small
- You’re too young
- The product isn’t “polished”
- You don’t have enough customers
Most salespeople will do their best to brush over the perceived weaknesses of their product. They certainly won’t be bringing up their product’s weaknesses as part of their pitch.
However, none of the above common objections is insurmountable and can actually be turned into advantages. For example, a way to pre-empt the “you don’t have enough customers” objection is to say that you’re currently working with a select group of invite-only early adopter clients. And we all know everyone wants to be part of an invite-only club. The “your company is too small” objection can be reframed by saying you have a small, agile team that can respond to customer requests more quickly than any large company ever could. You get the picture.
I’ve even seen some companies include some of these common objections in their pitch decks or as part of an FAQ section of their website. This is the ultimate show of confidence and highly recommended if you know your responses are going to be powerful.
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Ultimately, whether you make a sale or not is highly dependent on how you respond to objections and questions. Every product and company has strengths and weaknesses. Those that try to gloss over the weaknesses and only highlight their strengths run the risk of being perceived as shady or dishonest. But a company that shows you what it’s weaknesses are AND is able to re-frame those weaknesses as strengths? That’s who you want to work with.