Del Griffith, John Candy and The Art of the Sale
What Planes, Trains and Automobiles taught us about sales, smiles and kindness
It's that time of year where Adam Sandler's Thanksgiving song lyrics are top of mind for me - "Turkey for me, turkey for you. Let's eat the turkey in my big brown shoe"
But it's also time for one of my favorite movies to run consistently on AMC and TBS and I'm here for it!
Yes one of my favorite movies is a Thanksgiving movie. Yes, an actual Thanksgiving movie which hit theaters on November 25th, 1987. That movie is:
Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
November 1987
It was November of 1987. I was embracing my final year of high school with an ill-advised fashion statement by wearing a “Who farted?” shirt that got me kicked out of Spanish class.
This was followed by the dual release of stink bombs in the cafeteria that smelled like 600,000 rotten eggs, and this is not an exaggeration. The best part? You stepped on them, and they disintegrated, leaving no evidence. I still want to meet the genius responsible for this invention. Yeah, it’s probably a good thing that I’m not a parent.
With another pre-Internet holiday season approaching, the shopping malls were thriving, and the movie theaters were packed. Ushers were walking the aisles, flashlight in hand, shushing those who chose to talk during the movie. Today, we have theaters trying anything to get butts in seats. Full-service food and beverage, plush reclining love seats complete with blankets and slippers, rollercoasters, and trips to Mars. Okay, those last two aren’t true . . . yet. And to think all they really need to do is bring ushers back and the people will come. Bank on it. Alas, that is a business lesson for another day.
The November 1987 Box Office
Beyond John Hughes’s latest entry - Planes, Trains and Automobiles - and the movie for our lessons in this article, the box office was full of soon-to-be both generational and cult classics. Rabbits were having a tougher holiday season than their farm friend the turkey with an unenvious role in Fatal Attraction. The Princess Bride was ten weeks into its theatrical run and had officially immortalized Andre the Giant in the annals of pop culture history. Steve Guttenberg, Ted Danson, and the owner of everyone’s favorite mustache, Tom Selleck, were in their first week of eliciting “Oohs” and “Awws” with the premiere of Three Men and a Baby. And one of the most surprising box office hits in history, as well as one of the most iconic 80s’ movies saw Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey dancing their way into movie history with Dirty Dancing.
My Senior Prom song theme song was “I’ve Had The Time of My Life”, which is the hit track from Dirty Dancing. Ugh. If you’ve been reading my Substack for a bit or have read my books or heard one of my keynotes, then you know that I am as big a Patrick Swayze fan as you will find. I love Road House, Red Dawn, The Outsiders and Point Break. I even named my Pit mix rescue dog, Bodhi, after Swayze’s character in the aforementioned Point Break. But that song was played again and again and I Had The Time of My Life was on every poster and banner and carved into every piece of Prom swag. Awful, just really awful. I still have night terrors from it.
More Pop Culture from November 1987
The Top 40 music charts were again delivering their insane mix alternative, rock, one hit wonders and timeless 80s pop singers. There was Sting with “We’ll Be Together,” R.E.M with “The One I Love,” Springsteen’s “Brilliant Disguise,” George Michael’s “Faith,” and Billy Idol’s “Mony Mony.”
We had Pretty Poison -- not to be confused with the metal rockers Poison, although they were there, too -- with “Catch Me, I’m Falling,” Tiffany with “I Think We’re Alone Now,” and Debbie Gibson’s “Shake Your Love.” The latter two were discovered singing in a shopping mall in what was apparently the 80s’ version of American Idol.
Television gave us to Johnny Depp’s big break in 21 Jump Street. As you might guess, I am not a fan of 80s re-boots, but kudos to Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill for creating comedy gold with this one. Full House debuted with Bob Saget playing corny and cheesy perfectly, just like he did as the host of America’s Funniest Home Videos. Watch his stand-up if you really want to see how very, very different he is from the characters he played. Lisa Bonet began charming all of us in the premiere of A Different World.
We also said goodbye to a few classic and ground breaking shows. We “pitied the fool” one last time when Mr. T and A-Team got the axe; we went down to Fraggle Rock for a tearful goodbye; we spent a last evening with Ricky Schroeder on Silver Spoons; and we watched the cast of the groundbreaking series Hill Street Blues chase down their last criminal.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (A Plot Summary)
Planes, Trains and Automobiles, starring Steve Martin and John Candy and directed by John Hughes, hit theaters on November 25th, 1987. If the trailer was nothing more than those three names on the screen, this would have been enough to vault it straight to number one at the box office. That is some serious comedic genius right there, my friends. It’s no surprise that with Hughes writing and directing it was another ‘80s masterpiece. It’s the story of two men, polar opposites and complete strangers. Neal Page, played by Martin, and Del Griffith, played by Candy, are thrust together through happenstance during the rush to travel home for the Thanksgiving holiday. Neal is a buttoned-up, very square, and uptight advertising executive. Del is a slightly overbearing shower curtain-ring salesman with a complete lack of self-awareness. He has a big personality and a bigger heart made of pure gold.
The pair’s three-day journey together begins with Del unwittingly “stealing” a cab from Neal after he has negotiated with and even paid someone else who claimed it at the same time. They don’t actually meet at this point, but they do end up sitting next to each other on a plane to Chicago. Del proceeds to take off his shoes and exclaim, “Whoa! My dogs are barking.” Due to a blizzard in Chicago, their plane is diverted to Wichita, where they struggle to find a vacancy in a hotel. Del manages to use his gift of gab with one of his shower curtain-ring customers who agrees to give the duo the last available room which is a room with one bed.
From there, the fellows hitch a ride in the back of a pickup truck in the freezing cold which prompts Neal to ask, “What do you think the temperature is right now?” Del replies, “One.” After thawing out, they hop a train that breaks down. Then they catch a bus, the tickets for which Del earns by selling his shower curtain rings as “stylish” earrings to girls they encounter at the bus station. That gets them only as far as St. Louis at which point Neal tries to strike out on his own by renting a car. This too turns into a complete debacle, prompting him to drop more “F” bombs in one scene than Eddie Murphy did throughout all of 48 Hours.
Furious, distraught, and without a rental car, Neal tries to get a cab to Chicago. He ends up on the losing end of a physical confrontation with the dispatcher and winds up back with Del who fared better with his car rental. It’s not long before said car catches on fire due to a careless cigarette toss by Del, which also destroys all of their money and credit cards. The two eventually reach a train station via an appliance truck and separate once again only to come back together after a sympathetic turn by Neal. It’s an incredibly heartfelt ending. For those who haven’t seen it, I will not give it away. Just go watch it right away.
It also has one of my favorite, and in my opinion, most relatable characters in movie history - Del Griffith.
So what did Del Griffith teach us about work and life?
Just thinking of John Candy’s character Del Griffith brings a smile to my face. He was the definition of a great salesperson: affable, optimistic, and passionate about his product. More importantly, he is passionate about his customers. He knew how to close. He sold shower curtain rings as earrings at a bus station to raise money for two tickets for he and Neal when they were stranded. So, yeah he was a closer. He had the women try the shower curtain rings on and then delivered lines like, “I’ve got the deal of a lifetime for you,” and, “These are the Diane Sawyer autographed versions.” How about “This is Czechoslovakian ivory,” describing the pure white ones, and “They are filled with helium so they’re very light,” when selling the clear rings; and perhaps my favorite, “This is an autographed Daryl Strawberry earring.”
Unfortunately, not every salesperson is born with Del Griffith’s gift of gab. If that had been the case, we would all have houses full of Chia pets, Ginsu knives, and Girl Scout cookies, though I do actually have a house full of their S’mores cookies. Maybe they do have a little shower curtain-ring salesperson in each of their souls.
When we think of what makes a company great, we often talk about leadership, culture, vision, or brand. Of course, having a better product or service than your competitors certainly helps too. All of these things are very important, but success will come down to how well you sell what you do. For that, you will need your own Del Griffith. Maybe it’s you. If you’re the owner and founder of your company, then you know the hustle involved in building your business. Even if you are the very best at what you do, someone else very important, your first customer, needs to know that and believe it.
Rocky and Apollo
You might be saying, “But, Chris, you were in marketing for over twenty years, and you are admitting that the key to a successful business is a great salesperson? Sales? Not marketing?” I know that the standard line is something about marketing and sales being like cats and dogs. Wait, this is about 80s pop culture, so a better analogy might be Tango and Cash, Riggs and Murtaugh, or better yet, Barbara and Oliver from War of the Roses.
The reality is that a great salesperson can mask your company’s other deficiencies while you figure out how to make the improvements and create the innovations necessary for the business to continue moving forward. Sales and Marketing should work together like Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed. Sure we will exchange some jabs and body blows but when we retreat to our corners, we will talk about how very good the other is and a mutual respect will come from it. Ultimately, just like Rocky and Apollo, we have the same goal - to win. For them it was a championship boxing belt but for us it is the growth and success of the business. We’re competitors but also members of the same team and that can make for some pretty awesome results.
Besides the owner/founder/CEO, your salespeople are the face of the company. They are who your customers typically interact with first and most often, during good times and, more importantly, during bad times, when their relationship with a customer could mean saving a crucial account. Every company needs a great salesperson; someone who is affable, optimistic, and passionate about their product or service, and more importantly, their customers.
Every company needs a Del Griffith. Let’s be honest; every company has a Neal Page or two. Maybe your Del Griffith can make optimists out of some of them.
A life lesson from Del
Del Griffith is representative all of us at some point our lives. Trying our best to hide and internalize grief or loneliness thinking that it is our burden alone to carry. It's not and for Del it takes the most unexpected of people to connect the dots to recognize his pain and provide him with exactly what he needs - comfort, understanding, someone who won't take no for an answer to an invite for a seat at Thanksgiving dinner and most importantly, a friend. That friend in the end is Neal Page who comes full circle on his feelings with Del when he realizes that Del’s wife passed away years ago and he doesn’t have a family to go home to for the holidays.
What we see in Del is a very genuine kindness and ability to connect with anyone but also incredible vulnerability and deep, deep sorrow from the loss of his wife years ago. However, no matter his circumstance he looks to find the very best in each person, wakes up each day with optimism and greets everyone with a smile no matter how difficult it may be for him at any given time.
We could all learn a little bit from Del Griffith and he teaches us a very valuable life lesson:
Just be you. Oh and a simple smile towards someone else can help to alleviate the complexities and stresses in someone’s life if only for a moment.
Man I really miss John Candy.
Stay Rad Everybody!