What the Super Bowl Commercials Can Teach Us as Salespeople

Great (Super Bowl) game last night  . . . it’s always fun to get into the big show.  And as a salesperson, I always love to watch the commercials. 
 
So here is a question for you:  With all the millions of dollars spent on Super Bowl ads, how come so many of them were . . . let’s just come out and say it . . .  lame? 
 
There were all sorts of commercials that did not really promote the product well or were just plain weird. Given the huge investments and the top talent working on these, how could that possibly happen?
 
Most advertising professionals will tell you that bad commercials are created when clients insist on driving the creative process. Rather than depending upon the very experts they pay to sell their products, they cannot resist taking control of the agenda. And when their ad agencies sell out and agree rather than risk making their clients angry, the give and take results in a bit of a Frankenstein monster that nobody winds up liking . . . especially the public.
 
Of course we run into this dynamic all the time as salespeople. 
 
The best antidote for being dominated by a prospect or client is knowledge.  We have to become the expert on whatever it is we are selling and always be prepared to make our arguments with facts and with conviction. 
 
There are no short cuts and most clients respect honest input based upon sound logic. 
 
The ones that don’t, won’t be loyal to us for long anyway.  Because guess who is getting blamed for the bad commercials this morning after the feedback comes in?