Queen Bey succeeds by leaving us guessing

Beyonce has proven that she knows the first rule of selling, says Rob Long

Beyonce knows how to sell herself and her music. Eduardo Munoz / Reuters

Every good salesman knows this rule: after you’ve delivered your sales speech and made the case for your product, once you’ve explained to the potential customer why they need whatever it is you’re selling, there is only one thing left to do.

And that’s this: fall silent.

I’ve met some of the most successful salespeople in the world, and they’ve always said the same thing: make your best pitch and then shut up. Silence, they all say, is the power move. The trick is to be able to sit there, confident that your pitch and product speak for themselves, in total silence, no matter how awkward and maddening it is.

Because the next person who speaks will be the loser in the transaction. The seller who starts up the pitch again, equivocating or amending, will look desperate and weak. The buyer who asks about the price, or other details, has signalled interest and instantly forfeits the upper hand.

Winning hinges on that most rare and challenging human trait: the ability to shut up and stay that way.

People in Hollywood, though, have a hard time staying silent. In many ways, that’s a contractual arrangement. Movie and television stars are required, most of the time, to do all sorts of publicity and marketing appearances to sell a project to the audience.

Each time a film or television show premières in a new location – and these days that often means 10 places worldwide – the famous faces are jetted to a nearby luxury hotel, propped up on sofas in a fancy suite and subjected to a series of interviews by local news media. We call these, in the entertainment industry, “junkets”. I’m not sure how that term came about, except that in many cases it’s clear that the project being promoted is, well, junk.

You’ve probably seen these. The interviewer always makes it seem as if he or she and the movie star are old friends, just having one of their casual and regular chats. They banter back and forth – often in front of a large poster advertising the project – and create the illusion that this is all just a gathering of friends.

The truth is, each one of these interviews is meticulously planned and timed to the second. The interviewers are ushered in and out, and a well-planned junket can knock off a dozen of these in a morning. By the end of the day, the star is exhausted and glassy-eyed. It’s hard, apparently, to answer the same question over and over again, being charming and spontaneous each time.

As an example of salesmanship, though, this is a terrible way to convince anyone. It’s needy and awkward, and more often than not makes you wonder if the picture or television show is worth watching. And because the exchanges are unscripted, they often seem low-energy or, when they’re one of the final few of the day, downright hostile. If good salesmanship requires a certain amount of restraint, and the ability to be silent, then show business junkets rank among the worst ways to sell anything.

Trust Beyoncé, the dazzling singer, dancer and all-around superstar, to show us a better way. Her fans call her “Queen Bey” and in salesmanship, at least, this seems like a fair title.

Two months ago, to zero fanfare and no advance word, Beyoncé released the video to her latest song, Formation. The video is a thoughtful and mesmerising piece of work, with lots of complicated references and odd little details.

In the weeks after its release, Beyoncé chose to explain none of these. In fact, she chose to say nothing, about anything, except to formally announce her world tour. Beyoncé didn’t need to go on a junket or answer questions from legions of entertainment reporters. She had her fans conduct a junket of their own.

Last week, she did it again. Beyoncé suddenly released her longer-form video project, Lemonade, which included more inexplicable images and cryptic messages – and again, Queen Bey remained tight-lipped about it all.

There were even dark rumours that she had identified a woman who – and this is all conjecture – was or is having an affair with her husband, the rapper and music producer Jay Z. She refers obliquely to a woman in the video, and zealous Queen Bey disciples on Facebook and Twitter instantly launched crazed and unfounded hunts for the true identity of the woman who was betraying their sovereign. The lyrics were analysed for clues. The images were searched for coded meanings. Names were bandied about online.

And through it all, Beyoncé was – you guessed it – silent. After all, she’s a saleswoman. She has a product in the marketplace and she knows what the first rule of effective selling is: know when to shut up and let your customers do the talking.

Beyoncé may not be Queen Bey to everyone, but she’s certainly Queen of the Kingdom of Sales.

Rob Long is a writer and producer in Hollywood

On Twitter: @rcbl