• November 18, 2014

Best Assistants in the Movies

What do all successful sales professionals have in common? (Besides using Spiro, of course.)

Well aside from having killer personalities, building great relationships and innovative ideas, they must be able to manage their time effectively. Time management involves:

  • Analyzing all the tasks that need to be done
  • Prioritizing them
  • Scheduling them

All of these need to be done on a daily basis. This can be complicated for salespeople particularly, as they have new leads daily, countless follow ups and, oh yeah, actual sales to make! It can be a challenge to manage both the sales, and all the supporting tasks involved. This is where an assistant comes in. With another person, or technology, managing and taking care of all the tedious tasks, you are freed up to doing what you do best: sell.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the best assistants from famous movies and how they enabled their bosses to succeed.

Miss Moneypenny from the James Bond Movies

It’s not easy being the head of the British Secret Service (MI6), as M is in the James Bond novels and films. From managing Britain’s most notorious spy James Bond, to being responsible for the safety of a nation, M’s responsibilities are endless.

There is one person though, outside of M himself, who is almost entirely responsible for his success. That person is not 007; it’s Eve Moneypenny. By creating and reading top secret reports, Moneypenny ensures M always has the information he needs to devise a plan and create a mission. Moneypenny also acts as an office bodyguard, keeping non-essential people from wasting M’s time.

Pepper Pots from Ironman

Next up is Pepper Pots from Ironman, and it’s no secret that she is good at her job. What makes her so valuable? Aside from keeping a certain billionaire, playboy, engineer, superhero in check, she also takes a lot of tasks off his plate, allowing Stark to focus on financially profitable tasks. By managing his schedule and organizing his personal and professional tasks, she ensures Stark can focus all of his energy on building new prototypes and saving the world.

If you think Stark Industries would be a multi-billion dollar company without Pepper, think again. It’s far more likely that Tony Stark would have forgotten to attend his investor meetings and would have found himself no longer the head of the company. Either that, or he would have had to dedicate far too much of his time to figuring out his own schedule, which would never have resulted in Stark Industry’s newest billion dollar invention.

Samantha from Her

Samantha from Her takes the idea of an assistant into the virtual plane. She is designed to be the ideal assistant, with software that ensures she can adapt perfectly to her client’s needs.

One of the most tedious tasks of any sales professional, can be navigating the mountain of emails that are constantly arriving in your inbox. Samantha’s software allows her to navigate through Theodore’s email, perfectly understanding what information he needs to obtain and how to present the information to him. She also manages Theodore’s schedule, ensuring that his life runs as smoothly as possible.

Even more importantly, Samantha is capable of learning. The more she learns about Theodore, the better her recommendations become. Without Samantha, Theodore would likely never have enough time or focus to finish his next writing piece, and definitely wouldn’t have had time to go out on a date.

Sales Assistant Needed

A great assistant is a key element to success, particularly when you have a lot on your plate. Assistants allow for a reduction in stress levels and increased productivity, allowing you to rest assured your business is being managed while you are focusing on the key element of your profit.

Which assistant would you chose of the three?