The ultimate sales pitch has already lost the deal

Those familiar with the DailyMash would have enjoyed the headline 'Fears Grow that massive ash cloud may be unable to prevent tonight's leader debate'. It somewhat terrifies me just how much seems to be resting on the events of this evening. I heard someone say it was the ultimate chance for the leaders to sell themselves, their beliefs, their product. But it's not a sales pitch at all, it's a complete fake.

It's not the endless rehearsals, the line learning, the posture training that bothers me (although I would love to have been a fly on the wall watching Gordon Brown learn how to walk powerfully). These are all signs that you're taking the pitch seriously. Preparation is everything after all. No, what bothers me is that the whole thing is staged, with leaders only answering questions they themselves have set. That's like walking into a sales meeting and asking 'can you avoid these areas please? We're still a little ropey on those.'

You'll hear 100 times daily that the key to a successful sale is listening to the needs of the customer. How can you listen when you won't let them say what they want to say? Listening, adapting and implementing the desired change is what makes a deal worthwhile, so cutting out the first stage seems somewhat ridiculous to me. So whilst tomorrow morning, party officials will be raising their hands in triumph, like a boxer claiming the points victory after the last bell has rung, there will be no winners, only disillusioned politicians and frustrated customers.