What Alfred Hitchcock knew about OSS that almost all OSS Vendors are oblivious to

Alfred Hitchcock is known as one of the greatest storytellers in the history of cinema. He’s famous for movies such as Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window and many others. What’s far less well known is that he very successfully employed a two-script method, which interestingly, has the potential to be applied to the OSS industry.

The OSS industry is notorious for its buyer/seller chasm – a disconnect between vendors that desperately want to sell their solution and buyers that desperately desire new and transformed OSS to revolutionise their operations. Having sat through hundreds (possibly even thousands) of vendor demos, it’s common for vendors to focus on features and technical capabilities, hitting the buyers with a barrage of technical information. Some of the more advanced presentations take a slightly different approach, knowing that buyers are trying to solve real operational and business challenges and present accordingly. However, there’s a key point that Hitchcock knew intimately that almost no OSS vendors have grasped, at least not in the presentations I’ve observed to date.

We’ll get to that in a moment, but first we’ll take a closer look at Hitchcock’s two-script method:

• The Blue Script: The standard shooting script, used by all directors, which details dialogue, storyboard and production elements
• The Red Script: This is the script that set Hitchcock apart. This one included his personal notes, but importantly mapped out in detail the audience’s emotional journey – what they should feel at every moment throughout the film

This article is a thought-experiment around how and why a red script could be a really important part of an OSS vendor’s presentation to prospective buyers. By applying this dual-layered approach to OSS sales, vendors might manage to design pitches that logically explain the solution while emotionally resonating with buyers.

The Blue Script – Structuring the Logical Sales Narrative

In Hitchcock’s world, the blue script contained the expected elements – the essential structure that ensured production ran smoothly. The cast and crew were already familiar with this approach as it was used throughout the industry. In OSS sales, the blue script equates to the conventional elements of a pitch expected by OSS buyers, including:

• Features & Capabilities – The technology stack, capabilities, integrations, and innovations
• Benefits & Value Proposition – How it improves efficiency, reduces costs, or enhances operations
• Testimonials, Case Studies & ROI Justification – Proof that it works for similar customers
• Implementation Roadmap – What the buyer needs to do next

This structure is necessary because it hits many of the buyer’s expectations of the demonstration. But alone, it often fails to close the deal. Why? Because it’s purely rational. Most OSS buyers are not just making a technical decision; they are making a “career-risk” decision. Will this OSS implementation succeed, or will it be another high-cost failure (for my company, but also a blot on my copy-book of successful project implementations)?

As much as we all might believe that we’re making purely rational purchasing decisions, the reality is that our brains simply don’t work that way.

This is where Hitchcock’s red script comes in.

The Red Script – Engineering the Buyer’s Emotional Journey

Hitchcock meticulously planned how his audience should feel at every point in a film. He painstakingly crafted the story arc, not just from a technical perspective, but from an emotional one as well. OSS teams can potentially do the same by designing a pitch that takes buyers through an emotional journey – from curiosity to trust to action. A story arc! Earlier, we hinted that Hitchcock knew something intimately that almost no OSS vendors have grasped – and that point is character-based story-telling. Our brains are wired to remember characters and stories, not facts and figures (Structure Your Presentation Like a Story).

So let’s take a look at the Hitchcock story arc through an OSS lens:

Opening Scene: Curiosity & Engagement

Hitchcock: Hitchcock often opened his films with an intriguing setup that drew the audience in immediately. In Rear Window, the film opens with a slow pan across the apartment courtyard, showing glimpses of people’s lives. Then, it zooms in on Jeff, stuck in a wheelchair with a broken leg. This immediately makes the audience curious about what’s happening beyond those windows.

OSS Equivalent: Instead of diving straight into features, open with a question or character-based scenario that resonates with the buyer’s pain points, but from a slightly different or contrarian perspective to the norm.

Example:
“Imagine you’re David, the Head of Product, and you’re about to launch a new network service that you’ve dedicated 6 months of your working life to designing and building. However, your IT stack, BSS and OSS are a spaghetti-mess that has been a nightmare to untangle and technically the updated stack just isn’t keeping up. Activation delays and disillusionment with your existing hero products are already causing drastic customer churn so you desperately need to get this new product to market yesterday. How do you fix it?”

Assuming this story-snippet aligns with the prospect’s actual pain points, it engages the audience on a human / emotional level.

Rising Tension: Creating a Sense of Urgency

Hitchcock: Hitchcock built suspense by making the audience aware of something the characters didn’t know. In Psycho Marion Crane checks into the Bates Motel. She chats with the polite yet awkward Norman Bates. The conversation is normal—until it isn’t. Norman’s tone subtly shifts when talking about his mother, and the audience starts sensing something isn’t quite right. The audience knows danger is creeping in, even if Marion doesn’t.

OSS Equivalent: Show buyers the hidden risks of maintaining the status quo.

Example:
“Most operators don’t realise that their current OSS setup is silently costing them X% in revenue leakage due to factors A, B and C.”

This works because it frames inaction as a risk, just like Hitchcock framed waiting too long as a fatal mistake for his characters. This creates a subtle sense of urgency.

Buyer as the Hero: Empathy & Alignment

Hitchcock: Hitchcock made audiences emotionally connect with his protagonists, making them root for their success. In North by Northwest Roger Thornhill is an advertising executive mistaken for a spy. He’s thrust into a life-or-death situation through no fault of his own. As he stumbles through chases, betrayals, and near-death experiences, the audience identifies with him – not because he’s a hero, but because he’s just a regular guy trapped in extraordinary circumstances.

OSS Equivalent: Frame the buyer as the hero, rather than positioning your product as the main character. I often refer to this as the Star Wars analogy – As a supplier, you’re not the hero of the story, you’re only the guide. Your client is Luke Skywalker – they’re the one on the journey, facing challenges, making decisions and ultimately achieving success. Your role is that of Yoda, to provide wisdom, perspective, and the occasional well-placed question or nudge in the right direction. In most cases, you don’t swing the lightsaber or take down the Death Star yourself (although perhaps you have in a previous role, just like Yoda in the prequels). Instead, you supply them with the tools to help them achieve their objectives.

In most presentations I’ve seen, the vendor is so proud of their solutions that they naturally fall into the Luke Skywalker persona as the hero of the story. It’s vitally important to shift this narrative – from focussing on your product to the results the client can achieve, the problems they can overcome, their transformational leadership role. This is an important part of making them invested in the outcome, not just a business case. And I don’t mean this in terms of being disingenuous, but to genuinely understand that your (and your product’s) role is as Yoda, not Luke Skywalker.

Visualising Success: The Climactic Payoff

Hitchcock: Hitchcock’s films were carefully edited to maximise emotional payoffs. In Vertigo, Scottie has been reconstructing Judy into his lost love, Madeleine. In the pivotal transformation scene, as she steps out of the bathroom, Hitchcock bathes her in an eerie green light. The audience finally sees what Scottie has longed for – Madeleine, reborn. The audience experiences the success of Scottie’s obsessive quest (before the final tragic reveal).

OSS Equivalent: Instead of a generic product demo, the aim is to show buyers their future reality. A great example is to use before/after comparisons from previous clients as proof of future results such as “Right now, you’ve indicated that activation takes 3 days. That’s similar to David’s experience. In fact his was actually a little longer. With our solution, David was able to bring activations down under an hour and roll out new offers in a matter of weeks.”  This helps to make the possibilities of the transformation more tangible, allowing clients to feel greater confidence that they’ll experience success as a result of making the decision to buy.

Comparative metrics is one of the most heavily underutilised elements in the vendor  demonstrations / presentations I’ve experienced. However, I (almost) totally understand why. Unfortunately, it can be really difficult to actually capture the before/after benchmarks – partly because there are often many contributing factors in metric change during an OSS transformation, but also because clients don’t always measure the metrics that matter to you.

Closing Scene: Leaving Them Wanting More

Hitchcock: Hitchcock often ended scenes with lingering questions, keeping the audience hooked. In The Birds, the film ends without resolution. Melanie, Mitch, and his family slowly leave the house, surrounded by thousands of silent, watching birds. There’s no music, no explanation, just an eerie, unresolved quiet. By leaving the ending ambiguous, Hitchcock ensures the film lingers in the audience’s mind long after the credits roll.

OSS Equivalent: You may have the possibility of closing with a powerful question, one that summarises the key point (or pain point) of your discussing with the client, one that keeps the client thinking about the risks of not acting long after you leave. This is particularly true if your question poses the point in a way the client has never thought of before. This might be a “re-framing” question. For example, when most buyers think about OSS transformations, they’re thinking about what the solution will look like the day after it’s handed over into production. However, in the ideal world the new OSS will still be in operation in 5-10 years. As a result, you might like to help them to think about what their operating environment might look like in 5-10 years and how the solution might be even more beneficial than on Day 1 (eg flexibility to adapt to the increasing rate of change, an insurance policy against competitors that have advanced their OSS capabilities, being a framework that allows entirely new styles of product or ordering techniques based on AR headsets, etc, etc)

The Theatre of an OSS Presentation

For many of the presentations I’ve seen, the OSS vendor has clearly scripted and/or rehearsed their presentation. They know that it’s a really important part of staying in the race towards being selected.  Others have clearly winged it, feeling confident that they can present well and adapt to the client’s flow of queries. Sadly, I’ve seen very capable products ruled out of the procurement race purely because the vendor hasn’t presented their solution up to the full extent of their merits. One presentation sticks out in my mind. I was already familiar with this particular vendor and knew them to be one of the strongest in the field for the client’s needs. The presentation was so poor that the vendor was very quickly ruled out by the buyer as being totally out of touch with the buyer’s needs.

Clearly, most vendors do prepare a blue script already. They do have most of the standard facts and figures and features meticulously planned. They do a great job of directing to the blue script.

However, I openly wonder whether Hitchcock’s blue and red script approach might help to maximise engagement / immersion and minimise audience confusion (remembering that the confused mind says no).

Applying the Hitchcock method just might ensure:

• Buyers don’t feel overwhelmed by technical details too early
• They emotionally connect with the solution before evaluating specs
• They recall key details of your message as our brains are wired to remember character-driven stories
• The sales process feels structured and intuitive because it uses a familiar story arc, rather than being overwhelming and disjointed
• The buying decision merges logic with emotion, and dramatically reduces friction

So, the next time you’re preparing an OSS presentation, are you going to ask yourself:

“Am I just delivering a blue script, or am I directing a red script experience that will truly resonate with, and be remembered by, my audience?”