Dialogue 5. How to Prevent Trouble
T: Now we are moving to a new tool. This is a trouble prevention algorithm. We managed to identify a trouble, how it threatens the buyer or his company, how it relates to the purchase of our goods, as well as how it happens, that is, what chain of events leads to it. Now we need to find a way to break this chain.
First of all, we are looking for how to prevent each event in this chain from happening.
Let us return, for example, to the story of a thief-recidivist, a car buyer. As you remember, he complained that I asked for too much money from him.
It turned out that if he paid me for the car, he would have nothing to live on for a month, and then he would have to steal, but cops would suspect him, catch him and put him in prison. This logical chain exists in his head.
How to prevent each event from this chain from happening? For each event, the buyer needs to answer the question, “How to prevent...?” Try to give me answers for my buyer, okay?
Step One: Selling a Car
T: How to avoid being caught?
S: I need to hide from the police.
T: How to prevent you from being suspected?
S: Change the stealing style. I was most often recognized by my unique style.
T: How to prevent you from stealing?
S: I need to find the money urgently. Another source of money.
T: And how to prevent you from not having something to live on?
S: Find the money for all my expenses.
T: Now we need to clarify something, and this applies to money and terms. Money is needed not “forever,” but only “to next paycheck.” Money is needed urgently, but not “right this second.” And you need a certain amount of money rather than “the more, the better.” In short, you need to clarify how much money, when, and for how long the buyer needs it, because we both find it unacceptable for him to start stealing again or going to jail. By the way, we know “for how long”: “until the pay day,” that is, for a month.
So, how much money do you need for this month?
S: Let me figure it out. Insurance: $550, car registration: $2,100, gas: about $100, apartment rental and utilities: $1,500, food: $450. Small stuff, i.e. parking fees, all sorts of little things: $800. Total $5,500.
T: Do you need this money all at once?
S: No, why! I’ll pay the rent at the end of the month, I won’t buy food for a month in advance either, I won’t buy all gasoline at once. I need right now to pay for insurance and registration: $2,650. Every day I need, on average, $50, and $1,500 at the end of the month for an apartment and utilities.
T: What legal opportunities do you have to find this money?
S: Borrow from friends, take a short-term loan, discuss with the apartment owner the payment delay. I always paid him on time, I hope once he forgives me a debt.
T: And when will you be able to pay off these debts?
S: Really? Somewhere in six months. I earn $5,000 a month, so I’ll probably get it in half a year - maybe a little longer. The only problem is that I have to pay urgently, it's about $2,700. I don’t know where to get them.
T: Well, that’s easy. Write me a check for $3,000 dated one month later. I will cash this check in a month, when you have money in your checking account. Agreed?
S: Of course! Thank you!
T: So, the buyer’s problem was solved. He does not have to steal. He buys the car of his dreams. By the way, he paid me as much as I wanted. I agreed to delay cashing his check on 10% of price. And if he doesn’t have this money in his account in a month, it is his problem rather than mine. But this is not $6,000, which, as he hoped, I would give in to him. From my own wallet.
How to Identify Atypical Troubles | 13 Dialogues on Win-Win Sales | Step Two: Selling the Sleeping Bags