I got myself in a bit of a pickle today.
That’s because yesterday, I wrote about smart and effective ways that marketers can use reciprocity to get their prospects’ trust.
I didn’t spell out what those ways were, so I invited people to write in if they wanted to know what I had in mind.
And a few people did exactly that.
Only one problem.
While I had vague ideas of effective reciprocity that I’ve seen in marketing, I hadn’t really thought deeply about this issue.
And I certainly didn’t have a list of such strategies prepared and ready to share.
This was weighing on me earlier today.
I was starting to get more nervous than a crab next to a pot of boiling water and a can of Old Bay Seasoning.
So to take my mind off this troubling situation, I put on a lesson from a course by negotiation expert Jim Camp.
This lesson talked about one of the pillars of Jim Camp’s negotiation philosophy:
The idea that everybody wants to “be okay.”
This means feeling comfortable.
And the main way we humans do this is by being a little more okay than the other person.
So if you want to make people feel okay, you can do so by being “unokay” — by revealing your mistakes, uncertainties, or foibles.
Once you trust your adversaries — or prospects — in this way, they will begin to let their guard down…
Start to trust you a little more in turn…
And look for ways to help you out.
This is powerful stuff. And in my experience, it works very well.
Unfortunately, it’s also something I have to constantly remind myself of.
Because my first instinct is to try to impress everyone with my smarts, my preparedness, or my skills.
Anyways, perhaps you can see where I’m going with this. And maybe you will get some use out of it.
For now, if you want to get some copy written, and you’re not too bothered by my occasional unpreparedness, then write me an email and we can talk.
That’s because yesterday, I wrote about smart and effective ways that marketers can use reciprocity to get their prospects’ trust.
I didn’t spell out what those ways were, so I invited people to write in if they wanted to know what I had in mind.
And a few people did exactly that.
Only one problem.
While I had vague ideas of effective reciprocity that I’ve seen in marketing, I hadn’t really thought deeply about this issue.
And I certainly didn’t have a list of such strategies prepared and ready to share.
This was weighing on me earlier today.
I was starting to get more nervous than a crab next to a pot of boiling water and a can of Old Bay Seasoning.
So to take my mind off this troubling situation, I put on a lesson from a course by negotiation expert Jim Camp.
This lesson talked about one of the pillars of Jim Camp’s negotiation philosophy:
The idea that everybody wants to “be okay.”
This means feeling comfortable.
And the main way we humans do this is by being a little more okay than the other person.
So if you want to make people feel okay, you can do so by being “unokay” — by revealing your mistakes, uncertainties, or foibles.
Once you trust your adversaries — or prospects — in this way, they will begin to let their guard down…
Start to trust you a little more in turn…
And look for ways to help you out.
This is powerful stuff. And in my experience, it works very well.
Unfortunately, it’s also something I have to constantly remind myself of.
Because my first instinct is to try to impress everyone with my smarts, my preparedness, or my skills.
Anyways, perhaps you can see where I’m going with this. And maybe you will get some use out of it.
For now, if you want to get some copy written, and you’re not too bothered by my occasional unpreparedness, then write me an email and we can talk.