I started watching Bugsy last night.
It’s a Barry Levinson movie starring Warren Beatty as Ben Siegel (don’t call him “Bugsy” unless you want a sock in the jaw).
Bugsy (all right, he’s dead) is a big-time mobster from New York who comes to Hollywood to expand his business.
And so he goes to meet a local crime boss (right across the street) and gives him two options. “Option one,” says Bugsy, “is you come to work for me. We take 75%, you get 25%, which has got to be worth at least three times what your 100% is worth now.”
“And option two?” asks the local crime boss.
Here Bugsy pulls out his gun. The whole room stands up on alert (Bugsy is alone, the local crooks are a dozen). “No, no, don’t worry,” Bugsy says amiably. “Here, take it.” And he shoves his gun into the local crime boss’s hands and points it at himself.
The local crime boss looks confused for a second. Finally, he says, “What, I gotta kill you?”
Bugsy again smiles and nods his head.
The negotiation concludes, and the Hollywood crime boss is now part of the Bugsy Siegel organization.
I thought this scene was a great illustration of how to build vision (a cornerstone of the Jim Camp school of sales and negotiation). The vision in this case is not that the local crime boss would have to commit a murder. The vision instead is that Bugsy (and his associates) are fearless, crazy, and will stop at nothing to get what they want.
I’ve found that the most effective ways to build vision are often this simple and surprising.
It’s something to keep in mind if you’re negotiating or trying to sell. And as I’ve written before (“The sink-or-swim sales close”), this kind of “take my gun” approach can work in building vision in copy as well. If you want to read about that, here’s the link to that ancient post:
https://bejakovic.com/sink-swim-sales-letter-close/
It’s a Barry Levinson movie starring Warren Beatty as Ben Siegel (don’t call him “Bugsy” unless you want a sock in the jaw).
Bugsy (all right, he’s dead) is a big-time mobster from New York who comes to Hollywood to expand his business.
And so he goes to meet a local crime boss (right across the street) and gives him two options. “Option one,” says Bugsy, “is you come to work for me. We take 75%, you get 25%, which has got to be worth at least three times what your 100% is worth now.”
“And option two?” asks the local crime boss.
Here Bugsy pulls out his gun. The whole room stands up on alert (Bugsy is alone, the local crooks are a dozen). “No, no, don’t worry,” Bugsy says amiably. “Here, take it.” And he shoves his gun into the local crime boss’s hands and points it at himself.
The local crime boss looks confused for a second. Finally, he says, “What, I gotta kill you?”
Bugsy again smiles and nods his head.
The negotiation concludes, and the Hollywood crime boss is now part of the Bugsy Siegel organization.
I thought this scene was a great illustration of how to build vision (a cornerstone of the Jim Camp school of sales and negotiation). The vision in this case is not that the local crime boss would have to commit a murder. The vision instead is that Bugsy (and his associates) are fearless, crazy, and will stop at nothing to get what they want.
I’ve found that the most effective ways to build vision are often this simple and surprising.
It’s something to keep in mind if you’re negotiating or trying to sell. And as I’ve written before (“The sink-or-swim sales close”), this kind of “take my gun” approach can work in building vision in copy as well. If you want to read about that, here’s the link to that ancient post:
https://bejakovic.com/sink-swim-sales-letter-close/