What’s the most powerful strategy you can adopt when you want something from someone?
Profound question? Useful question? Strange question?
Think for a second before I give you my answer.
(And I'm not just talking a simple bribe, such as offering Paddington a marmalade sandwich, as in the picture!)
Ready… Had a think…? Mused awhile?
Okay, i’ll stop teasing now, my striking insight is…
- See things from their perspective.
Sounds simple? Obvious? Elementary?
Maybe so. But it's equally often overlooked.
I’ve had a couple of instances recently where seeing a situation from someone else’s perspective has paid off handsomely.
The first was asking for financial support from a big business person for a philanthropic project.
Such successful people are asked for money all the time.
So we knew we were facing a challenge.
But I'm happy to say we secured the support. And why?
Largely because I did a fair amount of research on the person.
And what came through time and again, was (and I'm not making any political points here, just stating facts…)
They were strongly pro-European, and had spoken out many times against Brexit.
The pitch we were making was about international cooperation in education.
So in the document, I emphasised how it would support and enhance links between the UK and Europe at a time when they were likely to be weaker because of Brexit…
And that was, we were told, the main factor in securing support.
All because we put ourselves in our benefactor's shoes, and imagined what would engage and enthuse them.
In a different, but also illustrative case, another executive I've been working with wanted a significant amount of money from a potential backer to fund a new research centre.
We’ve spent several months developing the core messages for the proposal, then putting them together into a two-page pitch document.
It contained all the important information, plus a little creative storytelling to illustrate the point of the centre.
And it worked to the extent that it got us an hour in the person’s diary to give a presentation to try to secure their backing.
We had 10 minutes for our presentation, followed by a question-and-answer session, and a discussion.
So, initially we started to think about a 10 minute presentation, as you would...
But then!
I started to consider the situation from our potential backer’s perspective.
They had many people coming to them every day asking for support. That was their business.
Each would be armed with a snazzy 10 minute presentation.
From this person’s point of view, they must’ve been pretty much punch-drunk by the end of the day, and all these slideshows and speeches.
So we took a risk.
Cut ours to one image only, and three minutes of spiel.
To point out how we were different, more creative, original, worthy and determined than the rest, the pitch started with these words:
- I know we’ve got 10 minutes for this presentation, but it’s such a visionary, appealing and enticing idea that it’s only going to take three to make you fall in love with it.
That certainly worked in grabbing our executive's attention.
But just to ram home the point (because you know subtlety isn't my strong point), we went on to add:
- Even better, we’re not going to subject you to death by PowerPoint. We have just one image to show you. Only one. A picture which sums up the potential of our proposal.
The accompanying talk did indeed go on for just three minutes.
And our victim (sorry, audience of one!) loved it.
Even more, they praised us for such a short pitch, and using just the one image.
Because, they said, they were bombarded with long presentations and endless slides every day, and our approach was far more refreshing and effective.
We made a mark by being short, simple, and striking.
And why did we do that? Why was it our strategy?
Because we put ourselves in the executive's shoes.
Imagined what they went through every day, and decided to offer something different.
So when you’re talking to your boss, someone you want to back your idea, even a colleague, and trying to persuade them of the righteousness of your thoughts…
See the situation from their perspective.
It always worked for me in the BBC.
My poor editors were up to the necks in dealing with problems like you wouldn't believe.
So when I told them about anything I thought they needed to know, I would always add:
- We’ve got this problem, but I think this is the way to solve it.
It was remarkable how often that helped me along.
Even more interestingly, one of my former editors told me I was the only correspondent who tried to offer solutions.
The others just waited to be spoon-fed some help.
That in such a prestigious organisation, allegedly full of such talented people.
That's the power of swapping shoes with the person you’re trying to persuade.
It can be a great support in setting you on the path to success.