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> At 01:37 PM 9/19/02, Sgalvan2 -at- aol -dot- com wrote:
>
> >I completed this great maket/proposal and sent it to a publisher. He
> >said yes. Great! Then I contact the company that makes the software to
> >ask for some reviews and one of their head marketing people flew to my
> >home town.
> >They offered to pay expenses and extra training if he could write a
couple
> >chapters. He said he didn't want any money.
> >
> >Just to have the company added to the book contract.
> >So I did.
> >
> >Well, now he will not finish the chapters and his communication is
> >terrible. It has been three years.
> >
> >So, I wrote the whole book, but the publisher will not publish it until
he
> >does his share.
> >
> >Any suggestions on how to get this person to even listen? Is there anyone
> >that knows some good legal actions?
Here are my suggestions.
Have you spoken to the president of the company? Have you spoken
to their sales manager? Have you spoken to their marketing manager?
You need to build a consensus within this company, that completing this
would be a good thing to do.
Here is what I would do:
Call the president of the company (if it is too huge - over 5000 emplyees,
and
you are nervous about doing that, call the marketing manager.)
Say,
"I have a publication contract to do a book on your software. I think it
will help your sales efforts
and also lower your technical support costs to have this books in
publication.
Your company agreed to do some chapters, but then something happened. I
assume your
person who was writing the chapters has had other priorities, and I
understand how that can be. What I
would like to do is finish upo those chapters for your employee, so that the
book can be completed
and all of the benefits of having this book can happen. I can take the
material your person has written,
or they can give me a list of items that they want in the chapter, and I
will fisnish it up while
giving the credit to the employee and your company.
If we do not do this soon, the publisher will turn their attention to
something else and the
book will never be published, which would be a shame because the book is a
good one, and
will help you.
You told me that you wanted to write these chapters. I told the publisher
what you said, and they
assumed this would be done a long time ago. They are asking me what the
problem is, and I
haven't been able to explain it to them. This is jepordizing not only the
publication of this book,
but my entire writing career with them. Can you help me?"
This is a sales technique that I call the Simian Squeeze. Hoild up your
fingers and count with me.
1. You told me that you were going to do this (generally, buy my product.)
2. I told my boss/wife/sales manager.
3. You didn't do what you told me.
4. Now I look like a monkey!
5. Can you help me?
Now most salespeople don't have the guts to do step 4 completely, they
weasle out of it. Step 4 is the key to the whole thing. In step 5, you don't
accuse them, you just ask and shut up.
This will work in the cases where it is true, and it is often true. It is
the most
powerful close I know of. Either they will help you, and get the project
unstuck, or
they will get mad, because they were never going to help you.
In the latter case, yes you can sue. Good luck.
The Simian Squeeze works so well because we are social animals.
We have all made committments and then gotten cold feet, or
developed other priorities. Chances are that what we committed
to do is still a good thing to do, and if it is, this close will
work.
Many salespeople have trouble with this close (and others) because
they don't have their ego under control. They cannot admit that they
ever look like anything but Sales Gods to anyone, even though of
course they look like chumps and it would actually be a step up
to be seen as a chimp instead of a chump. (Chimps aren't monkeys,
techically.)
Take your attention off yourself, off being misused, or wounded, or
worried about what they will do if you ask them to follow through
on their committment. Put your attention entirely on the software
company, and on this person, and how to help them in the way that
is easiest for them to do.
Here is what happened. The person who flew to see you, and
offered to write three chapters, has writers block - or nonwriters
block, probably. That person is not about to admit that he bit
off more than he can chew, so he will displace - it is because he is
busy, or you have been uncooperative, or the project
is doomed, or he can't impress Jodie Foster.
You need a way out of this that reminds them of their committment,
paints a bright and wonderful picture of what the outcome you want
will bring for them, and doesn't require the company or their employee
to admit to themselves or the world that they are less than omniscient,
ominpresent, and omnipotent.
Since you are a writer, this should be pretty easy for you to do. Think of
it as a work of fiction. Good fiction always serves a higher truth.
Need I metnion, that you don't have to tell the publisher that you are
polishing the other person's chapters? I half suspect that the publisher is
telling you they don't really want to publish the book anymore. Remember
Doug Johnson's Dictum: "When the answer is no, any reason will do."
If that is the case, use the Simian Squeeze on them, in the other direction.
The other alternative, is to do the book without the publisher. Do it as an
ebook, or digitally publish it and put it on Amazon. Have the software
company reference it on the web site, their tech support materials,
etc.
Brad Jensen
www.eufrates.com
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