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That way, you can sell your rights off, lease
them, or finance and trade them to somebody The object of this emulation ? To adapt
for a cash lump sum or for some of their other people s good business ideas. Nothing
assets. that s protected by copyright, of course but
inventive, freely available ideas that, with a
Rule Six: If the negotiations involve a twist here and a turn there, can be put to work
highly original idea of your own, get your part- at the task of helping you grow your business.
ner to acknowledge your proprietary interest in
the concept in a letter of agreement, or contract, I ll give you a real-life example of what I
before you start dealing. If you wait until later, have in mind:
after the fact, it might be impossible to get that
concession. A friend of mine in the precious metals
business was sitting at home one evening read-
Rule Seven: Don t start the deal until a ing his mail, and he saw a solicitation from a
contract of agreement is fully discussed and large insurance company offering to compare
signed. Don t start, don t reveal too much, don t its rates with his current insurance costs. All
make your assets available, don t make your he had to do was mail them a copy of his
operation open to the other party until you have policy.
an irrevocable, binding and fully stated agree-
ment. Take my word for it, you will regret it That set my friend to thinking. He came
if you don t. up with a fascinating adaptation of this let s
compare approach:
Rule Eight: Always reserve the right to
audit the other fellow while the deal is in place. He ran ads offering to compare his own
firm s commissions on certain negotiable com-
Rule Nine: If you lack talent in negotiating, mission trades with those of other precisions
bring in someone who has that talent, but will metals dealers. All you have to do, his adver-
wield it for you in a non-bullying way. (Don t tisement said, is send me a copy of your trade-
use a lawyer, but pay the person who does assist confirmation receipt.
you a percentage of the deal if that s what it
takes to motivate them.) Did it work? Did it ever! More than 5,000
people who were active metals traders took my
Those are my bedrock rules for negotiating friend up on his offer, and something like 800
deals. Try them, and combinations of them, in of them became regular customers!
the future, and you will save yourself a lot of
money and a lot of grief. Some of the most successful and profitable
marketing breakthroughs I ve ever seen or been
personally involved with were adaptations of
Power Principle
concepts other people had developed for other,
Number Ten:
totally different kinds of businesses. If you
want a moral, here it is:
Borrowing Winning Strategies
It pays to keep your eyes peeled and your
ears open, whenever you re reading, traveling,
The caption just above says borrowing, but
watching a TV commercial or listening to
let s retitle and call it creative emulation. It
the radio. The next good idea you see or hear
deserves a more stylish name because it s the
could be something that, with a little marketing
highly leveraged art of studying and observing
finesse, could put money in your pocket.
all sorts of successful marketing techniques and
concepts that companies totally outside your
Web Site: http:// www.abraham.com E-Mail: apgi@abraham.com Voice: 1(800) 635-6298
Power Principle
Then, a week or two after mailing your
Number Eleven:
follow-up letter, send those same customers
another note and offer them a one-time pref-
erential price on your product or service, or
Be Proactive to Outsell the Reactive
an opportunity to buy something in advance
of the crowd, or an opportunity to buy a lim-
Trust me, those gloomy estimates we ve all
ited-supply item, or an opportunity to buy in
seen are not exaggerated: As many as one-half
advance of a price increase. You might even
of the small businesses launched in the United
offer them a combination of all those purchas-
States this year won t be around by the end
ing opportunities. I predict that you will get
of next year. They will be little more than pain-
a surprising and wonderful amount of business
ful memories in the minds of the disappointed
simply by taking this one, simple, caring pro-
people who launched them. They will be busi-
active step with your very best customers. Do
ness failures.
it, and let me know the results. I can t wait
to hear! I also predict that, when you write to
The big question is, of course, What
me, you ll say Jay, I can t wait to use a similar
causes so many businesses to fail? Bad loca-
approach with my next best customers.
tion? Lack of nurturing capital? Inexperienced
owners? Massive miscalculation of market
The older I get, and the more wonderful
demand?
business people I meet and get to know and
share experiences with, the more I am con-
I blame passivity. Too many new owners
vinced that you have to put passion into every-
passively wait for business to find them, instead
thing, and anything, you sell.
of aggressively going out and finding it! They
think that hanging out a sign or a shingle is
Many people tend to get into business
enough.
enterprises or activities they don t really love.
But how can they expect to achieve superlative
But it s not. That s a reactive way of doing
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