Taunting the Bull.
How do you change the mind of a person who feels he is absolutely right and refuses the influence of logic and fact?
If you have ever watched a bull fight you will noticed that the matador uses anger to manipulate the bull to where he wants it. With humans this tactic can work, but it is less valuable than teaching them.
When you have a banker, creditor, or vendor who has decided he knows the outcome before the process has been started, you will not verbally bludgeon your way through the argument and force them to concede. A human being is singularly immune to logic, facts or any form of change when the ego gets involved.
Today we completed an asset sale with a client for a few dollars less than a liquidated appraisal. Let me mention that liquidated appraisal is the lowest standard a bank can use as it reflects the value of the assets gained from a forced collection scenario.
The initial conversation with this banker was curt and abrupt and he told me he did not care what form or documents he was given, he would not discuss anything with someone who is not a guarantor. He used the term non-entity to describe someone not personally liable for the debt. Many emails and phone calls followed before he decided to respond to me. He again told me that he would not work with Second Wind and proceeded to become extremely curt finally saying good-bye and hanging up without confirmation the conversation had ended.
This hard nosed approach is not uncommon and unfortunately, since most debt specialists do not follow a program based on what the bankers will do in a forced collection, many times it works and the client will call directly. Not only will this lose any chance of getting the best deal, it shows that the client will eventually cave in to scare tactics and bullheadedness in the future. A creditor will seize on that and simply financially stomp you into oblivion under the guise of helping you out of this debt.
My client chose to place trust in Second Wind and was rewarded for her trust. She simply told the banker when he called that Adam Gleason was representing her and hung up on him. Any email contact gave the same results and I continued to ply the banker from every avenue available. After weeks of constant calling and emails I finally reached the banker and spoke to him in a casual manner. Steering the direction of our call I allowed him to come to the conclusions I wanted without telling him directly. Any human being will trust his own judgment first and more tenaciously than what you tell them. The ego battle never happened, instead we walked around the wall rather than trying to batter it down.
The asset sale was initiated and completed in less than three days from the moment the banker decided our plan was his idea. I have no doubt the offer in compromise will go smoothly and for a value lower than anticipated due to the banker. Believing the clients being completely out of cash and net worth is his own logic and research will allow him to push harder against the SBA and adds his weight to our argument.
Everyone has their own personal red flag that they follow. The bankers are looking for yours to get you to pay. What better tactic than to look for theirs and lead them to the truth?
