The One man, “Good Cop, Bad Cop.”

There are many strategies to get someone to do what you want. Today I had to create a new one.

In the normal scenario, one person is very nice to the subject and the second is extremely “heartless” and mean.  This allows the nice person to ingratiate themselves with the subject and have that subject lower their defenses and begin to trust the nicer of the two people they are dealing with.

When dealing with bankers over the phone there is rarely a time when two workout men from Second Wind are going to be on the phone with a banker at the same time.  The banker I was dealing with responded excellently to the nice routine in the beginning of our negotiations and that was the strategy used for most of the workout.  Now that we have reached the end where there is more risk, the woman I dealt with changed her tune and was very uncooperative.  She stayed pleasant, but refused to be moved, despite all facts and the reality of the situation dictating she was making the wrong choice.

One of the hardest things for many people is to stay unemotional when dealing on the phone.  I changed my demeanor and hammered her with facts that showed time and again that she was wrong.  The tactic of getting straight to the point and calling out a banker on the phone can be extremely useful when you know they are making the wrong choice.  Every argument is easy to anticipate and shut down and they are left with nothing to say.

In this case it allowed a previously refused Offer in Compromise proposal to be accepted and put under review where there is a high chance of success.  This event just goes to show you don’t need to two people on the phone, just proper timing for when to remove the nice guy approach and let the banker know that our way is the right way, and in most cases the only way.