By: Dezmon Landers

One thing I’m starting to see very clearly as an adult and entrepreneur is that there is not much help around when you need it. Maybe I was way off but I thought that there was some compassion in the world of business. I thought that if you showed someone that you have potential to be great and worked hard at it, they may cut you a break. Well, if you believed that myth like I did a couple of years ago, dismiss it IMMEDIATELY cause it just ain’t gonna happen.

Once I realized that HELP just didn’t exist in the world of business, I was much better off and you will be too. I learned that people are extremely SELFISH. Some are this way because they have been wronged by others in the past, they are scared of giving too much and coming up short or the economy isn’t working in their favor. I’m not saying that everyone who doesn’t help another business is selfish but it explains the majority of actions by people in business and out. Everyone has the W.I.I.F.M attitude also known as “What’s In It For Me?” attitude.

So how do you change the W.I.I.F.M attitude of people you need help from most? It’s simple, start acting with 3 principles in mind:

• Trade
• Incentive
• Persuasion

As entrepreneurs we need to make money and we need to make it now. Depending on the type of business you run, you need different inputs to generate revenue. For an internet company, you need a website and targeted traffic, for a brick and mortar you need a building and a prime location. All businesses need these inputs but most of us just don’t have access to all of them, which results in us needing to reach out or partner with a company that does.

Trade and Incentive

The next time you need to partner with a company, take some time out to determine what the company needs. Could the company utilize your promotional skills? Could they utilize the technology you’ve built for your company? Could they use a referral to an inexpensive attorney for a legal battle they’re facing? The whole goal is to try and provide as much value to the potentially partnering company as you can.  I guarantee the conversation will go a lot smoother if you can figure out what problem you can solve for the other company. Emails will be replied to, phone calls will be returned and appointments won’t be cancelled.

Persuasion

Arguably the most sought after and challenging skill in life is that of persuasion. I’ve just started reading a classic book on persuasion entitled: “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” written by Robert Cialdini Ph.D. The book talks about seven principles that are paramount in understanding how to persuade and get someone to take favorable actions, they are:

• Reciprocation - We all know this, give some to get some.
• Commitment and Consistency - Continually demonstrate why your better and get people to agree, once openly agreed you can do business. People don’t like going back on their word.
• Social Proof - People don’t like to feel left out, the more people engaging in something, the more we rationalize it’s viability.
• Liking - C’mon, don’t you do business with people or brands you like?
• Authority - We have been trained to obey authority, become the authority in your space and politely demand favorable action.
• Scarcity - People don’t like missing out on things, create scarcity, increase demand.

These are just high level summaries of the explanations and power of the principles in this book. I highly recommend that you go buy it immediately.

Realizing that the world operates with people and businesses that are only out for themselves gives you an advantage on your startup competition. While they are failing, looking for a handout, you’ll be evaluating the true value you can provide to a partner, getting deals done quicker and making money faster!