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Dear readers,
This is a translation / adaptation of one of my previous articles, which became Nr#1 rated in Hungary few days ago. Many people were asking for the translation, so here it comes. And for the first time I also wish to say hello to a larger number of new subscribers which I got from Lithuania.

It is about selling your ideas

I have read several articles about how shitty Phoenix is, how hard it is to convince their decision makers about any great idea, but I also read the contrary, that Hungarians / Serbians are the lame. I have also heard gossips, that because of operative malfunctioning some major Phoenix countries may leave the alliance.

Well, I believe the problem does not stand in lack of common values, but lack of proper communication skills.

I have my professional opinion about this whole thing. In addition, I have experianced many great failures and success stories in my life. Since I believe, that the key of success stands in the art of lobbying, I wish to write this article about how I see this.

Lobbying for our interest inside the Phoenix is a classical „Business to Business” marketing, and like this, the roles and the are already given like in a life scenario.

It is a well known fact, that when a high value contract is made, we have to prepare for that we have competitors, who have their own goals and in this given situation they make a bid for the same amount of money. If you are not there, then you get informed after it happened and could watch the happening completely pissed off, only as a spectator. You are out of it. You missed it. You f*cked it up. Not just a little but, but big time. So you have to make a plan, that is probably the best globally.

But that's not enough. You will have to convince people about this. If you pop-up from the blue sky in front of an evaluation / decision making comittee, saying that „this is the plan, that will redeem the world”, then you have already failed it. You made the mistake, that a beginner sales manager learns in the second lesson. You can't show up with a world redemption plan at a board just like that. Before you go inside through the main entrance, you must look around ten times very discreetly and you must map the desicion-making mechanism. How? In case of all collective (corporate) decision-making, the following different roles are occuring:

1. Blocker, gate keeper, secretary.


Their job is to not let you in. You have to make friendship with him/her, buy chocolate, bunch of flowers, wellness pack or just a flirt? Love has many faces and tastes are different. Everyone has a weak point.

2. Influencer


Is it familiar, when someone says, that „the problem with this idea, that...” and many times the story practically ends here.
-What can be done against this?
Well, such wiseguys must be involved in our project in a much earlier stage:
- „Goran, bre, I would like to travel around the world. In which direction should I go, to the East or the West?” Then ask about, that „I know, that you are a famous world traveller, please tell me, what kind of problems did you meet, how did you solve them?”.
It's a well-known hard fact, that the human vanity has no limits. (S)he does not even realize, and is already working on your project. When you present your plan to the rest of the board, then (s)he will fight for it like it was his/her own.

3. Desicion-maker


You may, and what is more important, you HAVE TO talk with her/him in private.
-„Jovan...I wish to make a trip around the world, do you have any similar plan on your desk?” (he does have all the time, be sure about it). That's why you have to find a criteria, which makes You slightly different compared to the others. For this is best to know what your competition is doing. These could be simple things, like low risk, speed, simplicity, but people also enjoy innovative or highly effective solutions. This is the so-called „Unique Selling Position”. The Hungarian invasion campaign in America a year ago or the road to Lionking were like that.

4. Shouters


You have to know, who they are, and have to motivate them just to shut up. „Slobo’, now I ask something from you, but it may come one day, when You will ask something from me and I don't forget those, who helped me.” But unspokenly it's in there, that...” I won't forget, if someone didn't help me, too.” I emphasize, we aren't being rude or threating anyone, we just talk about nice and good things.
Also be careful about wording: If you say „It WILL come the day for payback”, that sounds like a direct threat from your side. He would reply: „No, it will never come” or „It may or it may NOT come”. And you have managed to turn him against yourself and to be offtopic. Double mistake.

But if you say: „It MAY come that day”, that is ambiguous, the likelyhood could be anything between 1% and 99%, no need to talk about it any more.

5. Scary people


What would happen,if...? I used to care about people like that as well.
- „Pero, I will be honest. The biggest risk related to this project is (….) I know, that you are sensitive for this and I will be more than grateful, if we could clear the problems together.” Your benefit is that Pero feels himself important, but he also feels releifed that he proceeded with proper care AGAIN. In the top of it, you may prepare yourself from this topic as much as You can (and you escape from lot of other embarrasing questions).

6. Idiots, offtopic-ers


(S)he is also a shouter (paragraph 4), but unlike a real shouter his/ her shouts are totally unrelated. Still you can't toss him/her out of your way, because you may never know, what kind of connections does he/she has. So we could offer, that after the meeting we clarify the things „not to waste too much of the other people's precious time”. Most of the time the audience wound enjoy this idea, so they can hear nobody else, but themselves. If some other board member jumps to defend the idiot, than you already know that the "jumper" is the person behind the idiot, so, you can directly address the person behind the idiot and the conversation can be turned into rational direction.

7. Member of the management, who stands for the competitor


There are more scenarios how to handle them, but you may also let yourself guided by your intuition and creativity. My favorite method is, that I ask openly, what I have already knew: ”Zoran, so are you representing here and now the competitor’s project?” It's very hard to find a good answer for this. The key issue is to be in command of the conversation and to impose your topic. The talk should be about us and not about the rival plan, because it's our half hour now. So we have to find the way how to turn off the guy.

During the presentation, you have to convince them, that your project is actually the BEST AND BIGGEST EVER OPPORTUNITY OF A DEAL FORM THEM.
You may sometimes reply with question to the question:
Q. -Why with us, why now?
A: -Why? Because even your grandchildren will whisper legends by the campfire about the day when planet Earth started to revolve to the opposite direction!

If the proper preparations are ready, then it's time to finalize the plans. In this case, there are some further things you must to do: make alternative plans, set up the budget, choose the time and million other things and factors you have to take into account.

8. Saboteur


When you feel, that everything is OK, then you have to pass another, last hard obsticle: the sabotage. It is unlikely, that there isn't someone, who tries to undermine your work.
There will be always some person, who smiles to your face, then backstabs you. So watch out! Between the day of the desicion-making and execution you have to keep contact with members of the desicion-maker comittee. Of course you can't ask everyday, that „Is everything OK, did anything change?”, because they gonna hate you. But luckily, every day something happens, and in this case you can discuss it in a PM, that „Did you see this and that thing? I became nervous for a second, but WE will solve it, this won't stop TWO OF US from execution...how do you see that?” He / she will be the one to calm you down if you have acted properly.

If everything goes according to the plan, then our president and diplomats must watch for the moment when the decisionmaker’s pants would slide down (or skirts lifts up) and they have to do what their coutry expects them to do. That’s it.



I hope I helped and you were able to make some fun, too.

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Thank you for the translation punkiebacsi