DP Tool Club 24/CD_ASCQ_24_0995.iso/vrac/liberty.zip/10.TXT

Text File | 1995-07-02 | 13KB | 243 lines

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          HOW TO SELL LIBERTY -- AND WHY IT MUST BE SOLD
                         By Jarret Wollstein

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WHY LIBERTY MUST BE SOLD
In folklore, to succeed all you need to do is come up with a great idea
or product. ``Invent a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path
to your door.'' Unfortunately, the world almost never beats a path to
anyone's door. Countless brilliant inventors, artists and scientists,
have died in poverty and anonymity. On the other hand, thousands of
people who developed modest improvements have become wealthy and
successful. What is the difference between these two groups? Why have
many ordinary people with so-so ideas succeeded while many brilliant
people with great ideas have failed?

Certainly there are factors outside of your control which contribute to
success or failure. But one of the most important factors is something
you can learn and develop: effective salesmanship. Salesmanship simply
means presenting your product in a way that is attractive and
emotionally compelling to your audience.

If you want your ideas or products to be accepted, you must beat a path
to the world's doors. This is particularly true if your product is a new
or misunderstood idea, such as liberty. Like any other product, liberty
must be sold.

SELLING LIBERTY
Below are some of the most important, basic principles involved in
selling. Potential candidates for recruitment, contributions, etc., are
referred to as ``prospects.''

1. Set Realistic, Numerical Goals.  If you don't have realistic goals,
you probably won't accomplish much. In selling liberty, your goals could
be how many new people you get to come to your meetings each month, how
many activities you sponsor, or how much money you take in. When it
becomes easy to meet an initial goal, set new, more ambitious ones.

2. Be Professional. Selling liberty is a serious business and you need
to adopt a serious, professional attitude. At the very least, your
prospects can expect competence. Make sure your meetings start on time,
that literature is mailed out promptly, and that appointments are kept.

Newcomers to meetings should be greeted with a handshake and a smile.
Everyone should wear name tags. Old members should try to get to know
newcomers and show sincere interest in them. Someone should introduce
newcomers to other members. Honestly compliment newcomers and prospects.
In general, everything possible should be done to make them feel
comfortable and liked.

Your organization and your personal appearance should convey an
attractive, professional image. Literature should be attractively
printed and legible, and you should dress for success.

When selling to the public, it is your job to meet your prospects'
expectations. It is not their job to meet yours. Untold thousands of
people have been lost to the liberty movement because literature was
never sent, newcomers were not made to feel welcome, or conventions were
poorly run.

3. Adjust Your Speaking Rate and Style. Speak at the same pace as your
prospects. If you are speaking to a slow talker, talk slowly. If you are
speaking to a fast talker, talk faster. Use the simplest possible
language to describe your product. Your purpose is to communicate, not
to impress others with your intelligence. The language you use should
also be adjusted to consider the background, educational level, values,
and interests of your audience.

4. Qualify Your Prospects (But Don't Disqualify Them Too Quickly). Every
sales person engages in a process called qualification, which means
determining if a particular person or group is a serious prospect.

You qualify a prospect by asking three central questions: What do you
want? When do you want it? What are you willing to pay for it? For
example, if a person tells you they want lower taxes as quickly as
possible and they would be glad to contribute $500 to an effective
tax-reduction group, you have a good prospect. Similarly, a person who
says that government has no business censoring films and music, would be
another good prospect. A strong negative answer on any one of the three
qualifying questions, par ticularly the last one, means you have a fair
or poor prospect. For example, if someone tells you they are all for
liberty, but don't have the time or money to spare, go on to someone
else. People who tell you they want more government handouts, more laws
and regulations, or more political power to implement their personal
agendas, would be your worst prospects.

Concentrate on your best, easiest prospects -- people who you get along
with and who already agree with you 80% or at least 50%. Although
liberty is beneficial to nearly everyone, because of political biases,
your personal style, and other factors, you are not going to be able to
sell everyone. Deal with those whom you are most comfortable. For some,
this will be students. For others, it will be businessmen, women's
groups, or senior citizens.

Some groups are particularly solid prospects for  libertarianism,
including:

* Students (their minds are still open,)

* Baby Boomers -- affluent Americans between 30 and 50 (polls indicate
that most of them are already informal libertarians),

* Beleaguered taxpayers -- they are already fed up with government,

* Small businessmen -- their tax and regulatory burden grows every year,
and

* Victims of the state -- such as people unjustly arrested and those
with unconventional lifestyles.

It is also important not to disqualify prospects too quickly. In selling
a product as general as liberty, one conversation may ot be enough to
qualify a prospect. A negative response to one idea or issue is
certainly not enough to disqualify. In sales, the rule is: get 3 to 6
strong ``no's'' before you give up. If you discover good prospects, that
you just can't get along with, turn them over to someone else with a
different style or approach.

5. Talk Benefits, Not Features. In selling any product, avoid technical
discussions of ``features''. Concentrate on how the product will benefit
the customer. If you are selling a ``Banana'' Computer, you might
emphasize how the Banana will make writing and keeping financial records
much easier and at a very reasonable cost. Talk about how owning this
computer will make the buyer the envy of their friends and co-workers,
and enable them to make lots more money if they are in business.

Similarly when you are selling liberty, you need to talk about how
liberty will benefit your audience. Liberty is one product that benefits
every honest person, so it can be sold to nearly everyone. Here are some
examples:

* If you are talking to property owners, emphasize how privatizing
government services will enable them to get the social services they
want at a much lower price, with more individual choice and much greater
efficiency.

* If you are talking to liberals, emphasize that you are very concerned
 with helping the poor and downtrodden, and making the world a better
 place for everyone. Explain that liberty and the free market are
 intelligent compassion -- compassion that really works. Only by
 creating a society in which individual liberty is strongly protected,
 will the poor be free from abuse and exploitation by police, big
 corporations and other powerful groups. Only by cutting taxes and
 getting rid of red tape, will the poor be able to operate successful
 businesses and care for their families.

* If you are talking to policemen, emphasize how eliminating victimless
crime laws and socialized justice will make society safer; decrease the
danger they face from violent criminals; create an efficient court
system; eliminate prison overcrowding and revolving door justice; and
make them champions of justice and decency in the eyes of the community.

* If you are talking to servicemen, emphasize how restricting the role
of the military to defense of the United States will enable them to
protect their families and friends without risking World War III; make
the United States so wealthy and scientifically advanced that no
adversary could conquer it; and put them at less risk by taking them out
of harm's way. Emphasize that liberty is patriotic -- the most important
of traditional American values.

* If you are talking to teachers, emphasize how a free market will
enable them to regain control of their classroom and curricula, give
them more freedom to teach the way they want to, and enable them to make
more money as their competence grows.

There aren't any good libertarian arguments for thugs, power-mongers,
dedicated socialists, and radical egalitarians. But properly presented,
liberty appeals to just about everyone else.

6. Spend More Time Listening Than Talking. Emphasize Areas of Agreement.
Avoid Areas of Disagreement. People buy products for their reasons, not
your reasons. Your job as a liberty salesman is to explain how liberty
will enable others to fulfil their needs. You discover what motivates
prospects by asking lots of questions and listening carefully to the
answers.

If a person says they want more information about the Metro Liberty
Club, a logical question is: ``what did they find interesting about the
Club?'' If they answer, ``the upcoming picnic,'' tell them about what a
great party it will be and about all of the interesting people they will
meet. You may think going to picnics is a dumb reason to join your Club,
but what you think should motivate people is irrelevant. Congratulate
your prospect on his good judgment in coming to your picnic. If a lot of
other peopl e also want picnics, plan many more in the future.

In selling liberty, emphasize areas of agreement, avoid areas of
disagreement. If a conservative tells you he whole-heartedly endorses
your free market principles, but has serious reservations about your
position on drugs, avoid that issue. Congratulate your conservative
prospect on recognizing the central importance of traditional American
values. If you do discuss drugs with your conservative at some much
later date, it should be in terms of his values: safety, individual
responsibility, family, and econo mic efficiency, not civil liberties.

Incredibly, many libertarians invert this process, driving away many of
their best prospects. In my younger and less enlightened days, I often
met people who said they agreed with 90% of what libertarians believed,
and disagreed with just a few points. Instead of minimizing these
disagreements, I would pounce on them! I might even insult people by
telling them they were wrong, inconsistent, immoral and/or stupid for
disagreeing with me! I was more interested in winning debates than in
winning converts. I wo n a lot of debates, but I lost a lot of
prospects.

7. Follow Up. Once a person has requested literature, attended a meeting
or contributed money, thank them and maintain contact. All interest,
help, and contributions should be acknowledged and shown appreciation.
Anyone who does anything, should receive a thank you note and praise at
meetings. People who make substantial contributions should be given
certificates, plaques and awards. Small gifts -- flowers, fancy pens,
special lapel pins, etc. -- for special help, create good will and
encourage further work in the future.

8. Division of Labor. The ``liberty business'', like all businesses,
requires a division of labor. Not everyone is emotionally equipped to be
a front-line salesman. The movement also needs researchers, writers,
artists, and accountants. It is important to identify where your talents
and the talents of your co-workers lie. Specialize in areas where you
are most effective.

Whether selling liberty is central or peripheral to your participation
in the libertarian movement, I hope you will find these suggestions
helpful

                      AVAILABLE FROM I.S.I.L.

How To Be Understood and Get What You Way
by David Bergland.  (One Cassette Tape) ..................... $9.95

The Art of Political Persuasion
(3-Cassette Course by Michael Emerling) .................... $29.95


         INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY
     1800 Market Street, San Francisco, California 94102
          Tel: [phone]   Fax: [phone]

Tel: [phone]   Fax: [phone]