Closing The Sale & Strategy

Please help me understand.

If I say to myself, "I'm 'here' and I want to get to 'there' and I'm going to do it by doing 'this,' isn't that strategy?

Not with that example. However, now you're more into the Plan than The Calculations. It's another integral part of strategy but it does not, in itself, define strategy. Strategy is a very worthwhile complex study and the word itself is misused constantly.

If I'm home and I want to go to the pharmacy, and I choose to walk rather than drive--that is not an issue by itself that needs to be examined from a strategic perspective. Can you be more specific? For instance, something about selling that would incorporate the "heres" and "theres".

Agent Smith, maybe this will help. It's from a previous discussion which Jeff let me post a while back at: Strategy, Planning & Execution

You might want to read the thread. Here is part of what I wrote.

Strategy is not:

• Another way of saying "a plan".
• Another way of saying "a good idea".
• Another way of saying "thinking about the future".
• Another way of saying "a choice".
• Another way of saying "a decision."

Strategy is:

• A science based on the laws of human nature.
• The way you analyze and advance positions.
• A complete set of well-defined principles.
• Responses adapted to specific situations.
• A system for turning problems into opportunities.
• A process of four steps--listen, aim, move, claim.

Human nature is fixed even as technology changes. Analyzing and advancing my position requires that I know where I am, where I want to go, and what I'll encounter. Principles are also fixed which doesn't mean rigid. These principles are used to specifically address individual situations. The system is a set of variables/moves which finds solutions for problems - that's the opportunity. Listening takes in precise information; aiming focuses specifically on needs/wants in relation to specific situations; moving is going into that dynamic exactly as it needs to be addressed for an advancement, for a solution; and claiming is the victory of a job well done.

That's a quick reply, Gary - I gotta get out of town, heading to that toddling town - no time to think about what I just posted but what I'm going to do when I get home is study what you posted and see what happens when I put these things into something specific to what I do - not just a general reply like above.

Let's say that I want to convince a lender to sell a specific property to me at a price lower than he/she has already been offered by other investors.

I've do my homework and find out what the lender "has" to have on the property and in addition I find out that the lender has a dozen distressed units sitting on the books that they "need" to get rid of ASAP so I research those properties too.

My premise for meeting with the lender will not be "I want to buy a home" but rather "I'm an investor and I'd like to meet with you to introduce myself and see what's involved with doing business with you in the future." (This sets the tone.)

When I meet with the lender I'm treated rather kindly because I'm a new money source. (I'm counting on that. )

In the course of the conversation I ask questions that amplify the lenders perceived need to liquidate inventory. (I want this lender white hot.)

I also inquire in an off-hand manner about current and future possibilities specifically looking to uncover my target property and distressed units. (We are talking as individuals not buyer and seller because of the premise of my call.)

Once the lender is feeling the burn and the target property has been disclosed I make my move.

In the same off-hand manner I mention to the lender that I could use a property like the one being mentioned, however, I do have a cap of $X (Say 10% below the highest price I would pay) for this "type" of property (Not this "specific" property).

I strengthen my position by informing the lender that my offer is CASH (pulling out my check book) and that I have a Title company in the wings at all times and can close immediately. Negotiations have now started.

If we cannot come to an agreement during the course of normal negotiations I do have an ace up my sleeve if I want to use it. The "ace" is the second "distressed property".

I make the lender a offer on the two homes as a "package" but the offer expires when I walk out of the room. I'm a business man, this is a business decision. Fish or cut bait. Either way I don't care.

Of course, I might rekindle the fire of desire by disussing the impact of having distressed properties on the books, monthly outlay for both homes, etc.

Anyway... does that sound like strategy?

Yes. I think it is an excellent example which not only includes Calculations and Planning but also several other components including Deception.

Don't be turned off by the term Deception. It is an integral part of strategy and it doesn't mean underhanded.

Particularly important in your example is the fact that, if you completed the deal, it is manifested by preparedness and opportunity and it did not come about determined by only one side.

My favorite part of Sun Tzu's work is his fourth chapter which has a title that varies according to who did the interpretation. I think it was studying that chapter over and over with various translations that inspired me to become a serious student of strategy.

Thank you for the feedback. I'm off to the bookstore to look for Sun Tzu's, "The Art of War plus The Art of Sales" (Gagliardi).