When you’re driving down the street you should…
1. Drive safely
2. Not exceed the speed limit
3. Bring your car to a stop at all stop signs.
These are 3 basic Rules of the Road that most people will understand and agree with. To make a point during trial, we sometimes take the major issue areas of a case and then by combining the law and common sense, present our case by sharing the Rules of the Road (tweet this).
These Rules allow you to simplify a sometimes complicated set of laws. They allow you to make your point in a common sense kind of way.
For example, in an insurance bad faith case, I might discuss and show my jury these Rules of the Road…
1. Insurance company must fully, fairly, and promptly evaluate and process the claim
2. Insurance company must not make unreasonable low settlement offers.
3. Insurance company must treat its policyholders’ interest with equal regard as it does its own. The process is not adversarial or competitive.
4. Insurance company should assist the policyholder with the claim.
5. Insurance company must disclose to its insured all benefits, coverages, and time limits that may apply to the claim.
6. Insurance company must conduct a full, fair, and prompt investigation of the claim at its own expense
For court cases, we craft these rules from the insurance codes, laws and jury instructions of our state. When jurors see our rules blown up on a large screen inside the courtroom, they just make sense. Very few people sitting on the jury (excluding the insurance company executive who wishes he was out on the golf course) disagree with the list. Even opposing counsel and the judge understand that these rules of the road are actually the law. All we’ve done is taken the time to put them together and simplify them for the jury.
Outside of Court- Selling Software or an Idea
Outside of court, you can put together a list of your own Rules of the Road to make an impact and close deals (tweet this). Simply craft and focused your rules on the benefits that your customer or client is looking for.
So, let’s say you’re selling software to a client. The client will be using the software to better manage his company and sales. When you do a formal presentation or maybe while sitting across the table during a casual lunch meeting, you will want to introduce your own Rules of the Road to help hammer home the benefits of your product or service.
Start out with a brief overview of the facts and why the two of you are meeting. Do so gently and do so in a rather neutral fashion. It’s too early at this point to ask for the sale. Right now, you’re simply throwing soft jabs (see clips from my Gary Vaynerchuk Spreecast about his new book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook”).
Next, guide the conversation over to the Rules of the Road. What are the desired industry standards? How can a good software solution help increase efficiency, build good moral, and increase profits?
Next, share a list with your customer of the applicable Rules of the Road…
1. The software must be easy to use
2. The software must be competitively priced
3. The software must be proven and stable
4. All services, sales and reports created by the software must be available for management review 24/7 via the cloud
Next, discuss why the rules are important and WHY they make sense. Don’t assume the person you are talking to understands or appreciates why the rule makes sense. Discuss this in detail.
Last, using your Rules of the Road, show how your competitors are unable to provide the same quality or service that the Rules of the Road require and, that you can provide.
Your Rules of the Road might have 10 steps or more but the point is, to list out the rules such that by the time you have shared each rule and discussed the benefits, there is no other option for your customer other than to buy your software.
The key is to make sure that the Rules of the Road are:
(1) easy to understand
(2) a principle or concept the other side can’t dispute (the rule is accurate)
(3) important enough such that acknowledgement of the rule will result in the action you desire.
Creating and then using Rules of the Road is a powerful technique to help simplify issues and make a point. People don’t always like rules but they often time understand the need for rules and respect them. The next time you need to communicate with another decision maker to make a sale or close a deal, lay down the rules.
If you enjoyed today’s communication tip, please make sure to share it with others. Until next week, I wish you nothing but success and remind you to always make today your masterpiece!
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If you’d like to learn more about this approach to advocacy, I recommend that you get “Rules of the Road” by Rick Friedman & Patrick Malone