Book Review: The Art of Woo
Note: A version of this article appeared in the June 2010 Edition of Make It Business: Inspiring Small Businesses to Think Big
Everyone sells.
Whether you like it or hate it; are good at or, well, suck at it. We are all salespeople, of one kind or another.
Whether you are a small business owner negotiating with Wal-Mart, a lawyer looking for new clients, or planning your summer vacation with your spouse, you are always selling. Selling widgets, selling your business plan to financers, or selling your vacation hot-spot to your spouse – it all starts with your idea that you want them to buy, or buy into.
What if you add a little romance? What if you WOO them?
The Art of Woo
The Art of Woo starts with YOU. As with anything important successful persuasion, influence or negotiation depends a great deal on your preparation. The early chapters are worth delving into, as they build the foundation for your preparation by assessing your persuasion style and the context.
The Art of Woo shows you how to:
- Build a bridge to THEM, and their beliefs, language, and style
- Connect your ideas to their goals
- Pitch your proposal, and
- Secure their commitment.
If you are looking to master the art of selling your ideas, study each chapter in depth, as each one is worthy of its own book. The first chapter Includes a quick and easy four-step guide. You will find “Ten Questions for Would-Be Wooers” in the Appendix.
Neither a light read nor a quick-fix solution, The Art of Woo is still an accessible read. Broadly applicable and rich with plenty of real-life examples – from Nelson Mandela to Sam Wharton – The Art of Woo is like a self-study version of a five-day workshop. Indeed, Shell and Moussa are Directors of the Wharton School’s Strategic Persuasion Workshop. Costing a fraction of their workshop, The Art of Woo is one of the most valuable business books out there.
My only beef with The Art of Woo is its matryoshka-like structure: nesting so many steps and processes within each other detracts from the elegant simplicity of the core four steps, and potentially confuses the reader. A trifling quibble in the end, as this book fully maps out relationship-based persuasion from start to finish.
Your Intentions Matter
Finally, The Art of Woo finishes right back with YOU – your character and integrity. Ending with a compelling real-life WorldCom-type tale of why it matters less whether you master the Art of Woo than what your intentions are when you Woo, the authors leave readers with a simple litmus test that reveals what kind of “idea salesperson” they are.
As in Shell’s previous book, Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People, character and ethics influence the bottom line.
And that won me over.
Like to read more? Check out other book recommendations in the Resources tab.