METAPHOR MINUTE ARCHIVE
Metaphor Minute: Pain in the Neck
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Chris says, “Using easily relatable analogies provides clients a deeper understanding of their situation and helps them better frame the decisions they are grappling with. Greater confidence and clarity reduces fear and helps clients move ahead.” Here’s one example… I was speaking with a client’s son who is a Chiropractor in financial trouble. He is in danger of foreclosure, has substantial back taxes, is almost underwater on his mortgage, is looking to borrow more money to send his child to college and is understandably having some marital troubles. My biggest challenge with him? His belief that he could turn it around by himself. My Client’s Situation In talking with him to understand how he got into the situation, it was a common sad tale –
My Client’s Position Weeks away from foreclosure, he agreed with his mother to at least talk with me. I asked if he had covered any of this situation with his CPA. He said no because he would have had to pay out more money. I told him his CPA could offer invaluable advice as he looked at the bank’s offers. He might pick up a lot of income on his tax return unwittingly. I asked if he had an attorney to work with the bank to try to save his home or soften his fall. He said he did not want to pay for any help. He said he could do it himself. I told him he needed professional tax and legal advice and that he was at a major disadvantage, especially since he had not been reading the legal documents that were being sent to him over the last 9 months. He still insisted he could take care of everything himself. The Analogy That Changed His Mind Realizing I was talking to a brick wall, I finally said: “You are a chiropractor right? Well, my neck is killing me, but I do not want to pay you the $80 to fix my neck, I am just going to twist it really hard myself. I cannot do any more harm, right?” He paused thought about what I said, realized how foolish my position would be, and said, “I got it. I will call my CPA to inform him and ask for a referral to a good real estate attorney.” Your World When someone digs in and is beyond logic or common sense, piling on more logic and facts rarely works. What does work is reshaping the argument. Shift to an analogy taken from a world familiar to them and they quickly see the truth of what you are saying and are likely to change. The key is selecting your analogy from a world they know well, so they (literally) see the parallel logic. Think of your presentations. Think of your informal conversations with colleagues. Think of the recommendations and requests you make to others.
What analogies can you use in those situations to facilitate understanding, change minds, win agreement, or close a deal?
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"The Metaphor Minute" is a brief monthly note with examples from business, media, or politics that illustrate the power of metaphors and analogies to make a point, solve a problem, and get results. Use these stories to stimulate high pay-off metaphoric thinking in your business.
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