In the early 1990’s, scientists at the University of California at Berkeley conducted an experiment on endurance involving Norwegian field rats. The rats were placed in a tub of water, where they were forced to swim till exhaustion and finally drowning. The researchers discovered that on average, Norwegian field rats could swim for about seven hours before drowning.
A second experiment was conducted in the exact same manner as the first, but with one exception. As the exhausted rats were about to drown, the researchers pulled them from the water for several seconds, then put them back into the water to continue swimming. These rats were able to swim for twenty hours before perishing. What kept these rats in the second group going so long was the brief taste of relief and the hope that it would come again.
In my previous article I discussed tempting your customer with a “taste.” This principle does not solely apply to selling a product, but in innumerable other facets that can even include how a manager manages his/her employees. In our business, whether on the advertiser or publisher, technology or service provider side, think of how many times you had been shown a glimpse of the good life and how long you clung onto the hope for more. How many offers have you given a second, third, fourth chance to your user base because it had once been a star performer? Or how many poor performing publishers have you held onto because they were once your bread and butter?
Too often we focus all our efforts on attempting to outwit, outmaneuver, and outsell the people we do business with. Valuable business is lost not because lack of ability or lack of compatibility, but because of standstill as a result of ego. As an advertiser, if you really, truly believe in the performance of your offer or product, be a little flexible on price or think of another creative solution to minimize trial risk to gain a long term customer or publisher. As a publisher, if your user base or traffic quality or volume potential is so great, give the advertiser a small sample of what you’re capable of before stickling on price and making unreasonable demands.
My advice is no principle of negotiation. In many situations you do need to hold your ground. What I hope you take away however is not to let ego or rigid decision making stifle your ability to creatively get a deal done. The experiment illustrated at the beginning of the article is a sad story for rat lovers, but a simple lesson learned. The Norwegian field rats in the second group were able to swim so much longer than the first group because they had hope. The scientists had tempted them with a taste of reprieve from their struggle and engrained into their psyche that the good times were coming.
Digg 
