Former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca once noted, "You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere." In their new book, The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas, Wharton Legal Studies and Business Ethics Professor Richard Shell and management consultant Mario Moussa provide a systematic approach to idea selling that addresses the problem Iacocca identified. As an example of effective persuasion, they tell the story of rock star Bono's visit to then-Senator Jesse Helms' Capitol Hill office to enlist his help in the global war against AIDS.
Join the Wharton Club of Northern California at noon on Friday, November 30th as Prof. Shell discusses
The Art of the Woo.
This talk is the next in a new event series designed to allow Wharton professors to share their thoughts on current topics and keep Wharton alumni up to date on the biggest trends in various industries. Our conference call--modeled after the analyst calls that investment banks do with their investors--will be part lecture (the first 15-20 minutes) followed by a Q&A session and a lively discussion with Prof. Shell.
Register Online When: Friday, November 30, 2007
Time: 12:00pm west coast time
Where: Via Conference Call (Dial-in and pass code to be provided the day before the event by e-mail.)
Registration: No charge for current WCNC members. WCNC Members only for this event.
Registration closes at 6:00pm Wednesday, November 28th. (Note: although there is no event registration fee for WCNC members, "seating" will be limited at this event--please register only if you are confident you'll be able to attend.)
Bono had all the facts and figures at his fingertips, and launched into a detailed appeal based on this data. He was, in essence, speaking to Helms the same way he had recently spoken to executives and technical experts at the many foundations and corporations he had approached about this issue. But within a few minutes, Bono sensed that he was losing Helms' attention, and he instinctively changed his pitch. Knowing that Helms was a deeply religious man (and drawing on his own born-again Christian values), Bono began speaking of Jesus Christ's concern for the sick and poor. He argued that AIDS should be considered the 21st century equivalent of leprosy, an affliction cited in many Bible stories of the New Testament. Helms immediately sat up and began listening, and before the meeting was over had promised to be the Senate champion for Bono's cause.
Examples such as this one illustrate what Shell and Moussa mean by "woo": It's the ability to "win others over" to your ideas without coercion, using relationship-based, emotionally intelligent persuasion. "The rock star Bono is superb at the art of woo because he understands what it takes to be a super-salesman, in the best sense of that term," says Shell. "Here you have a rock star with tinted glasses and an elderly, conservative Southern senator. But when Bono had the good sense to switch from public policy talk about debt relief -- what we call in our book the 'rationality' channel -- to religious talk about poverty and disease -- what we call the 'vision' channel -- he touched Helms' heart. He sold his idea and, in the process, created trust."
Join the Wharton Club of Northern California on Friday, November 30th when we will present Prof. Shell for a scintillating discussion as we take your questions and pose them to one of Wharton's star negotiators!
Prof. Richard ShellProfessor Shell is the Thomas Gerrity Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics and Management. His research focus areas include negotiation, power and influence in organizations; the psychology of success; commercial arbitration; contracts; legal and political aspects of competitive strategy.
He has provided negotiation and legal strategy advice for a variety of clients, including firms and individuals in the health care industry, financial services, high tech, family businesses, and investment banking. Prof. Shell has designed and taught customized seminars in the United States and abroad for General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Morgan Stanley, Fannie Mae, Citibank, Starwood Capital Group, Christie's, the United Food and Commercial Workers of America, and the World Economic Forum.
Professor Shell is an internationally recognized expert in negotiations, persuasion, and strategy, as well as an award-winning teacher. He has lectured to some of the world's most influential corporate, nonprofit and political leaders at venues such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and the World Negotiation Forum in New York City. Wharton students have honored Professor Shell with numerous teaching prizes, and his professional peers have recognized his scholarly contributions to the dispute resolution field by giving his work some of their top awards. BusinessWeek's bi-annual "Guide to the Best Business Schools" has consistently listed Professor Shell as one of the Wharton School's top professors based on polls of Wharton School graduates. Professor Shell received his BA from Princeton and a JD from the University of Virginia. He has been a distinguished member of the Wharton faculty since 1986.
