Idiots Guide to Salesmanship
Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 8:53 pm
One of the tougher skills to master is that of being a good salesman in the game. Not every gain in a game comes out of strength or deceit, a good player can get his way just be striking a good quality deal. However for many players however this approach doesn't even cross their mind and for others it's grossly misused.
Here's a few tips i've discovered over the years that have helped me.
1) Empathize with the other player and offer win-win suggestions
It seems simple but far too often I've come across players pitching things to me that really only addressed their needs which not only didn't get very far with me but it actually soured me on the player more then if we hadn't spoken to begin with. I personally get highly turned off when players start negotiating for centers before the first move is even made. Granted some players are pretty slick when it comes to this and can do very well with it, but they're just used car salesmen who ultimately take advantage of a player. This gets you ahead sure but it's not going to give you repeat business with that player, and when playing a game like this your diplomatic credibility is very valuable. Just like in everyday life, if you walk away from a deal feeling good about it you're more likely to want to deal with that person again. Successfully pitching deals that legitimately provide that player benefit will make future deals a lot smoother.
2) A sales pitch never asked is already lost
Now i know this might sounds a bit contradictory to point one, but hear me out. It's not uncommon for players never to approach somebody about something because they already assume they know the outcome of the conversation. They think things like "why would Turkey ever want to stab Russia, they have a perfect alliance and are going to win this!". And that may even be true, but hey - it never hurts to ask. For all you know there may be fighting going on behind the scenes, or perhaps one of them is just looking for some excitement, or maybe somebody is more ambitious then logical and all they need is a feeling of another ally option elsewhere to give them that nudge. There's been many times I've been able to convince a player to make highly unconventional moves such as leaving themselves highly vulnerable to me, agree to add me into a draw i have no right being in, telling me things they probably shouldn't be telling me, or even ceding over centers to me because i was able to paint a picture of why it strategically had value to do so. There's a high percentage of players who never would have gone for that, but you won't know until you ask if he may end up being in that low percent. Of course this needs some delicate pitching if you want to avoid the potential for a sour reaction as i mentioned in the previous paragraph.
3) Continually look for opportunities.
This is one of those "work smarter, not harder type things". Let everybody else kill themselves spending years building armies large enough to fight back against the evil super alliance while you accomplish the same goal in half the time by recruiting one of the bad guys into an even better alliance with you and somebody else that's a bit more appealing to him since he gets to be the biggest country in this new alliance. Convince your neighbour that if you could get one more fleet build this year it would make a huge difference in fighting your mutual enemy and that right now the only way do that is if you take over his center this turn since it's the best way to mutual success and while i could stab then right now to take it you'd much rather get your blessing and a promise to make it up. Or pitch to the guy that just stabbed you that your sure he'd eventually defeat you but if he were to quickly realign with you right now nobody would see it coming and you could both make out like bandits this year with a super blindside on somebody else. Everybody see's the typical path but the great players seek out the less obvious one's. Always seek out and try to work absolutely every angle you can.
4) Establish a Deal Making Relationship.
Try to seek out as strong of relationships as you can and make it known that you are the type of person who's very interested in trying to talk through and improve upon any deals out there possibly in play. Do your best to anticipate other deals and pro-actively improve upon them when possible. For example, if it's obvious your alliance is about to crumble because one of your centers is far too good not to stab for you then consider offering the center to your ally to keep them on your side if it means keeping yourself in a stronger position long term and provides you with useful goodwill you can cash in on later. If a deal doesn't go through as hoped, do a retrospective after the fact as to how your deal would have been more beneficial to them. Be known as the best deal maker in the game.
5) Negotiate Multiple Deals Concurrently.
A good diplomacy player should be talking to everybody on the board and if there's multiple possible avenues to take, entertain them all and see where it goes. Just because Option A looks like the obvious best option, a lot can happen in the span of a round and you never know if in the midst of talking either Option B (or C or D) starts to look a lot more appealing or something unexpected develops to start to sour Option A. Keep your options as wide open as possible and then make your decision at the end of the round based on which looks the most appealing. Again, there's a delicacy here to handle this approach so you're entertaining multiple deals but not necessarily making a bunch of deals that require you to break promises. Defer commitments when you can and have diplomatic ways to get out of deals when needed without necessarily burning a bridge - you need to maintain your diplomatic credibility.
6) Seek Unambiguous Commitment.
The flip side of this one is it's good to get others to lock in commitments when possible to the point it's awkward for them to break deals without causing damage to their diplomatic credibility. Make sure they're clear in what they're saying, far too many times I've encountered players attempt to weasel out of agreements based on semantics of how they worded their agreement. "Sounds good" is not the same as "I agree to this deal", so if they're vague then clarify what's being said. If a deals broken then ensure it's clear that it was. That said don't necessarily lose your mind if they do (you may need them later) but don't completely let it slide either - I'm disappointed, i can possibly understand why you felt the need to break a deal in your position, it's noted. The other players may cheer you being betrayed but they probably will think twice about allowing themselves to ever be vulnerable around the betrayer as well and that can be useful.
The salesman skill is a very valuable tool to have in your diplomacy toolbox and mastering it will absolutely elevate your game.
Here's a few tips i've discovered over the years that have helped me.
1) Empathize with the other player and offer win-win suggestions
It seems simple but far too often I've come across players pitching things to me that really only addressed their needs which not only didn't get very far with me but it actually soured me on the player more then if we hadn't spoken to begin with. I personally get highly turned off when players start negotiating for centers before the first move is even made. Granted some players are pretty slick when it comes to this and can do very well with it, but they're just used car salesmen who ultimately take advantage of a player. This gets you ahead sure but it's not going to give you repeat business with that player, and when playing a game like this your diplomatic credibility is very valuable. Just like in everyday life, if you walk away from a deal feeling good about it you're more likely to want to deal with that person again. Successfully pitching deals that legitimately provide that player benefit will make future deals a lot smoother.
2) A sales pitch never asked is already lost
Now i know this might sounds a bit contradictory to point one, but hear me out. It's not uncommon for players never to approach somebody about something because they already assume they know the outcome of the conversation. They think things like "why would Turkey ever want to stab Russia, they have a perfect alliance and are going to win this!". And that may even be true, but hey - it never hurts to ask. For all you know there may be fighting going on behind the scenes, or perhaps one of them is just looking for some excitement, or maybe somebody is more ambitious then logical and all they need is a feeling of another ally option elsewhere to give them that nudge. There's been many times I've been able to convince a player to make highly unconventional moves such as leaving themselves highly vulnerable to me, agree to add me into a draw i have no right being in, telling me things they probably shouldn't be telling me, or even ceding over centers to me because i was able to paint a picture of why it strategically had value to do so. There's a high percentage of players who never would have gone for that, but you won't know until you ask if he may end up being in that low percent. Of course this needs some delicate pitching if you want to avoid the potential for a sour reaction as i mentioned in the previous paragraph.
3) Continually look for opportunities.
This is one of those "work smarter, not harder type things". Let everybody else kill themselves spending years building armies large enough to fight back against the evil super alliance while you accomplish the same goal in half the time by recruiting one of the bad guys into an even better alliance with you and somebody else that's a bit more appealing to him since he gets to be the biggest country in this new alliance. Convince your neighbour that if you could get one more fleet build this year it would make a huge difference in fighting your mutual enemy and that right now the only way do that is if you take over his center this turn since it's the best way to mutual success and while i could stab then right now to take it you'd much rather get your blessing and a promise to make it up. Or pitch to the guy that just stabbed you that your sure he'd eventually defeat you but if he were to quickly realign with you right now nobody would see it coming and you could both make out like bandits this year with a super blindside on somebody else. Everybody see's the typical path but the great players seek out the less obvious one's. Always seek out and try to work absolutely every angle you can.
4) Establish a Deal Making Relationship.
Try to seek out as strong of relationships as you can and make it known that you are the type of person who's very interested in trying to talk through and improve upon any deals out there possibly in play. Do your best to anticipate other deals and pro-actively improve upon them when possible. For example, if it's obvious your alliance is about to crumble because one of your centers is far too good not to stab for you then consider offering the center to your ally to keep them on your side if it means keeping yourself in a stronger position long term and provides you with useful goodwill you can cash in on later. If a deal doesn't go through as hoped, do a retrospective after the fact as to how your deal would have been more beneficial to them. Be known as the best deal maker in the game.
5) Negotiate Multiple Deals Concurrently.
A good diplomacy player should be talking to everybody on the board and if there's multiple possible avenues to take, entertain them all and see where it goes. Just because Option A looks like the obvious best option, a lot can happen in the span of a round and you never know if in the midst of talking either Option B (or C or D) starts to look a lot more appealing or something unexpected develops to start to sour Option A. Keep your options as wide open as possible and then make your decision at the end of the round based on which looks the most appealing. Again, there's a delicacy here to handle this approach so you're entertaining multiple deals but not necessarily making a bunch of deals that require you to break promises. Defer commitments when you can and have diplomatic ways to get out of deals when needed without necessarily burning a bridge - you need to maintain your diplomatic credibility.
6) Seek Unambiguous Commitment.
The flip side of this one is it's good to get others to lock in commitments when possible to the point it's awkward for them to break deals without causing damage to their diplomatic credibility. Make sure they're clear in what they're saying, far too many times I've encountered players attempt to weasel out of agreements based on semantics of how they worded their agreement. "Sounds good" is not the same as "I agree to this deal", so if they're vague then clarify what's being said. If a deals broken then ensure it's clear that it was. That said don't necessarily lose your mind if they do (you may need them later) but don't completely let it slide either - I'm disappointed, i can possibly understand why you felt the need to break a deal in your position, it's noted. The other players may cheer you being betrayed but they probably will think twice about allowing themselves to ever be vulnerable around the betrayer as well and that can be useful.
The salesman skill is a very valuable tool to have in your diplomacy toolbox and mastering it will absolutely elevate your game.