Sales: Manipulation vs Influence

Manipulation is a bad thing, isn't it? Those self-help videos and dating reels on Instagram will certainly tell you it is, and maybe they're right.

But, if you were a counter-terrorism detective and the only way to prevent the next, imminent attack would be to portray an untrue personality in order to gain the trust of a known criminal so that they tell you who and where, would you do it?

TechSellers is pleased to welcome guest author, James Moncrieff, who explores what counts as manipulation and whether it's always a bad thing.

Is it wrong to do so, or is there a bigger picture?

Take any informant-recruitment situation. One might need you to be soft and to feel they are in charge. Another might need you to be dark and mysterious. Another needs you to be intellectual, while one more might feel most comfortable if you are that cheeky chap or lass with a background on the streets.

When sales play the same game

And with that approach, are the tactics of a sales team any different? Might a salesperson adapt their style and personality to suit their prospective customer? A good one might. After all, there’s plenty of advice telling you to do just that.

Either way, the stages of manipulation are the same whether you're a detective or out there schmoozing a customer. First you befriend them, gather a rapport, and maintain that relationship until trust is solidified. At which point, you might leverage their need or, dare I say, their vulnerability, to seal that deal.

Spot the leverage point, then use it

Does that informant need to avoid prison or need money? Maybe they want to take out a competitor? Or even send their abusive husband to prison for his other crimes? Or in another world, maybe that prospective customer needs to mitigate their security risks using a tool that you know will help them do so.

You see, recruiting an informant is much like sales. In sales you need someone to part with their money for something they may (or may not) need. In informant recruitment, you need someone who hates you, to do something they despise, with a guaranteed sentence of death on the end if they’re caught. And do the powers that be actually manage to convince people to do that? Of course, but how?

Yes, manipulation is everywhere. It is within us. But it needn’t be a bad thing. In information security, we don't manipulate, do we? Of course not. We influence. Is there a difference?

The definition of influencing a person is 'Having the capacity to affect the character, development or behaviour of another', while the definition of manipulation is to 'Influence another in a clever or unscrupulous way’.

Scaremongering to get it done

And who said these examples are unscrupulous? Do we, in information security, seek to influence our stakeholders to encourage them to buy-in to what we prescribe? Do we scaremonger, telling them that the ransomware attack will take away their livelihoods? Or that the data breach could send the one who is corporately responsible to prison for negligence? Or,do we lure them with the business growth that comes with an ISO27001 certification? Is that clever? You bet it is.

Oh yes, we manipulate. We influence in a clever way and are, therefore, manipulators. So let me ask you this, if it works in a covert intelligence or sales scenario, why doesn't it work for us? Why are our culture-change targets not falling to their knees and bowing to the divine path of security? One word - perpetuation.

You see, the informant-handler relationship needs to last as long as the job requires, or at least until the risk outweighs the benefit. And for that salesperson who knows the tool isn't quite right? Only until the dotted line has a signature on it and the commission is in the bank.

Relationships and trust

But that doesn't work for us. We don't need a single action. We can’t give those grandkids back at the end of the day. We need culture change. Genuine buy-in. An understanding and appreciation of the need for proactive and accountable security. The detective and that occasional less-than-honest salesperson know that the relationship AND the deal are not truly in the end target's best interests. But information security? It really is. And there is a bigger picture.

So why doesn't it work? Well, how often do you consider your counterpart's bigger picture?

Talk less, listen more

You may think you do. After all, being secure keeps them afloat. But how do you know what their bigger picture is? Will their performance suffer if they stop work to take your actions? What happens to their revenue? Their customers' results? Might they even lose their bonus? The people out there that we seek to protect might just have other personal circumstances that matter that little bit more than yours. And if you don't know what that is, it is because you haven't asked.

The issue we have in information security right now? We talk too much. We are the 'experts', and we consult. We prescribe.

But when do we listen?

This series of articles will explore just how we can swap talking for listening. Swap those presentations for questions, and find out just how we can use manipulation for everyone's greater good.