What we can learn from con artists, scammers, and cheats

Yeah, you heard that right.  While there are not many, we can learn a few things from the bad guys of the world. 

I'm sure you've gotten a call similar to the following recently:

Hi. This is Susie calling with the vehicle service department about your car's extended warranty.

It's gotten so common that it's become a joke to talk about car warranties (even though it's a real thing) and even Planet Money covered it on a recent podcast.  I was listening to that exact podcast when they pointed out that these scams really do manage to convince people to share their personal info at worst, and get a terrible deal on extending their car's warranty at best.  While I could kind of see it happening, I also was a little surprised at it's success, but maybe it's because I grew up as a child of the 90's alongside all the Nigerian Princes of the world trying to give their money away and wary of random phone calls from numbers with no caller ID.  

One comment from the podcast really stood out:

"The FCC seems to think these calls mirror our national anxieties. They told us that when the country was recovering from the 2008 meltdown, people had huge mortgage debt, so No. 1 robocall topic was, not surprisingly, debt relief and mortgage relief. During the Affordable Care Act debate, there were health care robocalls."

So basically, right now, one of our national anxieties has to do with our cars.  That's pretty interesting on it's own, but then I realized that there was a lesson here, namely one that has been commonly shared to companies selling any sort of product or service to consumers: sell the feeling, not the product.  And this led me to think about what else we could learn from the "bad guys" of the world.  I'll dig into a few that I came up with below.

Sell the Feeling, not the Product

I feel like I've heard this on at least Shark Tank, if not every other product design/entrepreneurship podcast or book.  Yes, you have to offer a product or a service, but to really get people hooked, you have to cater to emotions.  What solution are you offering?  How will this product or service make a person feel better about some insecurity they have?  That insecurity could be everything from anxiety about an aging vehicle, or broadly wanting to fit in with society. This is how the car warranty scam works, and it's also how MLMs suck more members into their grasp.  (I've personally found that common insecurities to target seem to be things having to do with love, money, or weight/appearance.) This enters a certain realm I struggle with, because when utilized negatively, it's pretty much manipulation.  But I think if this analysis of a product is done ethically, you can really make sure you are actually helping people with a struggle. 

Potential positive examples of this strategy: every sale of a product/service results in a donation to a non-profit.  Every sale of a product/service 

Know How and When to Pivot

Notice how quickly COVID scams started after the pandemic hit?  These are really some of the worst people (my personal opinion here) since their victims also included those who had just lost their whole livelihood, or literal lives, to a pandemic.  Now these scammers picked up two things: (1) they caught on that COVID was really a thing and that (2) it made people have a lot of feelings (see point 1 above).  So these scammers (AKA the Nigerian Prince) stopped whatever else they were doing and focused on COVID related scams.  In other words, they quickly noted when their environment changed (COVID is spreading, everything is closing down), and then figured out how to change (focus on COVID pain points).  

Another business sector that was heavily affected by the pandemic was the restaurant business and I noticed a differentiating factor between the ones that appeared to fare better early on: The ones that seemed to do better figured out the how and when.  They noticed that they could no longer service in the way they used to (indoor dining) efficiently and profitably and also picked up on what customers needed at the time.  This could be adding in some sort of meal delivery, whether in-house or via a third party app, selling a completely different product in general (i.e. meal kits and groceries to meet a rowing demand to cook), and updating their online presence to best advertise their new business model.  The restaurant industry could get a whole analysis on its own, but while being able to pivot didn't necessarily save all, it at least helped those who did hold on long enough for other relief opportunities. 

Get Creative 

This one I'll give screen time to smugglers.  You ever hear those stories about how a cartel got caught smuggling drugs in the most ridiculous way?  Like oh, bags of cocaine hidden in dead sharks? (Yeah, El Chapo did that).  Well, you can't say they aren't creative.  This is a useful follow up to the previous point on pivoting.  To pivot well, you also need to think outside the box.  You're most likely pivoting because the rules that used to apply to you, don't anymore.  I can only imagine the drug smugglers getting together and brainstorming different places to hide their loot...you can do the same, just maybe make sure it's about doing something legal.  You might be pivoting likely because something bad had just happened--and that's okay.  The only constant is change.  

I think the term creative can get a bad rep in some areas, but only because it gets oversimplified as being only "art-related" or "crazy".  In reality, creativity is the only solution to not having a stale, stiff business.  Once you realize you need to take action, take a deep breath and start writing down literally any idea you have, no matter how crazy (a la design thinking).  Here is also where patience can be a real virtue: being creative takes time and calm head. 

Creativity also means flexibility and individuality, and understanding that there is no "only way" to do things.  Being able to think creatively allows you to never get stuck.  Actually, it would really help if the smugglers and scammers would stop being so creative because they would have just gotten stuck by now.  With that being said, these bad guys also get caught by people who are able to think creatively one step ahead...just saying. 

(Disclaimer--I am in no way promoting the actions of con artist, scammers, cheats, etc.  They are absolutely unethical and I personally believe in the simple concept of being as net positive as possible, in particular to other human beings, which I truly believe is possible and easy.  That being said, I do also believe that it is a strategic mistake to not look critically at the strategies scammers use and understand why they exist and why they work.  In fact, I believe if we apply these same concepts to ethical pursuits, we might even create a better world.)