The Power to Get in

Boylan, who heads his own motivational consulting firm in Minneapolis, points out that such technological advances as the Internet, teleconferencing, fax machines, e-mail and the like have made doing business more difficult for the individual who seeks access to sell a product, a service or him(her)self. Boylan's solution is a system he has developed called the Circle of Leverage (abbreviated to COL). He maintains that the access-seeker should keep in mind the Key Engagers of his prospect: fear of loss, insecurities, competitiveness and the desire to be a serious player. Utilizing this knowledge, the next step is to approach by mail the prospect and his boss and his boss's boss, so that the prospect is, in a sense, backed into a corner and will set up an appointment. Boylan then outlines 10 preparation steps and five executive steps to insure the correct use of the COL system. Boylan, however, is tedious on the page. A good speaker repeats everything at least once to be sure of getting a message across; here, every point is made two and sometimes three or four times, more than a minor irritation. (Feb.)