Intuition When Negotiating
Why is our intuition important when negotiating? Intuition seems like magic – you know something, without consciously knowing why you know it. Some refer to it as a “gut” feeling. But it’s not magic, nor is it your gut; it’s a combination of knowledge, experience and being in the “zone”. In the case of negotiating […]
How to Deliver Bad News
It’s an unpleasant, but inevitable, part of life and negotiating; sometimes you just have to deliver bad news. Perhaps you have to let your supplier know you are not going to meet your volume expectations this quarter. Or they lost the bid. You might need to tell your client that the project is going over […]
Flexibility When Negotiating
In this blog, we’ve discussed many different negotiating strategies (MESO, Hardball, Framing, and even when you shouldn’t negotiate.). But you can’t use all of them all the time. You shouldn’t even use ONE of them all the time. You have to have flexibility when negotiating. Think about this. When choosing a restaurant to go out […]
Help Your Counterpart Declare a Victory, Too
You have all the leverage…and your counterpart knows it. You also have a relationship with them that you not only want to keep, but to nurture. What negotiation strategy will satisfy your counterpart even when you have more leverage, and therefore will achieve a more robust target? To paraphrase William Ury, co-founder of Harvard’s Program […]
Win-Win Isn’t Always the Way to Go
Nothing annoys me more in a negotiation than someone who overuses “partner” and “win-win” in the first five minutes. Once I stop myself from rolling my eyes at them, I ask them to define those terms. What do you mean by “partner”? Can you give me examples of other negotiations where you have succeeded at […]
Make Better Deals and Convince Your Kids to Eat Vegetables
How do you get the kids to eat vegetables? If your answer was “forceful throat stuffing,” you’ve come to the wrong place. However, if your answer had to do with providing options or layering tasty sauces on top, you might already be an expert at MESO (Multiple Equivalent Simultaneous Offer). When you include more than one […]
The 4-Step Negotiation Process Professional Negotiators Use to Seal the Deal
When we employ negotiation tactics, we often come to the frustrating realization that other people are equally as complex, motivated, and human as we are. Perhaps you discover this truth most often during spousal bickering. Maybe your boss shakes his head chronically while you are negotiating a salary raise. You might even be familiar with […]
Why Isn’t Your Counterpart Talking?
The “flavor of the decade” in the world of negotiation style research and training is to build rapport. It’s often the answer to every negotiation challenge that a negotiation consultant is asked. Why is rapport so essential? The reasoning looks like this: If you build rapport, your counterpart will trust you. If they trust you, they […]
Create a Team “On Fire” About Negotiating!
I have a client that is enthusiastic by nature. A new travel mug inspires a happy dance from him. Lucky for his team, this translates to his enthusiasm about the negotiation mistakes his staff makes. Yes, that was not a mistake, their mistakes. He is also happy about their successes… the only thing that makes […]
Do you open assertively enough in your negotiations?
Do you wonder if you are a decent negotiator or if you are not? How can you tell? Look at the outcomes of the person you negotiate with most in your life – yourself – and that will give you a clue. Your negotiation tactics are strengthened by your own self-perception. Ask yourself, in your […]
