Archive for the ‘satisfaction’ Category

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Every Negotiation Needs A Rap(port) Star!

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
Establishing Rapport With The Other Side Is Music To Everyone's Ears

Establishing Rapport With The Other Side Is Music To Everyone

So here’s something that will blow your mind: studies have shown that car shopping customers are willing to pay between $200 and $300 MORE for a car if during the negotiation process they became convinced that the salesperson was committed to their satisfaction.

Wow – talk about a successful negotiation for the salesperson. But wait, isn’t the customer the customer getting something out of this also – satisfaction. Think back over all of those deals in which you have been the customer and in which you walked away afterwards feeling less than satisfied. Perhaps nobody is getting taken for a ride here (sorry for the pun).

It’s possible that the customer side in this type of deal can actually put a value on being made to feel satisfied: $200-$300. Hmm, if it’s true when people are buying cars, just imagine what feeling satisfied must be worth when you are working on a much larger deal!

All this comes down to one thing: part of the price that is being negotiated is friendship and goodwill. Angry, bitter, combative negotiators will get beaten down on price each and every time. In all business negotiations we must remember that we are negotiating not only things (goods and services), but also attitudes.

As the car buying study shows, part of the price of any deal that you negotiate will include:

  1. Trust: does the other side trust that you have been straight with them and that you will keep your word after the deal is signed?
  2. Friendship: yes, friendship does still exist in the 21st Century. Does the other side believe that they have developed a relationship with you that will continue to exist after the negotiations are completed?
  3. Integrity: would you do something that you knew was wrong? Would you sell a product or a service that you knew was flawed or wasn’t going to meet a customer’s needs?
  4. Goodwill: do you have that intangible asset that makes the other side believe that you will do them no harm?
  5. Credibility: does your track record support what you are saying?
  6. Authority: do you really have the ability to deliver all that you have promised?
  7. Status: are you the peer or the better of the other side – are you the right one for them to be negotiating with?

It’s important to note that there is a HUGE difference between establishing rapport (a connection) with the other side vs. just being cooperative. Experiments have shown that when the other side is exploitative, they can easily take advantage of cooperative negotiators.

So where does all of this lead to? It’s as simple as realizing that compatible attitudes between both sides of the negotiating table are needed in order to be able to reach solid, long-lasting agreements. In the end, there is no way that either side can trust what the other side has promised if the two sides can’t trust each other.

Although they may not be listed on the list of bargaining points that you drew up before the negotiations started, everything that we’ve discussed including recognition, friendship, and trust are always items that are up for negotiation. It’s well worth the extra time that it takes to make sure both sides walk way mutually satisfied.

Have you ever negotiated a deal and then left unsatisfied? How much would you have paid to have been satisfied? Have you ever formed a lasting friendship with the other side during a negotiation? How important is trust to you when you are negotiating with someone? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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3 Steps To Building A Better Negotiation

Thursday, October 30th, 2008
Trust, Rapport, and Satisfaction Are Key Steps In Any Negotiation

Trust, Rapport, and Satisfaction Are Key Steps In Any Negotiation

If you really wanted to, you could go into any negotiation with your guns a-blazing and through dirty tricks, intimidation and other techniques probably get your way. However, you would have established a reputation as someone that nobody wants to do business with. In the end, you would have lost much more than you would have gained. Instead, if you establish a reputation as a tough but fair negotiator whose word can be trusted, then everyone will want to do business with you.

Lots of people don’t understand that during a negotiation you are really creating three different things: trust, rapport, and satisfaction. Instead of viewing a negotiation as a “winner takes all” type of competition, if you can view it as more of a construction project, then you’ll be well on your way to being a successful negotiator.

Trust is a word that we all think that we know and understand; however, we are often too quick to dismiss it when it comes to establishing goals for a negotiation. The first rule of trust is don’t even start to negotiate with someone that you don’t trust – without this basic foundation, the discussions will end up going nowhere. Sometimes when I’m working with people who are just starting out in negotiations, they make the mistake of associating trust with giving in to the other side’s demands. No, no, no! During a negotiation you need to be pushing back, working to get what YOU want from the other side. Just about any tactic (unless they are immoral or illegal) is permitted. However, when everything is said and done, you need to live up to your side of the agreement. Ultimately, this is what trust is all about.

Rapport sure sounds like something fancy, but in reality all it is is a feeling that is deeper than trust. You can think about it as a form of being “tuned-in” to the other side of the table in such a way that you understand them. When we are involved in a business negotiation, having rapport with the other side means that both sides respect each other, both sides actually like each other, and both sides are willing to do whatever it takes to make a deal happen.

The last bit of construction that needs to be done during a negotiation is to build satisfaction on both sides of the table. What this means is that it’s actually very important for you to spend some time thinking about how the other side of the table is going to be feeling when they stand up after the negotiations are over. If they are going to be feeling beaten down, betrayed, taken advantage of, or abused, then you have not done your job. Instead you’ve built a foe that will come back and cause you problems in the future. This where the idea of being viewed as a “fair” negotiator comes in to play. When people deal with a fair negotiator they realize that they are going to have to give in on some items; however, they also expect to get their way on other items. In the end, they expect to walk away from the table with a sense of satisfaction that they were able to negotiate a good deal for themselves.

During your last negotiation did you feel that you could trust the other side? Were you able to establish a rapport with the other side and did it help move the negotiations along? When the negotiation was over, do you think that both sides were satisfied with the way that things came out? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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10 Tips For Getting Satisfaction While Negotiating

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

You're In Trouble If The Other Side Can't Get No Satisfaction

Ok, so the title for this post is a bit screwy, but hopefully the point is clear: at the end of the day, negotiating is all about having both sides leave the negotiating table feeling satisfied. They may have had to give in on some things; however, in the end they both got what they really wanted. Now this all sounds fine and dandy, but just how does a negotiator go about making sure that everyone is going to become satisfied?

The first step is to realize that a negotiation is really just a specific type of relationship. Even as the world continues to change around us and new ways of doing business emerge such as outsourcing, strategic alliances, and partnerships one thing remains constant: negotiating is always needed. However, how we actually go about negotiating is also undergoing a transformation. As both sides of the table now often have many partners in common, it makes sense to ensure that everyone has a good working relationship because undoubtedly we’ll be doing business again in the future.

When we use the “R” word (relationship) this means that we are starting to talk about how satisfied each side of the table is with the deal that is being worked out. It goes without saying that depending on your actions you can either be building or diminishing the other side of the table’s satisfaction. It’s way too easy to dimish satisfaction so we’ll focus on building satisfaction up.

There are two quick ways to do this. The first, interestingly enough, is to tell the other side “No” one more time. Whereas this does not at first seem to make sense, if you think about it you’ll see that it really does. In order for the other side of the table to feel as though they “got a deal”, they also need to feel as though they worked for it. If they sat down, made a request, and you agreed to it, then they would leave the negotiating table feeling deeply dissatisfied. The reason for this is because you didn’t negotiate with them – they got something for nothing. Although you might think that this is the best possible outcome, it isn’t . They won’t be satisfied. However, if you say “No” then they’ll need to work to reach a deal. Once a deal is reached, they will feel as though they “earned” a good deal.

The other way to ensure that the other side of the table leaves with a feeling of satisfaction, you need to remember the A.I.R. rule. A.I.R. stands for “Ask for something In Return”. Never give up something for free. By asking for something in return, the other side of the table will feel that they “earned” what you gave to them.

In order to help you with the thinking about how best to ask for something in return, here is a list of things that you could ask for during most negotiations:

  1. Better payment terms
  2. A longer term contract
  3. Who is responsible for delivery?
  4. A freeze on prices
  5. Most favored nation price guarantee
  6. Have them buy additional products
  7. Delivery options
  8. Changes in staffing
  9. Changes in specifications
  10. Warranty

How did you feel the last time you left the negotiation table – were you satisfied? Why or why not? Do you ever take the time to think about how satisfied the other side must be? What have you done during a negotiation to ensure that the other side left the table feeling satisfied? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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3 Negotiation Tips From The Master: Donald Trump

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
Donald Trump Has 3 Negotiating Tips For You

Donald Trump Has 3 Negotiating Tips For You

I believe that by now we all probably have somewhat of a love / hate relationship with Donald Trump (“The Donald” if you like). No matter how you feel about the guy, you have to give him credit – he’s done quite well for himself. What’s interesting is that as caught up in himself as he often seems to be, he is more than willing to give credit where credit is due when it comes to negotiating. When you are talking about negotiating with Donald Trump, then you are really talking about negotiating with his right-hand man: George Ross.

George has become famous in the last few years because he has appeared on Tump’s TV show “The Apprentice” as Trump’s advisor. However, George is really an experienced real estate lawyer who has worked with Trump since the 1970′s. He has been involved in hundreds of negotiations and is considered an expert in the field. In his book, Trump Style Negotiation, George lays out what Donald Trump believes that negotiation is NOT. Here they are:

  1. Once And For All, Negotiation Is NOT A Science: George very clearly makes the point that negotiation is really just another form of communication between people. What everyone wants from a negotiation is a feeling of personal satisfaction when the final outcome is reached. This is critical because in negotiations we almost never end up with something that is tangible – that you can touch. Instead, it’s the feeling that we walk away from the table with that determines how we judge the outcome.
  2. Just Forget About Winning – It’s Not Everything: If you see the world in terms of winners and losers then you are going to have trouble negotiating. The reason for this is that in negotiating, NOBODY wins or loses. Rather both sides give a little and gain a little in order to reach an agreement. This is why establishing trust with the other side of the table and building a friendly relationship are critical components of any good negotiating session.
  3. Negotiating Does Not Flow From Start To Finish: Instead, it has a habit of starting, stopping, and then starting again. If you sit down at the negotiating table with the hope that you’ll be able to knock out a final agreement in this one session, then more often than not you are going to be disappointed. One of the things that makes negotiating so hard to do well is the simple fact that since it stretches out over time, things change. Something that the other side said yesterday may no longer be true today. Hey, if negotiating was easy to do, then anyone could do it!

Understanding what negotiating is NOT is half the battle. We’ll check back in with George later on down the line and see if he has any more tips for us to use in our own “Trump-style” negotiations…

Have you ever finished up a negotiation and been left feeling not satisfied? Did you ever figure out why you felt that way? Do you feel bad if you don’t “win” a negotiation? How long has the longest negotiation that you’ve ever been involved in lasted? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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NASA’s Guide To Negotiation Goal Setting: Aim For The Moon!

Friday, August 15th, 2008

Successful negotiating requires you to set high goals that can be achieved

What does it take to be successful in a negotiation? Long before you start doing any of the standard negotiation preparation tasks, you need to take just a moment and decide where you are aiming to get to. Although it sounds simple, all too often we enter into a negotiation with only a vague understanding of what it’s going to take in order for us to be able to walk away with a feeling of success.

There is a danger to setting an overall goal for the negotiations – how will we feel if we don’t achieve it? Really smart social scientists have been studying things like this for a long time and they’ve learned that setting such a goal will do two things for us: it will form an internal commitment to achieving the goal and it will set us up to feel a sense of ego loss if we end up not achieving it.

Sounds dangerous doesn’t it?

A critical point that you need to realize is that everything that happens at the negotiating table is part of a feedback loop. The feedback that you receive while negotiating will either alter or reinforce your sense of being able to achieve your goal. Those smart scientists have discovered that we respond to the feedback that we’re getting in the following ways:

  • Our expectations of being able to achieve our goal go up after a negotiating success and, of course, they go down after a failure.

  • If we think that we control our own success or failure, then our expectation are even more likely to to go up and down.
  • BIG successes lead to a sense of being able to accomplish our goal; BIG failures leads to a feeling of never being able to accomplish our goal.
  • If your goal is either too easy to get to or too hard to achieve during the negotiations, then you won’t feel much of anything – either success or failure.

If all it took to achieve your overall goal in negotiating was to have a highly placed goal, then we’d all be able to be successful each time we sat down to negotiate. However, life doesn’t work out that way. The reason for this is because of the other side of the table – they are actively working against you!

The other side of the table has a specific set of tactics that they use to bring you down and lower your feeling of being able to accomplish your goal. Their tactics have names such as the Bogey, the Krunch, and the Nibble. If you had no defenses against these tactics, then the other side would win each time. That doesn’t have to be the case and next time we’ll start taking these tactics apart and showing you how you can turn them to your advantage when they are used against you!

Do you always enter a negotiating session with a clear goal in mind? How do you set this goal (or does someone else always set it for you?) Have you ever felt like you were on a rollercoaster during a negotiation: feeling like you were going to achieve your goal one minute and then feeling like it was unreachable the next? Leave a comment and let me know.

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