Posts Tagged ‘negotiation skills’

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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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Say Hello To The Bogey-Man – A Negotiator’s Best Friend

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
When Negotiating, The Bogey Is Your Best Friend

When Negotiating, The Bogey Is Your Best Friend

As a negotiator, the key to your long-term success is to have a number of different techniques that you can use when a situation calls for it. One way to think about this is like a carpenter who has a tool belt with his most commonly used tools on it. As the carpenter is working on a job, just about any situation can be solved with one of the tools that he has close at hand. Today we’re going to talk about the negotiation equivalent of a carpenter’s hammer: a practical, simple, and ethical tool that everyone should know how to use. What’s this negotiating tool called you say? The Bogey.

The easiest way to define what the Bogey is, is to show you it in action. Let’s say that you want to have your house painted. You have a contractor come out to the house, he looks it over, and then he gives you a quote for $20,000 to do the job. You then tell the contractor “Hey, I love your proposal and I think that you do great work; however, all I have to spend is $17,000 that I got from an insurance claim. Here is a certified check for that amount.” The painter accepts your offer and gets to work.

So what happens when you use the Bogey technique? There are three fundamental principals of negotiating that are at work here and it’s important that you realize what they are:

  1. By complimenting the painter, you have boosted his ego. He realizes that you now expect something from him in return. In a subtle way, you have actually asked for his help and in most cases you will usually get it.
  2. In all negotiations, the seller knows more about his product than the buyer ever will. The Bogey is one way that the buyer can give the seller a chance to show what they know about the product.
  3. One of the fundamental rules of negotiating is that there is always a better deal available for all parties that are participating in the negotiation if only they are willing to search for it. The Bogey technique is how the search for this better deal starts.

When you present a Bogey to a seller, the seller generally won’t roll over and accept it. Instead he will come back with a more complete description of what he is selling to you: the quality of his product, his workmanship, the quantity of different items included in his quote, etc. Out of all of this you will now have a much better understanding of what you are buying. Now the real negotiation begins. The seller may lower his price, drop some options, change the delivery schedule, etc. No matter where it goes from here, you will end up ahead of the game.

Have you ever used the Bogey technique when you were negotiating? How did it work out for you? Has someone ever used this technique on you? How did you react as a seller – did you start to describe all the values of your product / service? Leave me a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

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Posted in how to negotiate | 1 Comment »

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