Negotiating

9 negotiating mistakes you’re making

July 13, 2022
Be mindful of these common pitfalls in your next process.

Choose and sequence the issues correctly

June 8, 2022
In Bill Scott’s book The Skills of Negotiating, he argues that selecting the exact issues to be negotiated, and the exact order in which this will be done, “often becomes itself a preliminary round of negotiation.”

Heed the ‘blemishing effect’

May 11, 2022
“Can a negative ever be a positive when it comes to moving others?” asks sales expert Daniel Pink in his book To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others. He cites a 2012 marketing study in which information about hiking boots was presented to online shoppers.

Think your way through an IRS audit

May 11, 2022
Most times an audit is relatively painless, a cut-and-dried look into your records. But there may be tricky moments in which your strategy is to reveal information, or not reveal information, in a way that benefits you the most. Keep these tips in mind.

Why your opening move is so powerful

May 11, 2022
“Many individuals have told me that understanding reciprocity dramatically changed their behavior,” writes Anna Maravelas in the book Creating a Drama-Free Workplace. “For the first time they understood why making negative assumptions almost guarantees negative outcomes.”

Try this “home negotiation test”

May 11, 2022
Keep a coupon to an independent restaurant a week past its expiration date. Then go in and try to use it.

When an error works in your favor

May 11, 2022
In negotiating with a journalist over his fee for writing an article, a reader recently discovered by accident a rather effective tool for getting him to lower his expectations.

Raise the costs of not negotiating

April 13, 2022
Often, a negotiation opponent, or even a happy customer, will become so content with the status quo that they see no need to change anything, and so they won’t trouble themselves with the headache of a difficult discussion. When this happens, point out factors that could suddenly make the status quo less desirable.

When “we” suddenly becomes “I,” you’ll grab their attention

April 13, 2022
When bargaining, you’re probably going to speak in terms of what your company or side can offer, and so you’ll be using a lot of “we” terminology. If things begin to go south, consider the strategic single use of the word “I” instead.

How to avoid the dreaded ‘predictable surprise’

April 13, 2022
When entering negotiations, it’s smart to protect yourself against what Lawrence Susskind calls “predictable surprises.” Here is some advice from his book Good for You, Great for Me.