Negotiating

When you’re facing a tough negotiator

July 9, 2010
Suppose you’re about to face off with an “old school” negotiator whose reputation for hard bargaining precedes him. There are steps you can take to transform a potential zero-sum competition of wills into an interaction that is aligned toward problem solving—even when facing the hardest bargainer.

6 tips from a master negotiator

June 14, 2010

Allan Stark loves to haggle. In his world, everybody can make out better on every deal. He’s made a second career by offering his negotiating skills on the web. His pitch: He’ll do even better on the very best deal you can make and then split the savings. Stark offers these tips:

Leadership Tips: Vol. 610

May 17, 2010
Pull audience members’ attention away from their BlackBerrys by asking a lot of questions, says Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group … How did Apple sell more than $150 million worth of iPads on the product’s launch day? It spent 25 years earning the privilege of delivering personal and relevant messages to their customers, says blogger and author Seth Godin …

A negotiation lesson from a tyrant

May 14, 2010
To most Americans, King George III has become the face of the enemy during the Revolutionary War. In reality, he was a relatively kind and generous leader who was not responsible for the laws that drove the colonists to revolt.

What’s your negotiating style?

February 12, 2010

We all have a personal approach to negotiation. Individual differences in how we prefer outcomes when interacting with others strongly affect how we approach negotiation, according to Carnegie Mellon University professor Laurie Weingart, who with other psychologists has pinpointed four basic negotiating personalities:

5 steps to implementing the deal

October 10, 2008
“Implementation” is the name of the game when negotiating an agreement. These five approaches can help you and your negotiating team understand that you’re not dealmakers as much as people who are trying to get something done …

9 steps to negotiating any workplace conflict

June 4, 2008
Conflict happens in all corners of the workplace. But if issues aren’t settled, bad things can happen: Good people quit, morale can plummet and, sometimes, violence can erupt. But you don’t need to become a certified mediator to settle disputes. Here are nine tips for understanding human behavior and resolving conflicts with co-workers, employees and even customers.

Want good treatment? Be a better customer

January 1, 2008
Want to be the sort of customer who gets priority treatment? Who regularly gets a supplier to lower their price when your exec asks for budget cuts, or compels the barista to add more whipped cream to her mocha lattés? Stick to these five behaviors that, in vendors’ eyes, make for a good customer, says Harvard Business School professor John Quelch.

Stay nimble, even when rules change

April 1, 2007
Here’s how to negotiate when conditions constantly shift.

You’ll win every game of ‘chicken’

December 1, 2006
If you want to win a negotiation, your threats to walk away have to be credible; making empty threats will only turn your whole team into losers. Here are five ways to reinforce your credibility while demanding more: