Responding To Anchors
Very quickly, how do you respond to an anchor? Easy answer - ignore it. I know it sounds like a cop out answer, but honestly, it's the only way to ensure you don't play that game. As a quick refresher, anchoring someone is to cause a cognitive bias in someone's mind to rely heavily on an initial offer (to 'anchor' someone to your offer so you're more likely to close... Read more
Poker and Negotiation
We negotiate in everything we do. From trying to get the dog to go pee outside to negotiating with your kids at bedtime to hiring/firing and making deals at work. If you're in sales and procurement you negotiate a lot and you can implement negotiation skills and practice practically on an ongoing basis. But if you're not in one of those professions, but still want to improve your negotiation skills,... Read more
How to Deal With Difficult People
Dealing with difficult people is so, well, difficult! They never listen to logic. They only ever care about their agenda. They're always trying to circumvent process. It's so frustrating! Why are they so difficult!?! But are they really difficult, or is it just your perception of them being difficult because they won't listen to you? Sure, sometimes there truly are just difficult people that we need to deal with. I'll... Read more
Negotiation Nibbling
Sales training courses offer an in-depth look at common negotiation tactics and strategies, helping you recognize what’s happening and better respond to clients across the table. So let’s break down what a common case of negotiation nibbling looks like: You’ve worked your ass off to get this deal and close it. And it’s a big one too. The deal is so close to being done that you can almost smell... Read more
The Logic Argument Is BS!
"Mark, you teach the preparation of development of strategy and efficient process in negotiations, but then in the same class you talk about tactical negotiation warfare and learning how to grind in a negotiation. The two seem counter to each other and I'm not sure I buy in to the need to learn to grind. My expectation is that as I approach the negotiation logically, so will others and therefore... Read more
5 Negotiations Quotes That You Can Apply to Your Next Negotiation
When I started this blog, I swore I would never do a list style post. And yet, here we are. But if you'll forgive me, I think this type of post requires a list. We're fortunate to live at the time that we do. There have been so many great business people, philosophers, and educators that have gone through hell in tough negotiations and they've crystallized their negotiation and communication... Read more
The Power of Persistence In Negotiation
People often ask me, "Which personality type is the best for negotiation." For a long time that question stumped me. It stumped me because there are so many personality types that I've seen be successful at negotiation that I don't think it takes a certain personality type to be great. In thinking about the question more, I think I'd re-frame the question to, "What traits do the most successful negotiators... Read more
Take It Or Leave It!
'Take it or leave it' is rough when you hear it. Really rough. And when you use it, sometimes you can pull it off and sometimes you can't. Obviously if you have all the leverage, it's much easier to pull off. And it doesn't mean you have to use, "take it or leave it". You could say something like, "That's it, we don't negotiate." But, I actually don't recommend using... Read more
Acting Lost In Negotiations 9The Columbo Technique)
Columbo (with his shabby raincoat, his cigar, and his generally 'lost' demeanor) was a hero of mine growing up (him and Angela Lansbury in Murder She Wrote). He seemed to fumble his way through things and his genuinely curious and interested personality always seemed to get the better of him. He claimed confusion on just about everything and by doing so got the other party (the suspects he was investigating)... Read more
Good Guy/Bad Guy Negotiating
We see the good guy/bad guy routine on T.V. all the time. It's always some detective drama or movie where the two cops come in and run the routine and within minutes they're getting the suspect to spill their guts in a dimly lit room with a metal table and metal chairs. But is the good guy/bad guy routine BS or does it actually work? The scene is always the... Read more