How to Communicate Your Value in a Negotiation
People don’t always appreciate your value. They need to know why they should deal with you. So you must position yourself, so you feel legitimate. Deborah Kolb likes to tell people, “Performance doesn’t speak for itself. You’re doing a great job and nobody knows.” It’s up to you to negotiate and communicate your value. Deborah knew the VP of Business Development in a financial services company. She and her husband... Read more
How to Discover Your Values [Put The Conscience Code into Action]
Richard Shell believes that you have to know yourself to know your values. And unfortunately, many people aren’t clear on what their values actually are. How do you discover that? One of Richard’s favorite pastimes is creating self-assessments. In his book, “Springboard: Launching Your Personal Search for Success,” he shares an exercise called “The 6 Lives” to help people to try to figure out their priorities when it comes to... Read more
Don’t Forget “Pathos” as a Negotiation Tactic
In his book, “Negotiation Hacks: Expert Tactics To Get What You Want,” Simon Rycraft talks about some of Aristotle’s principles of persuasion. What are those three principles? Pathos: Pathos is the application of emotion. People who are more passionate can be more persuasive, right? When someone gets excited, it prods on your emotions and will often get you excited. Ethos: Ethos refers to your reputation. If you’ve worked with someone before and... Read more
How to Operationalize and Manage Labor-Based Contract
Let’s say you’re a procurement professional working to manage spend for labor contracts. You’ve broken down the hours, and you even understand the allocation of cost. You’ve done your homework to make sure money isn’t being hidden. Everything looks good, so you get a contract in place. The problem is—even if you’ve done it all on the front end—managing a labor-based contract at a site-based level is a significant nuisance.... Read more
SLAY: Rebecca Zung’s Formula For Negotiating with Narcissists
Rebecca Zung has become popular in the world of negotiation because of her expertise in negotiating with narcissists. She runs both a YouTube channel and a podcast with the goal of teaching people how to negotiate with narcissists. In a recent episode of Negotiations Ninja, she shared the basics of her “SLAY” formula. How to SLAY your negotiation with a narcissist It’s estimated that 1 in 10 people have either... Read more
How to Delegate Effectively
Dr. Mark Goulston recently took part in an interview about delegating effectively. So what does Dr. Goulston believe is the best way to delegate? He once heard a Senior Sales Manager with State Farm talk about a great approach, which he also advises. He notes that when you delegate something to someone, afterward, you don’t say, “Do you understand what I asked?” You say, “What do you understand that I... Read more
The Importance of Questions in the Forensic Interviewing and Interrogation Process
One of the things that makes Michael Reddington’s skin crawl is the phrase “buyers are liars.” He emphasizes that it’s not true, not any more than anyone else. Everyone has goals and will strategically share information that’s likely to help them achieve those goals. That’s not dishonesty; it’s interest protection. Prior to any interaction where you need information, you have to think about the reasons why your counterparty shouldn’t share... Read more
Assembling the Dream Team: A Team-Based Approach to Sales
Many people approach sales as if they are going to be working as a “lone wolf” the entire time. But David Perry prefers to assemble a dream team. What does that mean? David had just closed a large deal and felt really good about himself. But then he listed out everyone that had been involved in the deal. There were over 60 people involved! There are so many people involved... Read more
Why “Rationale” Questions are Key in the Negotiation Process
According to Deb Calvert, the purpose of a rationale question is to understand the decision that has been made and what has gotten you to the point you’re at in a negotiation. You need to know what the criteria will be for the ultimate decision. If you can get some of this information and insight beforehand, it’s helpful. These are definitely great questions in the midst of the negotiation as... Read more
Unpopular Opinion: Bad Data is Worse than No Data
Susan Walsh firmly believes that you have to know how much you’re spending, what it’s being spent on, and the competitors you’re spending it with. But how many companies know what they’re spending their money on? Most of the clients that approach Susan don’t have classified data. Of those that do, it’s worse than not having data all. Why? Because dirty data is immensely misleading. Susan emphasizes that “You can... Read more