Social Engineering In Negotiation
Social engineering is defined as the use of centralized planning in an attempt to manage social change and regulate the future development and behaviour of a society. What if the idea of social engineering was used on a micro-scale to steer or influence the behaviour of one person? In a recent episode of Negotiations Ninja podcast, I spoke with Chris Hadnagy, CEO, founder, and chief human hacker of Social-Engineer and... Read more
Franchise Sales and Negotiations
Franchising is a unique business model. As the franchisor, you are relying on strangers with money to carry out your vision. As a franchisee, you are doing all of the work to get a startup to success based on someone else’s vision and goals. Negotiations and difficult conversations between franchisor and franchisee are inevitable and different from traditional business negotiations. I had the former vice president of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, Evan Hopkins,... Read more
This Is Your Brain On Negotiation
We often think of marketing as advertising – picturing Don Draper in his Madison Avenue office overlooking New York City, thinking up the cleverest way to talk about cigarettes. When thinking about the human brain, however, there are so many different ways to “market” your product or service through psychology. These marketing ideas can also be applied to negotiations and how you present your offer. On a recent episode of... Read more
Negotiating ERP Implementations
Creating a procurement process is only one part of Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP. ERP and procurement are often implemented at the same time, and corporate rules interfere with both, as corporate policies can be stifling and restrictive. Clearance from accounting may be required to procure an item over X dollars. Approval from lawyers may be necessary if unionized staff or laws are in question. SAP software (Systems Applications Products)... Read more
Negotiating in Europe
When entering a negotiation in Europe, it is important to defer to the local process. Robert Semethy, chief procurement officer at Erste Bank in Vienna, joined me on a recent episode of Negotiations Ninja. He has been working in Europe for years and has gained a lot of insight into the differences between business in the U.S. and Europe, particularly in negotiation. There is an international style of negotiation that seems to be... Read more
Business Etiquette in Hong Kong
When dealing with differences in culture during international negotiations, etiquette is an important strategy/tactic to consider. Etiquette coach, Bernice Lee, joined me on the podcast a few months ago to discuss etiquette, largely dealing with the culture in China and Hong Kong. She had so much valuable knowledge to share that I invited her back for a second round. In the latest episode with Bernice, we talked in more detail... Read more
Creating Alignment with Challenging Internal Customers
Emotional intelligence, or EQ, is a highly important part of negotiation and success. In procurement, professionals tend to excel at strategy and following process and downplay the magnitude of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence has been linked to career success more than intelligence alone, proving EQ a critical tool to have. Luckily, unlike IQ, EQ proficiency can be developed through exercise. On a recent episode of Negotiations Ninja I spoke with... Read more
From Singing To Sourcing
When examined, two different careers can have similarities. Procurement, in particular, is a linear move, rather than a parallel, to careers that seem opposite at first glance. Life experience renders skill sets that are transferable, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time. On a recent episode of Negotiations Ninja, I spoke with Jason Cammorata, the strategic sourcing and procurement lead at MDC Partners. We spoke about his... Read more
Deadlocks Begin Negotiations
We all fear conflict, we fear rejection, we fear ridicule. In negotiation, conflict is inevitable and trying to avoid it could hinder your ability to reach your desired outcome. In a recent episode of Negotiations Ninja, I talked with Matthias Schranner, former hostage negotiator and founder of the Schranner Negotiation Institute, about conflict in negotiations. Matthias says the biggest mistake in business negotiation is the avoidance of deadlock scenarios forcing... Read more
A Systems Approach to Negotiations
Everybody goes into a negotiation with emotional baggage. We can expect emotions from those being asked to make sacrifices – there usually is at least one party in a negotiation who will be making sacrifices. As negotiators, we don’t often think about the emotional baggage we are bringing to the table as negotiators. In a recent episode of Negotiations Ninja, I chatted with war-time and hostage negotiation expert, Cal Chrustie,... Read more