If You Don’t Read This, You’ll Lose A Lot of Money
"If I could show you how to 10x your negotiation results, how would that change your life?" That's what my one liner is (was) in my online marketing material to drive action like getting people to sign up for the newsletter or buy something. It basically says, "Do something and win." There's a problem with this. The problem with that one liner is it asks the prospect to think only of... Read more
Be Quiet
Be quiet. Shut up. Don't say another word. Let the other party speak. We so badly want to fill the awkward silence that exists in the space between receiving a message and responding to a message. Why? Because we don't want to feel alone, yes. Because we fear the potential of rejection, yes. Because we feel like something will be lost (the deal, the friendship, the relationship, etc), yes. All of... Read more
Negotiate the Process
So much can be said for preparation in negotiation, but even if you prepare, study, and have your questions ready, you can still hit a brick wall if you don't negotiate the process, understand and set expectations, and agree to next steps. It's quite dangerous to walk into a complex negotiation and begin shooting (even if you've prepared) without first discussing and agreeing to process on the things that will... Read more
Feedback Loops
How do you know how well you actually did in a negotiation? I mean, you have a result after the fact, but does that really tell you anything? Sure, you learn whether you got the result that you wanted. But getting the result doesn't tell you anything other that you got a result. Does it tell you what worked? Not really. Does it tell you what didn't work? Definitely not. Does it tell... Read more
I Lost a Sale
I lost a sale this week. Usually this doesn't bother me very much. But in this case, I was particularly upset. Not at the prospect, but at my self. After a thorough after action review of the sale, it became very clear that this one was all on me. What follows are the 3 VERY COSTLY lessons I had to painfully re-learn after I didn't make the sale: Lesson #1: Pride Comes Before a... Read more
Your Talent Counts for Nothing
I was telling someone the other day how much I love what I do. Ultimately you can boil down what I do to one simple thing: Talking to people. I love it. Then that person said to me, "Obviously you're going to say you love it, you're good at it and it's a talent of yours." I had to admit that they were right. It does come fairly naturally to me.... Read more
Negotiating a New Salary
I got a great question from a reader and old friend the other day that I thought would be kinda cool to write about today because I think everyone has faced this and when they do they likely think, "Well shit. How do I not shoot myself in the foot here?" But first, a quick shout out to my buddy for sending me this question (I'll remove his name, just in case... Read more
Price Resistance Starts With The Seller
This week I was reminded about the perception of value. A friend of mine runs a new and thriving consulting practice and he reached out to me asking what I think he should price a new service at. Before I could answer he told me what he thought he should price it at. I was blown away. Not by how much he was pricing it at, but at how little.... Read more
Master Your Body Language
Depending on the study you read, anywhere from approximately sixty percent to ninety percent of communication is nonverbal. Let that soak in for a second. Now ask yourself this question, "Is my body language congruent with the words that I say?" If you answered "yes" to that question, how do you know? Unless you consciously practice your nonverbal communication and train your body to communicate what you want it to, you're probably giving off different information... Read more
The Development of Patience
Jack Cambria is the embodiment patience and understanding. In a conversation I had with Jack (episode 50 of the Negotiations Ninja podcast), he said: "We have to have staying power and develop a rapport. And if we can develop that, it will lead to trust, in time. And there is a process. And that process is allowing people the time to work through their emotions and that takes time."Jack's background as... Read more