Win-Win Negotiations

“When we use the word ‘negotiation,’ we tend to think about mediation of labor issues or resolution of a conflict. These are traditional uses of negotiation, but negotiations have broader purposes,. Executives and managers can use negotiation skills to influence, convince, persuade and sell others to support their individual, team or corporate efforts.”

• Know your goals. Don’t focus initially on the absolute minimum—go for broke. Brainstorm what would be the very best that you could accomplish during the meeting…and what would be best for the other party. But also be prepared by considering the absolute minimum you would accept.

• Plan your strategy and tactics. Preparation is key to being successful. Enter negotiations with a plan but be prepared to deviate from it as conditions change. Be flexible both in your style of negotiation and your goals—you may get more than you wanted. Anticipate the issues. Decide in advance which topics need to be discussed and agreed upon.

• Enter the negotiations with a “win-win” orientation. Consistently and persistently communicate the attitude that you can both win from your agreement. Indeed, a truly successful negotiation is one in which both parties have their needs met. Winning at the expense of the other party will inevitably return to haunt you.

• Find out what the other party wants. Try to understand the other party’s psychological needs and motivations. If you have some common interests, brainstorm solutions that will meet both of your objectives. Listening is critical. Ask questions to determine any hot buttons. Ask “what if…” questions to keep the conversation going until you have a clear idea about the other side’s position.

• Assess your comparative leverage. How much do you need the opposition? How much do they need you? The more advantage you offer them, the more you can ask of them. Know how far you can bend without breaking.

• Communicate your points logically and clearly. Know what you want to achieve and be clear in communicating it to the other party. Be aware that how you phrase your demands is as important as what you say.

• Build personal trust and a positive climate. You will get more from someone who feels good about you. The best negotiators keep the atmosphere friendly and non-adversarial. The point they want to make is, “By giving me what I need, you will get what you want in turn. How about it?”

• Keep your emotions in check. Don’t let the give-and-take of the discussion cause you to overreact. Maintain a positive attitude. Those you negotiate with will sense your self-confidence, and it will influence how they respond to you.

• Don’t be too pushy. You don’t want to come across as a lightweight, but you shouldn’t appear as too tough either. The other side may break off negotiations if you give the impression that you are inflexible. Seeing your behavior, others will think you are more interested in getting your way than in negotiating the best outcome for everyone. They may acquiesce rather than make offers that are better for you in the long term.

• Compromise is key. In negotiations, recognize that you and the other party may both have to give up something to get what each wants. If a stalemate is reached, bring in a third party. Sometimes, you just can't reach a compromise, let alone get what you want. When this occurs, both you and the other side should consider bringing in an objective third party

PASS

• Putting the right people in the right jobs. Kendra put Tana and Craig in charge of negotiating with the artists and hosting the live auction as DJs. Both were great calls. These were exactly the right two people for these jobs. They both were able to relate with the rock stars and had great on-air personalities. Putting the right people on the right task is a critical leadership decision and can in fact be more important than developing a winning strategy.
   

• Hands-on leadership. Kendra wisely stayed in touch with her team throughout the negotiation period with the artists. She went with Craig and Tana on their first call to negotiate. After she watched them nail this negotiation, she felt confident enough to let them proceed without her being present. However, she wisely instructed them not to make any critical decisions without her input via conference phone.
   

• Have fun! Tana has a wonderful gift of having fun while doing business. Her enthusiasm and passion is infectious and the artists seemed to enjoy her high energy and gusto. Business should be fun and having fun will energize people.
   

• Think big. This is Trumps favorite "how to succeed in business" tip: "Go big or go home." In this week's competition, it was the difference between winning and losing. Magna aimed high, asking the artists to consider donating something like "traveling around the world with you" while Net Worth got stuck in small-thinking mediocrity.
   

• Play to their egos. Tana did a great job of playing to the egos of the artists. She told Moby that being able to be on the road with him for a week would be a "dream come true." She acknowledged them and paid them homage ("We are all big fans of your music."). This built trust and rapport with them.
   

• Adapt your language, demeanor and dress to fit the situation. Effective salespeople adapt their sales style to suit their target market. Tana demonstrated her sales savvy by adapting her dress, speech and attitude to match that of her customers. "I was down with them," she said. She wore hip clothing instead of business attire and used hip-hop slang. She matched their tempo, demeanor and language. In sales, people are more comfortable dealing with people who are similar to them.

FAIL

• Condescending toward women. Chauvinist John continually demonstrated a lack of respect for women. He offered to "sell" and "pimp" his two female team members. He instructed them to, giggle and act like "I don't know anything." Does he think this behavior is going to win him a seat in a corporate boardroom alongside powerful intelligent women such as Carolyn Kepcher? Haven't we gotten past these demeaning female stereotypes?
   

• It's not all about you. John's ego was front and center this week. In every encounter with the rock stars, he proved he has never learned to use his two ears and one mouth proportionally. When you are trying to sell something, you can rarely afford to have the biggest ego in the room. John was presumptive enough to ask one band to bring their drums so he could play them, which was met with a strange look from one of the band members. He began a meeting with Gene Simmons by telling some childhood story, prompting Simmons to cut him off by asking, "What are we here for?"   Successful business professionals know when to shut up and let the limelight shine on the person you are trying to negotiate with or placate. It isn't about your ego John, it's about theirs. And if there is one boss you better get that straight with, it's Trump.
   

• Delegating poorly. Chris delegated the most critical part of the task -- negotiating with the artists to John and never looked back. This has been a common mistake of many of "The Apprentice" candidates. They rely too much on delegation.  Delegation is not as simple as assigning a task and walking away. It should only be used when a leader is absolutely confident in the person's commitment and competence to do the job.
   

• Ownership clouds the brain. John began each negotiation with his "best" idea of auctioning off a "short set at a house party." One band member called the idea "boring." John's ownership around his idea paralyzed his team's (and the artists) creative process. In the words of George Ross (Trump's lieutenant who teaches a course on negotiation), "It's hard to sell someone with a preconceived notion."
   

• "I don't have anything to prove." Craig began the episode declining any interest in being the project leader. He said, "it's a title to me, I don't have anything to prove." Then why is he in this competition? The entire point of this show is for the candidates to prove their skills and abilities. This wins my vote for the dumbest comment on the show.

The Report Card

Net Worth: Effort -- Performance -- Creativity --   C C D	WEEK EIGHT BOOK SMARTS Magna STREET SMARTS Net Worth
Magna: Effort -- Performance -- Creativity --   A A A