Negotiation Precepts!
Jul 22, 2021 17:59:42 #
While I do not claim expert skills at negotiations, I have learned a thing or two and will pass that on. I believe that most of the time, your counter party comes to the table with an agenda, or list of items they want, and a list of items they will not concede without your concession of a major portion of what you are not willing to give up. So, what does one do to come to a satisfactory resolution?
What to do? I believe it is necessary as soon as possible to attempt to ‘smoke out’ exactly what they want. Once you know that, you have now established what settling this disagreement with cost you or your company. Usually, the negotiations will go no where until you establish this area of most concern, or desire. Now it is never easy and there are times when it is impossible, but it is always worth the effort to attempt to get a clear understanding of where both parties stand.
I believe it is worth the effort to simply ask, “what do you, or does your company, want?” Pound on this point and if and when you get an answer, you are close to the solution of everyone’s problem. Now do not take their first answer to be the ‘real and final’ answer. I am not trying to make it easy, but this is the point negotiations must eventually be reached before any satisfactory resolution can happen. There may be smoke screens, rabbit trails, and I think there are some negotiators who believe they must keep things obscure and in the dark as long as possible, when a resolution could have been reached much quicker.
Once you know what they really want, you can then state your rock bottom offer. This could be called “cut to the chase” and settle and end the charade. Why continue if you can settle quickly and get back to more productive activities?
The most involved and extensive negotiations I have ever conducted were complicated because it involved two separate parties, with separate goals and agendas. In the first with Santa Fe Drilling, in California, it was the question of an individual who had been terminated by several different drilling companies and was currently an employee of our firm. It was difficult to get the management to admit this was their ‘hang-up’ for fear of being sued by the individual for slander. The hardest part was getting them to bring their concerns out into the open. Once that was clear, it was an easy for me to assure them he would never set foot on their drill ship.
Conoco’s concern and agenda was one the umbrella insurance in case of an accident. Once they were willing to admit this was their hang up, I produced an article stating that our corporate umbrella accidental insurance was for $10,000,000. That was it, any loss above that they would have to cover! By getting down to the heart of their problem, the problem was resolved. They quickly got their corporate legal department to agree, and we had a deal.
All this negotiation was worth the effort, and the contract lasted for almost 4 years and our revenue was $110,000 a month, plus the expenses of first-class round trip once a month for our safety engineer to and from Angola, Africa. Just Sayin...RJS
What to do? I believe it is necessary as soon as possible to attempt to ‘smoke out’ exactly what they want. Once you know that, you have now established what settling this disagreement with cost you or your company. Usually, the negotiations will go no where until you establish this area of most concern, or desire. Now it is never easy and there are times when it is impossible, but it is always worth the effort to attempt to get a clear understanding of where both parties stand.
I believe it is worth the effort to simply ask, “what do you, or does your company, want?” Pound on this point and if and when you get an answer, you are close to the solution of everyone’s problem. Now do not take their first answer to be the ‘real and final’ answer. I am not trying to make it easy, but this is the point negotiations must eventually be reached before any satisfactory resolution can happen. There may be smoke screens, rabbit trails, and I think there are some negotiators who believe they must keep things obscure and in the dark as long as possible, when a resolution could have been reached much quicker.
Once you know what they really want, you can then state your rock bottom offer. This could be called “cut to the chase” and settle and end the charade. Why continue if you can settle quickly and get back to more productive activities?
The most involved and extensive negotiations I have ever conducted were complicated because it involved two separate parties, with separate goals and agendas. In the first with Santa Fe Drilling, in California, it was the question of an individual who had been terminated by several different drilling companies and was currently an employee of our firm. It was difficult to get the management to admit this was their ‘hang-up’ for fear of being sued by the individual for slander. The hardest part was getting them to bring their concerns out into the open. Once that was clear, it was an easy for me to assure them he would never set foot on their drill ship.
Conoco’s concern and agenda was one the umbrella insurance in case of an accident. Once they were willing to admit this was their hang up, I produced an article stating that our corporate umbrella accidental insurance was for $10,000,000. That was it, any loss above that they would have to cover! By getting down to the heart of their problem, the problem was resolved. They quickly got their corporate legal department to agree, and we had a deal.
All this negotiation was worth the effort, and the contract lasted for almost 4 years and our revenue was $110,000 a month, plus the expenses of first-class round trip once a month for our safety engineer to and from Angola, Africa. Just Sayin...RJS
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