Resources
We hope that business negotiators find what they're searching for in our free resources. This is the next best thing to coming to one of our negotiation training courses.
Negotiation Simulation Training Online Game
Think of your past training courses. How much do you remember, and how much are you still using? If you're like most people, you'll have forgotten most of it. Yet it doesn't have to be this way. Years ago we were so frustrated with this challenge that we decided to do something about it. We set about creating a world-first negotiation simulation platform. Read our latest testimonials to see how much our clients love using our simulator to learn in the classroom and then again to reinforce
Post Training Assessment
How do you know that your negotiation training has been successful? Most companies look to their feedback forms, which we affectionately call the “happy sheets.” We recommend waiting three months before assessing your graduates. We score our assessments with a pass mark of 50%.
Customized Negotiation Sim Games
The most loved part of our negotiation training courses, earning the most praise in our feedback forms, is our industry-leading negotiation sim games. Graduates feel more confident when given the opportunity to deploy the skills and tools they’ve acquired in a customized sim game modeled around your products and market. Very few negotiation training providers possess the expertise to create customized negotiation role-play exercises. However, we’ve been designing
20 Best Sales Training Companies Programs & Courses 2025
Effective sales training has a direct correlation to high-performing sales teams. According to McKinsey, stronger sales training relates to stronger performance across key skill areas. Sales training often results in higher opportunity win rates, and maximum value through pricing and volume. It can also increase the ability to fill sales pipelines and grow accounts.
Articles
How to Boost Your Sales Skills: 7 Surprising Tips
To hit their quotas, salespeople need a wide array of skills. From time management and people management to product expertise and value propositions. These skills are increasingly becoming crucial for even non-sales personnel. If you're looking to upgrade your sales skills, you may need a sales readiness strategy. Training and coaching can support the development of critical sales skills to close more deals faster. Here are seven insider tips that may seem unconventional
Articles
5 of the Best Sales Training Games: Boost Your Skills and Have Fun
Your sales team works under lots of pressure to close deals and hit sales quotas. How can you, as a leader, ensure that your team members are regularly learning and improving on their performance? How do you find training that's enjoyable and lessons that stick long after the training exercise has ended? Using game-based training significantly minimizes costs while enhancing retention. Five of the best games that are fun and boost long-lasting sales skills include: 1. The
Articles
How Do The Best Sales Training Activities Drive Results?
How was your company's sales event last year? Was it the same tired and tedious talk about the numbers plus a few group exercises? Too often we hear sales forces complaining of events and training that are low energy and don’t change behavior. At the same time, managers criticize low training ROI (return on investment). Plus, most reps forget their training and slide back into past behaviors within weeks. So how can sales leaders and facilitators improve on sales training outcomes?
Articles
How is Gamification Revolutionizing Training?
At first, I was afraid, I was petrified…to mention the 4 letter ‘G’ word to clients. I’m embarrassed to admit that ten years ago I scolded my team when they talked about our serious business sim being a mere ‘game’. Back then I believed that accomplished B2B global leaders would not pay for their team to spend valuable company time playing games. Yet, it’s become trendy to use gamification in training courses. But what is gamification good for? In this post, I will
Articles
Sim Game Lesson #1: Opening Offers
Opening Offers Want to quickly know whether the negotiation pro you’re talking with is any good? Ask them whether you should be making the opening offer or if you should allow others to make the first offer. If they don’t immediately and emphatically respond that you should make the opening offer, don’t walk away, run! We have been instructing clients on the value of making the opening offer and how to best ensure that your offer gives you the advantage for over two decades,
Articles
Sim Game Lesson #2: Anchoring
Negotiation Anchoring It’s not enough to simply make the first offer to seize the negotiation advantage. You must also anchor your offer. How do you anchor an offer? You ensure that the conversation keeps the spotlight on your offer for long enough. Think of your anchor as a ship’s anchor. If the ship’s anchor hasn’t sunk deep enough, the ship will be moved by the current and waves. If others make the mistake of investing their time arguing against your opening offer, your
Articles
Marriage Negotiation
Cartoons
Issues in Negotiation: How to Solve a Problem
Negotiators can often fail to understand the real underlying issues of a problem. Meaning, these negotiators lack a key insight into what the basis for the negotiation really is. All too often, negotiators don't train themselves to identify and frame the issues in negotiation to resolve. Negotiation skills courses often emphasize that if this crucial first step of the negotiation process is not addressed properly, it's quite likely that the rest of the negotiation process
Case Studies
Negotiation Skills
What is negotiation skills? Negotiation skills are required to secure better agreements in our personal and business lives. Negotiating skills include methods of: Communicating Persuading and influencing Planning Strategizing Employing tactics, techniques, tools, systems, processes, and teamwork Negotiation skills can be learned. Meaning, "born negotiators" are a myth. Successful negotiators need to develop a variety of skills. These are drawn from various disciplines.
Definitions
Hiring a Freelance Professional Negotiation Consultant
We'll answer your question by sharing general advice on how to choose between the many companies offering you commercial negotiation consultancy services. You're also welcome to call or email us to share more, and take our specific advice on choosing your professional freelancer negotiation consultant with zero commitment or charge. Freelance negotiators are referred to as Agents. Freelance consultants are professionals who represent the interests of the principal
Questions & Answers
How to Negotiate Price with Supplier?
To get someone to give you more of what you want, you'll find that giving them more of what they want will go a long way. So what do your suppliers value? Vendors or professional sellers the world over are overwhelmingly measured and rewarded on revenue, not margin. Margin usually acts as a constraint to sellers' ambitions. So your best routes to achieving cost savings include: Can you increase the size of your order or buy additional products or services from your vendor? If you
Questions & Answers
Sales Training Tips to Avoid Price Discounting
Professional buyers the world over are almost always measured and rewarded on cost savings - not value created. So a sellers' best route to achieving higher prices and margins include: Are you talking with buyers' internal stakeholders BEFORE you have to talk with the buyer? Most Buyers who graduate from our Procurement Negotiation Training complain that managing their internal stakeholders is their single biggest challenge. If this is news to you, as it is for most sales
Questions & Answers
Team Negotiation Diagnostic Profiling
Question: "How accurately can you or your team name and rank others' top four negotiation goals or objectives?" The above graph shows a significant upside opportunity for the team. Would you find it useful to gauge your team's areas of negotiation strength and weakness? We will identify your team's areas of negotiation strength, gaps, and weaknesses. What would your team’s response to this key question look like? Why does our diagnostic profile uncover valuable insights?
Podcast: Sales Training on Price Increases
Paul: How do sales professionals feel when they hear their bosses’ words: “We need you to go get us a price increase”? Most salespeople love asking for price increases about as much as getting a root canal. Sales professionals worry about hurting the customer relationship they’ve worked so hard to build, and fear losing the business.This is Negotiation Expert Paul Kinsella. Calum: And this is Negotiation Expert Calum Coburn. In this podcast we’ll be discussing
Articles
How to Fire Tech Support
Cartoons
Negotiating with WalMart Buyers
WalMart, the world's largest retailer, sold $514.4 billion worth of goods in 2019. With its single-minded focus on "EDLP" (everyday low prices) and the power to make or break; suppliers, a partnership with Walmart is either the Holy Grail or the kiss of death, depending on one's perspective. There are numerous media accounts of the corporate monolith riding its suppliers into the ground. But what about those who manage to survive, and thrive, while dealing with the classic
Case Studies
Negotiation Tactics
Negotiation tactics are the detailed methods employed by negotiators to gain an advantage. Negotiation tactics are often deceptive and manipulative. Often, negotiators use negotiation tactics to fulfill their own goals and objectives. This is often to the detriment of others, making most tactics in use today "win-lose" by nature. We would like to caution negotiators to only make use of ethical negotiation tactics. We would advise thinking first about the context of your
Definitions
How Important Is Building Trust in Negotiating Agreements?
Nowadays, it is difficult to make a deal if there is no trust in negotiations. Even if a negotiator manages to make such a deal, it will be very challenging to implement it. Building trust is essential in any meaningful long-term relationship. In business, this is regardless of whether you're selling, buying, or resolving conflict. Most deals, even one-time deals, have consequences in the future. Roger Fisher wrote about the importance of trust, and principled negotiation
Questions & Answers
Facilitated Video Review
Our video reviews have destroyed our Negotiation Experts' egos. Why? No matter how captivating our slides or crafted our words, our facilitated video reviews still win our clients' highest praise. How often have you walked away from a negotiation wondering: “How could I have done even better?” or “What did I miss?” or “Why was that so tough?” or “Why don't all my negotiations go as well as this deal?” If these questions sound familiar, then you'll likely begin
Best Sales Training Advice on How to Increase Your Prices
No customer wants to stomach a price increase. Sadly though, as long as central banks control our currencies, salespeople will need to keep up by increasing prices. It's simple arithmetic of more currency chasing the same amount of products and services. Not only are buyers trained to say ‘no’ to price increases, but most buyers also avoid meeting to so much as allow sellers to discuss price increases. Fortunately, yours is a well-trodden path. Our expert sales negotiation
Articles
Renegotiation - Snake Charmer
Cartoons
How Microsoft Outnegotiated Netscape in the Browser War
Microsoft vs. Netscape: Strategies Back in 1996, Steve Case’s AOL was urgently seeking a top-notch internet browser to market AOL's products. Both Bill Gates’ Microsoft and Netscape Navigator were vying with AOL to take them on as a client. In terms of their best alternative (BATNA), Netscape held a decisive advantage due to its strong technical superiority and dominance in the browser market. Microsoft was just in the process of entering the market and held a fledgling
Case Studies
Negotiation Strategy
A predetermined approach or prepared plan of action to achieve a goal or objective to make an agreement or contract. (also see Negotiation Tactics.) To learn more, read this check-list to prepare your negotiation strategy.
Definitions
Outsourced Contract Negotiator
Outsourcing the finding and negotiating of your contracts is akin to outsourcing marketing and sales negotiation. I don't know of any company who successfully outsources these crucial areas. You may do better to seek a business partner or employee with these crucial skills before setting up your company. The risk you would expose yourselves to, should something happen to this pivotal person, would be large. I'm going to focus on the negotiation aspect, as this is our area of
Questions & Answers
Our Client Collaboration Approach
Clients trust our 5 phase Client Collaboration Approach for the creation of their in-house training solutions. Stage 1: Requirements Definition Following our initial discussions, a Company Key will be created for the your delegates in order that they may complete our online Negotiation Diagnostic Profile™. One of the positive effects of this is the engendering of a sense of ownership and influence with regards the training solution. This in turn leads to greater acceptance
16 Best Negotiation Training Courses for 2025
Eight negotiation experts agreed on this up-to-date list of the best negotiation courses for 2025 for both classroom and online. We hope that their research will save you time and help you choose the best negotiation course.
Articles
'If-Then' in Negotiation
Cartoons
Trust Building in a Trilateral China Japan Western Negotiation
Overview This complex, ongoing negotiation involves three countries, each with players who have their own agenda and preferred outcome. Although at the time of writing the negotiation had yet to become hard-nosed regarding price, delivery, and technology, it shows how relationships develop over time and some of the dynamics at play in this relatively early phase. The Scene Our company (English owned, with regional headquarters in Hong Kong, a joint venture in Japan, and
Case Studies
Negotiation Styles
The most popular way to divide the typical negotiation styles or approaches are: Competing (Aggressive or Disagreeable) Collaborating (or Cooperating) Avoiding Compromising Accommodating (Conceding or Agreeable) Most negotiators have one or two preferred negotiation styles. It's ideal to be able to choose to apply the most appropriate negotiation style to each type of negotiation. In fact, skilled negotiators are flexible in switching their negotiating styles depending
Definitions
Internal Team Negotiations
The answer to this question really depends on the situation surrounding the negotiations. Lets explore lesser discussed of the two negotiation:s internal or intra-team. What do you need to bear in mind when preparing for internal or intra-team negotiations? Your success in intra-team or internal negotiations will all too often float or sink depending on how well you've prepared for your stakeholders or colleagues. These factors include: the relative strength of each person
Questions & Answers
Value Creation Framework
We owe a debt of gratitude to our clients for generously sharing their feedback over the years on our Negotiation Value Creation Framework™ and supporting toolsets. Without our clients’ collaboration in refining and proving the value of our strategies, tool-sets, and processes in the tough and tempered world of their commercial negotiations, our Value Creation Framework™ could not have evolved into the rigourous trusted negotiation methodology it is has become
The Best Salary Negotiation Training Skills for College Students
College Students and Negotiation Experience Sometimes, college graduates are lucky enough for their employer pay for their spot on one of our negotiation seminars. So, how well do college graduates perform on our negotiation skills seminars? College students almost always get the lowest scores using our online negotiation simulation role-plays. Also, college students tend to struggle to hold their own against seasoned negotiators in our classes. Despite this, our college
Articles
Pay Rise Negotiation
Cartoons
Nepal–India Water Negotiations (Power Asymmetry)
Asymmetry of Power Between Nepal and India India is 40 times larger in land area than Nepal, and India was hungry to meet its increasing electrical power needs. Nepal is one of the poorest nations in the world. It's also economically linked to India due to its geographic situation. However, Nepal’s water wealth is enormous. Several studies revealed that 89 sites within Nepal are potentially capable of producing 30 gigawatts (GW) of hydroelectric power to energy-starved
Case Studies
Win-Win Negotiation
A win-win negotiation settlement is an integrative negotiated agreement. In theory, this means the negotiating sides have reached an agreement after fully taking into account each other's interests, such that the agreement cannot be improved upon further by any other agreement. By definition, there are no resources or "gold" left on the table and all creative options have been thoroughly exploited. "Win-win" has its roots in Economics Game Theory.
Definitions
Is Principled Negotiation used in Business?
Most readers may appreciate a short introduction to the phrase 'Principled Negotiation'. 'Principled Negotiation' became known to the world from Fisher and Ury's seminal book "Getting to Yes" (Check out our book review). The phrase 'Principled Negotiation' has become synonymous with the phrase "win win", so you will often find these two phrases used interchangeably. So who uses "Principled Negotiation"? Mainly Northern American Academics and Mediators. Why? Principled
Questions & Answers
Negotiation Deal Consultancy Services
The Negotiation Experts support clients after the delivery of training. We do this in two ways: Deal consultancy services either side by side with clients or limited to the preparation cycle. Leveraging upon the success of our negotiation training courses,we collaborate with clients on their using our toolsets and techniques taught from afar, through coaching managers on how they can inspect and audit their teams, as well as through team discussions and team meetings. We
Sales Negotiation Questions to Get to the Decision Maker
We coach our clients to ask for the decision-makers - especially in the best Sales Negotiation Training and our Advanced Negotiation Training courses. Too many people ask ineffective questions like, "Do you make the decisions?" or "Are you the decision-maker?" to which most will answer "Yes." Why do people answer 'Yes' when they're not really the decision-maker? Simply because everyone wants to think of themselves as important. So, how do you get to your real decision-makers?
Articles
Torture Chamber
Business Expansion Woven From Trust
Become a part of a foreign society Another example of someone who fitted in completely with the Chinese is the China trader Paul Winestock, who had been dealing with the Chinese since the 1960s. As a trader of textiles in China during the 1960s and 1970s, Winestock built up a large network of customers and friendly officials. One of the latter, who had known him since he was a young man living in drafty provincial hotels with no dining room, was Li Haoran, who had first appointed Winestock
Case Studies
Negotiation Meeting
Negotiation meetings are typically where most of the deal is negotiated, with business negotiation meetings these days being face to face and via voice. The proper planning and effective running of negotiating meetings can make or break a deal. The more complexity involved, the more important getting the negotiation meeting planned correctly becomes. Negotiation meeting factors to plan: Who should and who shouldn't attend, how long each person need attend, team versus
Definitions
Personal Power in Negotiation
Dealing with power in negotiation should be done with great care. Before using power in any negotiation, be sure to analyse all the possible consequences of using that power. Remember that after you have used your power, you usually dissipate your power. Four important sources of personal power include: Authority or expert power (conferred by your knowledge or qualification on a matter or issue) Personal credibility (conferred by your experience and past track record) The
Questions & Answers
Top 5 Negotiation Skills
At the start of our negotiation skills training courses, we ask students what makes them feel uneasy about negotiating. Their answers often include: "I'm afraid I won't get the best deal." "I don't enjoy working with certain types of people." "I'm not always sure what needs to be achieved in a particular negotiation and how to get there." "I can get lost in the process and bogged down in details. I lose track of what I really want to achieve." This article gives some helpful tips on
Articles
Salary Negotiation
Cartoons
Camp David Third Party Intervener
There are occasions when negotiating parties cannot see the forest for the trees. They are unable to see past their own goals and interests which prevent them from arriving at a successful negotiated multiparty agreement. These are the instances when a third party intervener can help both parties find a solution to the dilemma that is plaguing their talks that have likely stalled. The Egyptian and Israeli conflict of the mid 1970’s posed that kind of dilemma. There were also
Case Studies
Concession Strategy
Your concession strategy is a plan of the goals / positions and sometimes the underlying interests that you will be trading with the other party. Before you enter the negotiations, at the very least you should have clarity on your and the other party's goals, and an sequence of which goals you want to trade or exchange. Concession strategies vary in detail. 'Concession Strategy' is more accurately called the 'Trading Plan'.
Definitions
IMF World Bank Debt Governance and Corruption
I read with a knowing smile your words: 'say... they have committed mischief'. For those who invest the time to make themselves knowledgeable by reading about the IMF's corruption and debt governance, particularly from trusted reputable sources online, there can be little doubt that the business of the World Bank, IMF and FED is to commit crimes against humanity for their member bank's benefit. As a negotiator, it's crucial that you start by getting to understand the history
Questions & Answers
9 Steps for Negotiation Preparation Success
Have you ever left a negotiation feeling battered and bruised like you never had a chance from the word go? Too often, I've seen smart yet unprepared sales professionals torn apart in their meetings. Admittedly, I suffered similarly early in my career. I notched my initial failings up to being part of my hard knocks sales negotiation training journey. Does the path to negotiation success have to be treacherous? I’m a big believer in practicing before the game, not in the game.
Articles
Gates of Heaven
Cartoons
Negotiation Game
A few negotiation training courses make use of negotiation simulation exercises delivered using online negotiation training games. In this way, technology can be leveraged to teach participants essential principles of negotiation, psychology or influence in a fun and interactive environment. Some games are played between pairs, whilst others involve a room full of people. The purpose of most negotiation training games is to win, and sometimes to avoid losing. Many negotiation
Definitions
Influencing Decisions in Risk Averse Organisations
Welcome to negotiating internally within the constraints of most risk or loss averse corporate hierarchies. Telling you that you're not alone doesn't go very far to helping you make progress. So here are a few hot spot areas to focus your attention and assist you in achieving maximum internal negotiation skill leverage. What is your company's decision making process? I'm not referring to the organisation chart. One of the best ways to find out how your company 'really' makes
Questions & Answers
Negotiation Types
Negotiation is a part of everyday life. Think of kids trading cards or when you ask for a salary raise at work. Even a trip to the farmer's market may involve some haggling to score a bargain. We often also use our negotiation skills to maintain our personal relationships. For instance, trying to find the middle ground when organizing events with family and friends. Or even budgeting with a partner. Getting your children to bed may sometimes take sales training level skills. At
Articles
Negotiation Tactics
Cartoons
The Cost of Death on Chinese Roads
Overview Mark Rogers is an English expatriate in Beijing, where he is the finance director of the branch of a U.S. multinational. He has been in China for seven years, during most of which he has held a Chinese driving license and driven on Chinese roads. In 2004, he was driving to the famous Shaolin Temple, a few hours south of Beijing. An hour out of Beijing, it started to rain heavily, and on taking a sharp turn in the road in Hebei province, he accidentally drove into two pedestrians,
Case Studies
Principled Negotiation
Principled negotiation is an interest-based approach to negotiation that focusses primarily on conflict management and conflict resolution. Principled negotiation uses an integrative approach to finding a mutually shared outcome. First explained in the book Getting to Yes, principled negotiation is used mostly in North America. The concept is more popular amongst academics and mediators than in business. Business to business sellers have criticized those academics
Definitions
Contract Bidding and Negotiation Process
Very often we deal with the problem at hand, never noticing that we've completely missed the 'real' issue. So I suggest that you step back from the contract bidding process or tender negotiation and ask yourself a few negotiation questions. Why after 25 years was your contract put up for tender? If this was due to: A deteriorated relationship, then invest time improving your negotiation relationships first. If trust is at an all time low, then consider apologising for any past
Questions & Answers
BATNA Explained
"Don't put all your eggs in one basket" is an old saying that has stood the test of time. To a negotiator, this wise old proverb illustrates that if you only negotiate with one other negotiating team, you may end up with a rotten deal. In fact, you may end up with no deal at all. You need to have a strong alternative waiting in the wings to have the power to say "no." Netscape’s BATNA Blunder This site’s case studies are rife with real-life examples of BATNA being the single biggest
Articles
Negotiation Ultimatum
Cartoons
The Panama Canal Negotiations
The successful construction of the Panama Canal was one of the world's great engineering feats. The negotiations to complete and build this vital connector between two oceans spans decades. The cost in human lives, suffering, and capital staggers the imagination. It all began in 1847 when the United States entered in a treaty with New Granada (later to be know as Colombia), allowing the U.S. a transit passage over the Isthmus of Panama. The treaty guaranteed Panama's neutrality
Case Studies
Negotiation Agenda
A formal agreed upon list of goals to be achieved or items to be discussed in a particular order during a meeting or negotiation. Agendas can be formal and obvious, or informal and subtle in negotiations. A negotiation agenda can be used to control the negotiation meeting.
Definitions
Hosting Negotiations – Serving Food at a Meeting
Yes, usually serving food is a good idea. This is a question that seems to be addressed only in the best sales training workshops. Generally speaking, the more informal and less people present, the more collaborative your meeting will be. Eating together is another form of informality. One of the big benefits will include information flowing more freely. Best to manage their expectations. So if you are hosting the meeting, best to let the other party know that you'll be serving
Questions & Answers
32 of the Best Salary Negotiation Tips
You're good at what you do—maybe you're even an ace. Are you being paid what you're worth? How many of these 32 salary negotiation tips are you using to get paid what you're worth? Sales professionals are still rewarded with the biggest pay packets. Are sales professionals better qualified or smarter than other professions? No, there's no such thing as a sales degree. Do sales professionals work longer or harder? Not really. So why, then, are IT and other non-sales related fields
Articles
Mediation
Contract Renegotiation with the Chilean Government
Negotiation value In the 1960s, Kennecott (Rio Tinto), a US company, was about to enter into renegotiation over its contract with the government of Chile concerning its El Teniente copper mine. At the time, Chile’s best alternative (BATNA) appeared overwhelmingly strong as the government took a strong pro-sovereignty stance toward foreign management of its natural resources. Can we take some lessons for our mortgage renegotiations? The government of Chile was politically
Case Studies
Negotiation Walk Away
Negotiation Walk away is the alternative that a negotiator will act on if they are not successful in a negotiation. A walk away may be an alternative supplier or buyer, to manufacture the product or deliver the service in-house, to wait or simply do nothing i.e. to go without. The walk away answers the negotiation question: "What will you do if you don't agree this deal?"
Definitions
Power Imbalance in Negotiation
Whilst integrative negotiation will be generally less effective where there is a significant imbalance in negotiation power between the parties, this does not necessarily mean that the situation cannot be remedied. Accepting the fact that the balance of negotiation power is a dynamic concept, the weaker party in this situation has a number of strategic options: Having assessed the power balance between your side and the other, consider ways and means of: improving your
Questions & Answers
Negotiation Skills: Top 10 Interview Questions and Answers
Ever clenched your jaw at a tough interview question? If not, it's only a matter of time until you do, or you're working for daddy. I used to hate job interviews, and I confess that I usually wasn't invited back for a second interview. I got so frustrated with the questions, so I researched psychology and business books, and I published a book on the top 100 questions. Yes, I guess this makes me an obsessive freak. This article distills my top 10 toughest interview questions of all time
Articles
Business Mediation Medium
A Negotiation Case Study: Exploring the Enron Case in India
Case Conditions In the early 1990s, the US energy giant Enron decided it needed to diversify. This meant expanding its growth abroad with emerging countries. In June of 1992, Enron engaged in negotiations with the government of India. Enron had identified the state of Maharashtra to negotiate a major energy project. Maharashtra was the third largest state in India with a population of roughly 79M, containing India’s commercial capital of Mumbai. The Congress Party governed
Case Studies
Negotiation ZOPA
An acronym which means a negotiation Zone of Possible Agreement. It is the range or area in which an agreement is satisfactory to both parties involved in the negotiation process. Often also referred to as the "Contracting Zone". Negotiation ZOPA or the Contracting Zone is the range between each parties Walk Away or Real Base or Bottom Lines, and is the overlap area that each party is willing to pay or find acceptable in a negotiation.
Definitions
How to Negotiate a Job Title
Most business professionals focus on the money and benefits, giving too little attention to their job title. Job titles are useful when it comes to your NEXT move, so plan ahead. So well done for casting your net widely in your new job negotiation. We recommend your follow our 7 step process to negotiate your job title: Identify who is responsible for your job title change. If you don't already have a relationship with them, build your relationships before you ask for your title
Questions & Answers
The Four Phases of The Negotiation Process
"Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." John F. Kennedy If you sit down and analyze your negotiation preparation, specific patterns should begin to appear. It's like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Without consciously being aware, most of us realize that we are approaching negotiations inconsistently. Perhaps even haphazardly. There are many benefits to following a tried and tested formula for repeated success. Negotiation skills without
Articles
Japanese Cultural Mistakes
Scientists and Bureaucrats - Orientation Issues
Overview This case study involves attempts to set up a bilateral scientific research arrangement involving Chinese scientists and Australian government representatives based in the nation’s capital, Canberra. The discussions are ongoing. Three face-to-face meetings between Chinese and Australians have already been held, the first in the United States in 1999 and the subsequent two in Europe in 2001 and 2003. The setting, each time an international scientific conference
Win-Lose Negotiation
Win-Lose refers to a distributive negotiation where one negotiator's gain the other negotiator’s loss. Both negotiators are typically competing to take away or claim the most value from their negotiation. Also called the ‘fixed-pie’ scenario, in that there is only a limited amount to be distributed. The term 'win-lose' was popularized by ‘game theory’. (The counter-side is known as Lose-Win Negotiation).
Definitions
Japanese Negotiation Silence
You look to be suffering from 2 challenges. Firstly, Japanese Negotiators are famed for putting face saving first - yours and theirs. By contrast western negotiators are more concerned about rapidly progressing the relationship or contract, or knowing the reason why they are not interested in taking the contract forward. It's likely that your Japanese counterparty negotiators are saving you from the possible embarrassment of hearing that they have not chosen you as a supplier.
Questions & Answers
Negotiation Styles
Understanding the Five Negotiation Styles People often ask, "which is the best negotiation style?" As with much management theory, there is no single "best" approach. All five profiles of dealing with stressful and high-pressure negotiations are useful. Determining which to use depends on the given situation. Although we're capable of using all five, we have noticed in our sales negotiation training and contract negotiation training that participants tend to use between
Articles
Concession Excitement
Cartoons
Gaming in Shanghai
Overview HyperHawk, one of the world’s major providers of global supply management software and services, helps companies reduce costs through efficient product and services sourcing. At the time of writing, HyperHawk had handled more than $50 billion worth of products and services in the oil and gas, other natural resources, retail, transport, finance, and industrial sectors for customers including General Motors, Nestlé, Shell, Japan Energy, Mitsubishi, and
Case Studies
Unanimity Rule
A process often employed in ‘Group’ or ‘Multi Party’ negotiations to reach a decision or agreement by the involved negotiating parties. A unanimous decision is only achieved when all the negotiating parties are in total accord in making a decision or an agreement.
Definitions
Positional Union and Management Negotiators
In the U.S. it's illegal for management to not negotiate past its first offer. From what you've described, it sounds like management are being competitive, positional and may not want to negotiate. If you take their 'position' seriously, then two options include asking them to come back when they are ready to negotiate, or to make a counter proposal. [resourcePageOnlineCourses]Framing I would suggest that you prepare a carefully worded 'negotiation frame' to talk about
Questions & Answers
Do You Know When They're Lying?
Is lying just a part of negotiation? Recent studies about lying revealed that complete strangers lie to one another at least three times within the first couple of minutes of meeting one another. Additional research declares that you will be lied to today anywhere between ten and two hundred times! Typical lies told by both men and women include: "I'm on my way." "I'm stuck in traffic." "Sorry I missed your call." "I'm fine thanks" The most common workplace lies: "I'm sick. I won't
Articles
Competitive Negotiation
Andorra Versus the European Community (EC)
Andorra Versus the EC: Negotiations As a vestige of Charlemagne’s Empire, Andorra is a small land-locked principality snuggled between France and Spain. The President of France and the Bishop of Ugrell of Spain jointly govern Andorra as co-princes. They hold sovereign power over the principality except on issues of economic and social matters. Two parallel agreements ruled Andorra's trade, negotiated between France and Spain. When the EU negotiated to admit Spain into
Case Studies
Negotiation Trade-Off
Also sometimes referred to as a ‘Concession’ where one or more parties to a negotiation engage in conceding, yielding, or compromising on issues under negotiation and do so either willingly or unwillingly.
Definitions
Negotiation with Chinese - Business Concessions
Why should he propose concessions? His behaviour looks perfectly professional and clever to me. It has put the foreign team on the defensive. Nice one. It might also be the case that the foreigner has introduced "positional negotiation" far too early. If so, that makes me feel that the foreign team has been quite naive - naive in that they expect a sort of tit for that, the Chinese "have" to give a concession now that the foreigners have "so properly" put their position on the table.
Questions & Answers
RFI RFQ RFP Meaning
What is the meaning of RFQ, RFI, RFP, and RFT? Contract negotiation training graduates often ask us to explain four key terms that comprise the 'RFx' processes (i.e. RFI, RFQ, RFT, and RFP). These processes have grown in popularity in procurement and purchasing. This is especially so in large organizations with professional buyers, purchasing managers, procurement managers, and sourcing managers. The best negotiation training classes teach how to select and use each RFx
Articles
Bargain Brain Surgery
Cartoons
How Giving Face in China Translates to Negotiation Success
Overview Rod Zemanek, the principal negotiator, designer and Project Manager of an Australian chemical engineering consultancy, (Predict Pty Ltd) has a warning for those wanting to do business in China: “Many Chinese see it as their patriotic duty to shoot down foreigners, so you can be like a clay pigeon at target practice.” Despite this, Rod Zemanek has been successful in China and is responsible for the design of many of the country’s modern breweries. He was invited
Case Studies
Negotiation Trading Plan
A negotiation trading plan is a table or spreadsheet that sets out which goals / positions / tradables you are going to exchange or trade with the other party. A trading plan is an essential part of negotiation preparation, especially for complex negotiations. Trading plans should not only identify the goals of each party, trading plans should also rank these goals for each party and set out which goals you want to trade together. The Negotiation Experts clients are trained to
Definitions
Employment Contract Negotiation
In considering how to approach negotiating a pre-employment job offer there are a number of areas you can research beforehand. Preparing for a negotiation is vital to getting the best employment agreement. Having more information at your fingertips will give you a good idea of the list of questions you will need to ask at the interview. Write out your negotiation questions in a manner that will give you best possible information so you can consider the pros and cons. By eliciting
Questions & Answers
Shaving Margins
Creative Problem-Solving in Negotiations
Creative Problem-Solving All too often, negotiators can become bound as they commit to taking a competitive approach to their negotiation. As a result, they don't allow themselves to be flexible or to consider a creative approach. Taking a versatile approach with outside-the-box thinking can generate more value from the negotiations. On the other hand, a common error committed by those who believe they are taking the win-win approach to their talks is to overcompensate
Case Studies
Negotiation Target
The desired negotiation outcome or goal decided at the start of the negotiation. This is best set across each and every aspect of a negotiation (e.g. price, term, volume etc). Some organisations set an ambitious negotiation aspiration or opening offer, and a less ambitious negotiation target, while for others these are one in the same. The level of negotiation aspiration is heavily influenced by a country's culture, with the Germans setting lower aspirations and the Chinese
Definitions
Westerners Chinese Negotiation Failure
Q1: I assume that this means "fail to reach an agreement". There are dozens of possible causes. Here are a few common reasons: Failure to develop friendly, trusting relationships with the Chinese Failure to understand what Chinese negotiators really want from an agreement The Chinese team has not developed a coherent set of demands because they have conflicts within their own team There is no one in the foreign team to guide them on understanding the Chinese and / or they do not
Questions & Answers
Job Offer Negotiation Advice
One of the most exciting experiences we can face in life is the prospect of starting a new job. We can literally feel the buzz as anxiety and self confidence ebb and flow through the interview process. Afterwards, we will occasionally catch ourselves staring into space, tapping our fingers, sneaking glances at the phone and eagerly checking our e-mail to see if we’ve had a response. Then, that magical moment comes – we get the job and they want to talk about the job offer. What
Articles
Negotiation Course Defence
Power in Negotiation
Components of Successful Negotiations There are many occasions when a smaller company will want to form a negotiation partnership with a larger organization to further their business objectives. There are two hurdles that the smaller company might have to overcome to succeed in the negotiation process. The first problem is to get the larger organization’s attention, as they may express little or no interest in the partnership. The second problem revolves around the prickly
Case Studies
Salary Negotiation
Salary negotiation is a process where one party (usually the employee) negotiates the amount of their pay, income, earnings, commission, salary, wages, wage remuneration, annual review, or salary raise with another party (usually a representative of the employer, such as their manager).
Definitions
Positional Negotiation
It is always a difficult task for a negotiator to deal with people who approach negotiation as if it was a competition, with only one possible win-lose outcome. However, difficult does not mean impossible. As in any negotiation process, one of the most important tasks for you would be to discover and identify the other sides values and underlying needs. If you are aware of the reason behind the other sides behaviour, you are more likely to be able to effect changes in his behaviour
Questions & Answers
Collective Bargaining Union Negotiation
Collective bargaining negotiation between labor unions and corporate employers is a specialized area in the field of general negotiations. However, the underlying legal and relationship aspects make these areas distinct. General business negotiation and lawsuit negotiations are not regulated by statutory provisions. In contrast, external laws mandate and govern a collective bargaining negotiation. Who Governs the Different Bargaining Situations? Many different
Articles
Selling War
Cartoons
Kuwait Invasion Negotiation Perspective
On a scorching summer day in August 1990, the citizens of Kuwait stared in puzzlement then fear at the encroaching dusty streams of what appeared to be a pending desert sandstorm. To their dismay and horror filled eyes, the quaking citizenry had become helpless witnesses to the advancing forces of once CIA asset Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army. Kuwaiti resistance was swept aside much like one casually brushes away a crumb from one’s lapel. Kuwait had been drilling laterally into
Case Studies
Risk-Seeking
A high level or approach in the amount of risk that a negotiator is prepared to accept in a negotiation.. A negotiator who decides to gamble rather than accept the ‘sure thing’, and who has the expectation that they will gain more in a negotiation is said to be ‘risk-seeking’.
Negotiation School of Hard Knocks
Cartoons
Lehman Leadership Negotiation Rivalry
Many people like to believe that the people in charge of the organizations that employ them are always working as a skillful trained negotiation team, united in working towards achieving unified goals and objectives. We like to believe that our management team has our company's best interests at heart. Well, sorry to stick a pin in this balloon, this case study illustrates a contrasting example. Situations such as the one shared in this case study occurs more often than many
Case Studies
Risk-Averse
A low level or approach in the amount of risk that a negotiator is prepared to accept in a negotiation. A negotiator who decides to accept the "sure thing" where a result is certain to be achieved is said to be "risk-averse", and is not willing to gamble further on a potential negotiated result.
Effective Negotiation Techniques
Your answer should be in line with the goals that management should aim for in developing any company-wide strategy or vision. Every negotiator should take responsibility in developing his or her own tool-kit of effective negotiation skills techniques. An effective negotiator: Aligns negotiation goals (strategy) with organisational goals (strategy), Prepares thoroughly and uses each negotiating phase to prepare techniques further, Uses negotiation meeting to discover
Questions & Answers
Giving Feedback After a Negotiation
Smart people ask us: “How do I give feedback to my colleagues after a negotiation?” Giving feedback to colleagues can be a delicate topic. As such, feedback is an area we invest plenty of time into during our negotiation skills training seminars. With this in mind, we thought you would like to know Steve Jones' top seven points on how to offer feedback. 1. Give the feedback immediately After the meeting has finished, give your feedback straight away. It's far easier for people
Articles
Buying Real Estate
Chinese Water Selling Negotiation
Overview Acqua International (AQ) is a Europe-based multinational company that has interests in water and other environment-related businesses. In China, the company has joint ventures with medium-size and large municipalities to produce and sell potable water. To increase its investments in China, the AQ Group arranged, through its local subsidiary Pacific Acqua International (PAQ), to enter into a strategic alliance with Tak Foy and Co., a Chinese conglomerate with
Case Studies
Reservation Price
The reservation price is the least favourable point at which you will accept a negotiated agreement. For example, for a seller this means the least amount (minimum) or bottom line they would be prepared to accept. For a buyer, it would mean the most (maximum) or bottom line that they would be prepared to pay. It is also sometimes referred to as the "walk-away" point.
Definitions
Chinese Team Negotiation
Cross-cultural negotiation requires very detailed preparation on cultural differences. The history of business negotiation shows that many negotiations in China failed not because of lack of common ground but rather because of ignorance of cultural differences. Many western academics have commented that China sees herself as Chung-Kuo – the middle kingdom, the centre of the universe. This view states that the Chinese feel superior in the area of moral and spiritual
Questions & Answers
Value Creation in Negotiations
Our efforts to create value in any negotiation will be highly limited if we don't form a collaborative negotiation approach with the other side. We don’t want to find ourselves making a shaky agreement with an angry and resentful partner. Instead, we want to create a relationship that is solid and durable, and benefits everyone. The ideal scenario is to leave the table shaking hands, smiling, and feeling pleased that we worked together to make the best possible deal for both
Articles
Blackmail
Resolving Disputes Case Study: Business Mediation Example
Options to Resolve Business Disputes Companies that find themselves embroiled in a bitter feud over a contract dispute have three options to find a solution. They can either: Litigate their claim through the court system Go to arbitration Use a mediation process to resolve the dispute Many companies have invariably used one of these processes to address a dispute. There are significant differences to consider before deciding upon which method to employ. Arbitration and
Case Studies
Negotiation Reciprocation
The act of making a similar or like exchange of something in return for something given by one party to another party. In a negotiation, this could entail an exchange of information and/or an exchange of concessions between the negotiating parties.
Definitions
Win Win Negotiation Example
In every negotiation, no matter if you're buying, selling, solving conflicts or negotiating your salary, there is always something laying beneath your negotiation, something that motivates people to dedicate the time to meet and negotiate with you. In business and everyday life, each of us has something that drives us towards our desires, goals and aspirations. This drive makes us behave in a particular way and use different negotiation styles. What we want, why and how badly
Questions & Answers
Detecting Lies in Negotiations
Negotiators often don’t say everything they're thinking. Sometimes they hold back or distort information to avoid being exploited by the other party. Disclosing your “walk away” or “must have” conditions can frequently be a risky strategy – particularly with aggressive competing negotiators on the other side. How many times have you been fooled by the other party claiming to have decision making authority when in reality that wasn’t the case? Or maybe they
Articles
Negotiating with your Kids
Cartoons
How NOT to Negotiate in China
Overview In 1998 Simon Turner worked for Bassano, a large Australian women's wear company with eighteen retail outlets across Australia. The following story recounts his experience in a business negotiation in Beijing with Happy Clothing. Bassano required a cheaper manufacturer of tailored women's wear and approached Happy Clothing, a tailored menswear manufacturer, to provide this service. Turner and his CEO Brian Thompson traveled to Beijing with a Chinese-Australian
Case Studies
Negotiation Rapport
Rapport happens across a number of levels. In business, most people associate rapport with matching and mirroring body language. Rapport brings you and the other party you're seeking to influnece into synch. When done well, rapport is undetectable, and works at the unconcious level. Rapport is more difficult to detect on the auditory level. So if you adjust your volume, cadence, inflection, pitch, resonance, length of sentences to that of the person or people you're seeking
Definitions
Negotiation Debt Management Advice for Businesses
Being in debt can feel like trudging through a mud drenched field after a heavy rain. Thinking about your debt can haunt you, whirling around in your brain during the early morning hours, while you restlessly toss and turn. You've done everything right but many outside factors are simply out of your control, these can include: An important client cancels your biggest contract Creditors demand faster repayments Your bank won't roll or renew your loan Your staff threaten to strike
Articles
Attacking at War Negotiation
Unequal Indonesian Foreign Negotiations
Usage of power When two parties enter into an unequal negotiation, in terms of the negotiation power they bring to the table, the interests or goals of either party can have a dramatic influence on the positions they adopt in the negotiations. Sometimes this can have the effect of giving the weaker more negotiating power. Usually however, this power disparity is leveraged by the more powerful party for their advantage. The negotiation case study of the U.S. – Indonesian negotiations
Case Studies
Purchase Order Financing
The assignment of purchase orders by a business to a third party who accepts responsibility for billing and collecting from buyers of the company's products and services. It is a form of expensive financing used to purchase materials required to produce products needed to fulfill a purchase order already received from a buyer.
Business Metaphor Examples
"A good metaphor is something even the police should keep an eye on." Georg Christoph Lichtenberg Words can have a powerful impact. The way we use words in a business negotiation can make or break the deal. This is especially clear if our dialog is phrased poorly, misinterpreted, or misunderstood. Words can evoke visceral reactions or emotional responses such as boiling rage or howls of laughter. The language we use also provides some insight into the individuals on our own team.
Articles
Negotiation Agenda Planning
Cartoons
Win-Win Negotiation Case Study
In trying to create win-win negotiation agreements, one of the biggest mistakes made by negotiators who haven't taken negotiation training seminars is to deal with the issues on an issue-by-issue basis. This often results in a breakdown in negotiations. Why? Invariably, conflicting monetary issues arise that result in a showdown between the two sides. Negotiating on an issue-by-issue agenda does not present the opportunity to make concessionary trade-offs between the
Case Studies
Negotiation Procurement Solution
Business services provided by internal specialists or external vendors or consultants. Procurement Solutions includes skills development ranging from purchasing or procurement training, coaching, consulting or other education services, as well as input on any procurement procedure as it relates to any aspect of the supply chain. Three main areas include sourcing costs, logistics management and aspects of manufacturing. Typical focal areas include achieving price
Definitions
Top 10 Crucial Rules for College Grad Interview Negotiations
If you're fresh out of college and going for job interviews, chances are you're at a big disadvantage. Why? Your interviewer is likely to have years of interview negotiation experience over you. Time someone leveled the playing field: 10. Aim High & Negotiate! Does a sports coach tell his team to 'take it easy and just hope for the best' before they run onto the field or pitch? Not unless he hates holding trophies. So if a winning sports team runs out aiming high, then so should you
Articles
The 'Fixed Pie' in Negotiations
Missed opportunities The mythical fixed pie syndrome is one of those bizarre anomalies that still persistently seep stealthily into the minds of the largest corporations. It is not unlike a virulent pestilence that paralyses its host into a rigid mindset, blurring the host’s vision into a fixed stare where its hapless victim can see nothing more than what sits on the negotiation table. Many agreements fail to materialize because of this limited vision. The resulting loss
Case Studies
Negotiation Principal
The primary decision making authority in a negotiation. Third party agents will often represent the interests or objectives of a principal in a negotiation.
Definitions
International Forex Currency Risk Agreements (Part 1)
My Currency or Yours? Billions of Dollars, Euros, Yen, British Pounds and a multitude form of international currency whips around the world electronically every day, in a mind numbing blink of the eye. Every business person knows how easily a country's currency can fluctuate and wobble wildly due to a variety of reasons. Currency traders can raise the value of a developing country's currency to soaring heights one day, and bring it crashing down a week later. Many of these impacts
Articles
Chinese Negotiation Training on Sales Price
Sales Negotiation Overview K. G. Marwin Inc. developed a particular technology in the 1980s, called the Trilliamp Process, that the Chinese government sought to buy and integrate into an ethylene facility in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province. Marwin's successful sales negotiation training resulted in a contract with Chinese Government, which in 1985 invited further sales inquiries from U.S. and Japanese manufacturers for production of the machinery. Marwin recommended
Case Studies
Negotiation Position
Negotiators' positions are the things they demand you give them and also the things that they refuse to provide you with. Negotiation positions are typically communicated in meetings, emails, and proposals. Inexperienced negotiators too often take the positions of the other side at face value and don't probe with questions or challenge sufficiently. Competitive negotiators are infamous for employing positions—they're clear on what they want and communicate this
Definitions
Conflict Negotiation: Psychological Dynamics
"It is easier to perceive error than to find the truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it."Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe Freud is alleged to have said, "A cigar is just a cigar". Yet at the negotiation table, differences in perception are too often distorted and magnified by the emotions and biased outcomes of one or more parties. Negotiation often needs to go through a conflict resolution
Articles
Third-Party Agents
The Role of a Third-Party Agent Even as negotiation trainers we often use third-party agents to represent our interests in the negotiation process. We use them as we believe that their expertise as negotiators will better serve our goals and achieve better results. Many agents are paid on a commission basis. As a consequence, they can be very concerned about a negotiated outcome. This is because of what they might derive from the negotiation, whether trained or not. Their influence
Case Studies
Negotiation
Negotiation is an interactive process between two or more negotiators or parties seeking to find common ground on issues of mutual interest, where the negotiators or parties seek to make a mutually acceptable agreement that will be honoured by all. In business negotiation, internal negotiations with colleagues are often as challenging as external buyer-seller negotiations. Negotiators usually seek an agreement on the exchange or sharing of products, services and to
Definitions
What Is Win-Win Negotiation?
Ever heard someone say that they "gave away the farm?" Despite our best intentions, we sometimes negotiate too much value away to arrive at an agreement. Even when we enter our talks with high motivations and with a cheery spirit of cooperation, we have to be wary. It's wise to dip our toes cautiously into the waters to make sure we aren't about to be devoured by a grinning, hungry shark. Today, many of us hear that win-win negotiations are all the rage. Academia has in more recent times
Articles
The Price of Giving Face in China
Overview Chando, a Chinese shipbuilder, had agreed to change the main engine in a ship it was building for the Danish shipowner Danske. Although this would involve a lot of work and great expense for Chando, it was willing to substitute a low-speed engine for one of medium speed. Prior to this, Jurgen Martens, Danske’s vice-president and technical director, had made a very good impression on the senior Chando people, as had their sales and marketing director. Usually, a shipyard
Case Studies
Multiple Offers
A technique sometimes employed to offset the possibility of anchoring in an integrative negotiation. Multiple offers are two or more offers or proposals of relatively equal value that are presented simultaneously to invite greater discussion of the issues under negotiation.
How to Build Client Relationships in Business
What would you do? A top-tier accounting firm was busy celebrating another year of fee income growth from one of its most important audit clients, a huge telecommunications business. The audit had run smoothly from the accountants’ view, despite some hiccups on delivery times and quality control. However, overall, the advisers were happy with the depth of the relationship they had built and their position to keep the plum business. So, when the client asked for an internal
Articles
Competitive Business Conflict Escalation
Healthy Competition Has Its Place Competition is clearly a healthy means to increase sales for any business. It's essential because competition provides a stimulus for a company or organization to prosper and grow. However, does this mean that a company should compete at all costs? The answer, of course, is "no"! There comes a point when excessive competition may cause serious harm when the losses exceed the gains. Sounds like simple common sense, doesn't it? Yet, there are
Case Studies
Multi Party Negotiation
A negotiation that involves more than two negotiating parties in a negotiation.
Definitions
21 Fun Stress Releases and How to Negotiate them
If you work in IT, and you're not experiencing stress on the job, consider yourself lucky - very lucky. In a 2006 stress survey, 97% of people working in IT reported that they experienced on the job stress - not just occasionally - but on a daily basis. Medical professionals who frequently experience trauma and death among patients, had the next highest stress. Stress leads to physical conditions including obesity, diabetes, ulcers, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cardiovascular
Articles
Negotiation Alliances
Alliance Benefits In multiparty negotiations, the negotiation power, or the position of one negotiating party, can be enhanced or weakened by making alliances. The use of alliances is a powerful technique. By utilizing alliances, any member in a multiparty negotiation can strengthen their own BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement). Conversely, alliances can weaken the BATNA of an opponent. The main advantage of forming an alliance is that it allows two or more
Case Studies
Merger and Acquisition Negotiation
A negotiation process conducted for the merger or joining of two companies into a single business entity, or the outright purchase of a company by another company.
Definitions
Getting to Yes (book review & summary)
Getting to Yes - Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William Ury was first published in 1981. The title has become a classic read for any novice interested in learning negotiation skills. While the book is still a very useful read, the reader should be aware that negotiation theory has not remained static. Many negotiation writers have challenged some aspects of Fisher and Ury's model and approach, as negotiation itself has evolved due to rapid changes
Articles
Overconfidence in Negotiation
Balanced Confidence Negotiation courses often suggest that business managers need to possess a high level of confidence to succeed. Confidence allows managers to meet the many challenges they face in a fast-paced and evolving business climate. However, there's a hazy line that separates being confident in what we do and becoming overconfident. Overconfidence is a serious mental error that lurks in the background, like a banana peel lying innocently splayed on the sidewalk.
Case Studies
Mediation
Mediation usually consists of a negotiation process that employs a ‘mutually agreed’ upon third party to settle a dispute between negotiating parties to find a compatible agreement to resolve disputes.
Definitions
Gender Communication Styles
Gender Communication Style Differences: Women in Negotiations Little did we know that the communication differences we experienced as children on the playground would move from the classroom to the boardroom. As the face of business transforms with more women occupying key management positions, the requirement of reducing the gender communication gap is growing: miscommunication can cost money, opportunities, and jobs. Statistics tell the story. In the USA, women
Articles
'Chinese Negotiations' 'Guanxi'
How it all starts A well-known, government-owned, five-star hotel in Beijing owns an associated marketing company called High Jewel Marketing. With branches in six cities including the capital, it has both a retail division, which sells jewellery and handicrafts to foreign tourists at high prices, and a wholesale division selling export-quality clothing and high-quality home appliances. One of the marketing company’s senior managers was formerly a high Communist
Case Studies
Majority Rule
A concept often employed in ‘Group’ or ‘Multi Party’ negotiations to achieve consensus or agreement. As the term implies, a decision or agreement is reached after having been voted upon and decided in favor by a majority of the parties present at the negotiating table
Definitions
8 Effective Negotiation Training Skills
We learn a lot from school and later skills training, but the truth is that unless we learn the most important lessons and can apply these skills outside of the classroom in the tough school of hard knocks we call 'real life', our results will be less than stellar. So which are the training course theories that will serve us best in the real world in our business negotiation challenges? Learning to negotiate effectively in a negotiation does not come naturally to everyone. A few of
Articles
Distributive Negotiation Settlement
Theory A distributive negotiation will focus on the division of a set amount of resources, largely determined by the aspiration price (the maximum that party 'A' would like to get, constrained by the lowest amount that party 'B' would like to pay), and the reservation price (the lowest amount that party 'A' would be prepared to accept, and the maximum that party 'B' would prepared to pay). Well over 90% of all civil lawsuits in USA are settled out of court, and most are largely resolved
Case Studies
Lose-Win Negotiation
Lose-Win refers to a distributive negotiation where one negotiator's loss is the other negotiator's gain. Both negotiators are typically competing to claim the most value from a 'fixed pie' or value negotiation. The term 'lose-win' was popularized by ‘Game Theory’. This is a form of a zero-sum game. (The inverse is known as Win - Lose Negotiation).
Definitions
Internal Negotiations: Supporting the External Deal
Considerable effort is given to negotiation training and preparation by negotiators in their external negotiation interactions with clients, suppliers, partner and competitors. We have seen from our experience from training B2B salespeople, account managers, and regulatory team members, just how often their internal negotiations positively or negatively impact external negotiated agreements. All too frequently the internal negotiations are not given their just
Articles
VW's Long-Term Negotiation Thinking pays off in China
Negotiation Overview At the time this case was written, Volkswagen (VW) was the first foreign overseas car-maker in China to have been making a profit in China over the past ten years. It all began in October 1984, when VW skillfully negotiated and then signed a joint venture agreement with China. One of the country’s first major joint venture agreements, it involved several government authorities, including the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Cooperation (MOFTEC, now MoCom),
Case Studies
Lose-Lose Negotiation
A negotiation result where all parties to a negotiation leave resources or gold on the table at the conclusion of a negotiation and fail to recognize or exploit more creative options that would lead to a ‘win-win’ negotiated outcome. A term also used in ‘Game Theory’ and Economics.
Definitions
Successfully Negotiating International Business Contractual Agreements
Western business people are often in too much of a hurry, and rush into making a deal. In international partnerships, we should spend more time thinking about how 'haste makes waste' rather than succumbing to the belief that 'time is money'. We've all seen psycho-thriller sand what happens when two strangers jump into bed before getting to know each other. Usually, it doesn't end very well, and after watching the carnage unfold on the screen, you swear you'll never do that again.
Articles
Political Impact on Global Negotiations
Negotiators have a general understanding of their own local political environment. They are raised in a business milieu that clearly distinguishes who the key players are, and who has to be pitched about a proposal. They learn the roles that each level of government may bring to the table, and the impact roles bring to bear on negotiations. When negotiators take their proposals abroad and negotiate with a foreign power, negotiators often don't sufficiently realize the impact
Case Studies
Negotiation Logrolling
A negotiation exchange that involves making negotiation concessions or the ‘trading-off’ of issues so as to maximize on each sides' value. So you will offer the other side something that they value more than you, in exchange for gaining something from them that you value more than they do. (Also: Log Rolling)
First Moves in Negotiating Global Agreements
Comparing local negotiations to global negotiations with a prospective foreign partner, is like trying to compare a game of chequers to a game of chess. Although both share similarities, with winning as the object, they are very different games. We have made your contacts, done our homework and spent time on negotiation preparation , and now we're ready to meet with our prospective foreign partner. Before we board the plane we have to carefully consider our opening moves, as
Articles
Foreign Currency Contract Agreement Risks
When a negotiator embarks on an negotiating an international agreement with a foreign partner, they have to give serious consideration to which currency is going to be used in their financial transactions. There is a certain amount of risk that a company might have to assume as even veteran skilled negotiators consider whether they are going to issue or receive payments in a foreign denomination. It occasionally happens that between the time when a contract is signed, and when
Case Studies
Litigation
A formalised legal process to resolve a dispute through legal action in the form of a lawsuit. It often entails a contractual issue. It is the act of either bringing or challenging a lawsuit.
Corporate Negotiation Strategy Check-List (Part 2)
This article is a continuation from Pre-Negotiation Strategy Check List Part 1. These are the remainder of factors that corporate negotiators need to take into account preparing their negotiating strategy. 9. Your Place or Mine? In much the same way as sports teams enjoy a 'home advantage', negotiators playing away from home need to adjust their game plan and corporate negotiation strategies. There are 3 possibilities to consider when deciding where the talks will occur.
Articles
Union Constituency Authority Limits
Union negotiators may find that the authority limits they are authorised to observe in a collective bargaining labor negotiation on behalf of their members can be a double edged sword. One tactical advantage in using their constituency authority can include the ability to manipulate public visibility to what is transpiring behind closed doors Another advantage to gain leverage. By raising issues into the public forum, negotiators may be able to manipulate public support
Case Studies
Joint Venture Agreement
A contractual agreement between two or more business partners to assume a common business strategy on a project. All partners generally agree to share the profits and losses through their common shareholdings. Case study example of an effective international joint venture agreement in China.
Pre-Negotiation Strategy Plan Checklist (Part 1)
To perform well, and perform well consistently, we must first learn to prepare. Ask any athlete who spends countless tedious hours preparing for a competition, or a lawyer about to step into a courtroom. At the end of our negotiation training courses, we implore our soon-to-be graduates to book time into their busy calendars to prepare for their negotiations. While many colleagues, clients, and suppliers will demand your time on a daily basis, very seldom will they remind you
Articles
Japanese Business Communication
The importance of keeping the lines of communication open with your business partners cannot be overemphasized. Both our domestic partnerships and especially our foreign partnerships are premised extensively on the how frequently and on which important issues the partners talk. Lines of communications need to be a two way process, flowing back and forth. Too many international negotiators do not take the time, and dismiss the need to include some frank discussion in how
Case Studies
Internal Negotiation
A process that occurs between two or more members or colleagues of the same company, organization or constituency. Colleagues need to negotiation internally usually with their stakeholders - most especially when preparing for an external client, supplier, government, regulatory body or other negotiation. The word 'preparation' is often used interchangeably with the phrase 'internal negotiation'. The differing reward structures, motivations and psychology play
Definitions
Price Tactics for Win-Lose Negotiations
There are some terms that need to be understood when you are involved in one-on-one negotiations. These are negotiations that pit two parties against each other, where the only interest is to wrest out the best value for themselves. this typically results in a win-lose or lose-lose outcome. When it comes to issues involving the price of a product or service, and there is little interest in forming a relationship, you need to know how to use the right tactics to gain the most for your
Articles
Success in China - The Celanese Joint Venture
Disclaimer: It is against the The Negotiation Experts' principles to offer its services to the tobacco industry. This Celanese case study has been reproduced for the purposes of study only, and in no way condones the damage tobacco causes. Overview One of the most closely studied Chinese joint ventures is that involving Celanese Corporation of the United States, a producer of value-added industrial chemicals, and China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC). The venture
Case Studies
Interests in Negotiation
Negotiation interests are considered to be the motivating factor(s) and the underlying reasons behind the ‘negotiation position’ adopted by a negotiation party. Negotiation interests often entail some combination of economic, security, recognition, and control issues, or the desires, concerns, aims or goals of a negotiating party in a negotiation process. When negotiating with an organization, it's important to not focus exclusively on satisfying the interests
Definitions
Multiparty Negotiations (part 2)
Now that we have considered all the challenges that can be posed by multiparty negotiations in Multi-Party Negotiations (part 1), let us now turn to examining some really effective solutions and tactics, to overcome some of these barriers. 3 Primary Considerations Non - Agreement Consequences: One of the first things a negotiator needs, is to understand what costs and consequences may occur, should the group fail to reach a negotiated agreement. In other words, what are our
Articles
Integrative Framework
A means of negotiation decision making to conceptualize the actions, contingencies of all possible outcomes, options and scenarios. Applied to integrative negotiations with the intention of incorporating the goals and aims of all the negotiating parties to create maximum value through collaborative negotiation.
Definitions
Multi-Party Negotiations (part 1)
Many business partnerships that are forged in today's increasingly specialised business milieu, often involves 3 or more partners who are co-joining into complex agreements. This bubbling stew pot of positions, needs, and ambitions requires dexterous handling of the right ingredients. This ambitious blend makes the difference between savouring a rich and inviting texture of tastes, or storming out the door in disgust. It's a delicate balancing act where everyone is
Articles
Initial Public Offering (IPO)
A company's first sale of stock to the public. The IPO is usually tendered, but not always, by those of young, smaller companies attempting to locate equity capital and a public market for their stock. An IPO may present considerable risk but also has the potential of significant profits for investors. Investment companies (closed end funds) generally include underwriting fees which represent a load which is then passed onto buyers.
Definitions
Group Negotiations
When you have a group of managers sitting in a boardroom, you could be reminded of ancient Roman days, when two or more robed members, clustered in the shadows intent on forming a power block. Plotting to cause the downfall of another member or leader. Being a Caesar or a Senator of the ruling class in Roman times, often meant a very limited life span. It was not always the greatest gig it might have seemed on the surface. At times modern budget meetings don't seem all that dissimilar,
Articles
Hostage Negotiation
A negotiation conducted between law enforcement agencies, diplomatic or other government representatives for the release of a person(s) held hostage against their will by criminal, terrorist or other elements.
Definitions
Negotiation Place: Does Turf Matter?
At the close of the day, I was escorted into his corner office. He was the managing partner of the law firm, and he sat behind a huge desk, in the power position. It was my final interview. If it went well, I hoped to receive a job offer. So began our negotiation. Many would state that I was already at a disadvantage. I was on his turf, in his office, at the mercy of his schedule, and he ruled the environment. I'm not so sure. While these factors can provide a leg up, I discovered some important
Articles
Negotiation Haggling
Haggling means to negotiate, argue, bargain or barter about the terms of a business transaction, usually focussing on the purchase or selling price of a product or service. A form of distributive negotiation. (See Negotiation Bargaining)
Business Contract Agreement Advice
Once upon a time, business people would seal a transaction with nothing more than a robust grasp of arms or a firm handshake. When the deal fell apart, they often settled the matter through a pain filled contest of weapons. Whoever was clubbed senseless or killed lost the argument. Years down the line, someone wiser, and probably less skilled with club or sword, decided there had to be a better way. And yes Virginia (in the U.S.of A ), is where lawyers originated, and aren't we all
Articles
Negotiation Framing
A means to process and organize information. A frame provides a perspective of the problems or issues for a decision maker. One can use a frame to understand the importance of facts or issues in relation to each other. One can use this understanding of the facts or issues to then determine possible outcomes and consider contingency actions to solve a problem. Using a framework can allow you to consider all potential gains and losses and available options for any situation.
Definitions
Business Negotiation Preparation
All good negotiation plans are premised on well-chosen strategies and adapting our tactics to meet new challenges. Preparation is not based on guesswork but on intelligence, and even more importantly, negotiation research. It is one thing to prepare for negotiation within our own country, but it is entirely different when we consider a business partnership that operates within an altogether different culture. If we don't prepare wisely beforehand, then we're likely to
Articles
Negotiation Facilitator
This is usually a mutually agreed upon neutral third party to lead a complex meeting of two or more parties involved in a negotiation. Often employed in ‘multi party’ negotiations. Their purpose is to organize, aid, and offer assistance in helping the negotiating parties find their own solutions on the issues under discussion.
Definitions
Getting them to the Negotiation Table
We have a vision that's going to set the world on fire and make us appear like a hero, if we can pull it off. What if the other negotiator doesn't want to come to the table? What happens if we do get them there, greet them with smiles and extended hand, and they respond with grim faces shadowed with deep suspicion? To get our negotiations off to a solid positive start, there are two hurdles we need to overcome before we set out on a positive foot. The first hurdle, is to get the other side to
Articles
Distributive Negotiation
A distributive negotiation type or process that normally entails a single issue to be negotiated. The single issue often involves price and frequently relates to the bargaining process. Also referred to as ‘Win – Lose’, or ‘Fixed – Pie’ negotiation because one party generally gains at the expense of another party. 'Win - Win' negotiation is conversely often referred to as Integrative Negotiation.
Definitions
Building Trust in your Business Negotiation Relationships
Businesses' long term success can be judged by the extent to which they build and nurture their relationships. Every business is dependent on their internal and external relationships, between groups and individuals. We have suppliers, customers, clients, employees, collective bargaining unions, local communities and many more. Whether we realize it or not, we interact with these groups and individuals through our relationships with them. So how do we keep these relationships
Articles
Debt Negotiation
A negotiation process where the debtor negotiates the amount, timing and any other terms of a loan such as arrears, liability, or balance owed to the creditor(s). Read this article for practical advice on how to handle your business debt negotiation.
Morals, Ethics & Feelings in Negotiation
One of my clients, a real estate developer, contacted me about a problem concerning a ten floor office building he was looking to rent. He was negotiating with a potential client, A, about renting 7 floors of the building. They almost had reached a deal but the draft of the contract was at A's office for approval. There had been no reply for a month. Meanwhile, another potential client B approached the developer about leasing the whole building at a higher rent than client A proposed
Articles
Counter Trade Agreement
An international trade arrangement with a foreign business partner. A barter system whereby the parties agree to exchange, or purchase (buy back) for resale, goods or services in exchange for another type of goods or services. Goods or services exchanged may be used in the primary product or service being sold.
How to Boost your Business' Negotiation Skills
We learn by doing, and by doing, we can learn even more. Makes sense doesn't it? When we stop learning, we become like the dog frantically chasing its tail, spinning around and going nowhere. Our business cannot be allowed to become like a stagnant pond, that surrenders to erosion and eventually disappears into the ever-changing landscape either. A business thrives by remaining vibrant and adapting to the whirlwind of changes that challenge us as managers. We upgrade our equipment
Articles
Negotiation Counterparty
In a negotiation, a counterparty (counterparties – plural) is the other representatives(s) of the other negotiation party(s) with whom one is negotiating a potential agreement or contract.
Breaking Barriers to Business Negotiation Agreements
'You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don't trust enough' Frank Crane How in the world can we ever have hope to extend our civilisation to soaring heights, poised to caress the distant stars, without cooperating with each other? A business that toils away in isolation, in today's churning and ever evolving global world of dynamic commerce, will likely shrivel and perish with barely a noticeable whimper. There are many reasons why negotiations
Articles
Negotiation Constituent
A constituent is someone or a group on the same side of the negotiating party but who exerts an independent influence on the outcome through the principal negotiator, or to whom the principal negotiator is accountable. For example, a union negotiator must have an agreement voted upon by the union members (constituents) before it can be ratified as an agreement.
Definitions
Negotiation Attitudes & Behaviours - from Failure to Success
Negotiating behavior is primarily determined by mental attitudes. If we are to excel in negotiation, as in other fields of endeavor, we must delve deeper than the process itself. If we study a process, we might become more competent car drivers, average guitar strummers, 15 minute-mile joggers or bearable after-dinner speakers. If you're pleased with achieving 45%, 50% or 55% of what's on the table, then you can settle comfortably in your comfort zone. Achieving excellence
Articles
Negotiation Concessions
Negotiation Concessions are also sometimes referred to as ‘trade-offs’ where one or more parties to a negotiation engage in conceding, yielding, or compromising on issues under negotiation and do so either willingly or unwillingly. Negotiation Concessions often include 'log rolling'.
Definitions
Boost your Negotiation Listening Skills
'Do you hear what I hear?' That's the flashing, neon question mark at crucial moments in our negotiations. When negotiators gather together after hearing someone speak, we discover that we often recall somewhat dissimilar versions about what was said. People digest what others tell them and provide their own unique interpretation about what was said to them. We're typically overconfident of having correctly heard the speaker. If someone were to tell you that you have to hone-up
Articles
Common Ground
This term refers to the area of agreement or a basis for an understanding, that is mutually agreed upon by all parties to a negotiation.
Where Will You Draw The Line in Negotiations?
Probably everyone has seen some version of the tousled haired child, daring anyone to cross a line he has drawn in the sand. We use words to sketch imaginary lines to warn of an imaginary red flag boundary where we will not be pushed any further. Tolerance limits appear and are applied everywhere in our daily lives. From borders to production expectations, from curfews when we were hormone driven teens, to how much we are willing to pay for a used auto. We set limits to add definition
Articles
Collective Bargaining
A negotiation process that occurs between employers (or their representatives) and the representatives of a union to negotiate issues that consists of wages, hours of work and other conditions of employment. Normally results in a written contract that is defined by specific time duration – ‘life of the contract’. Doesn't necessarily comprise of bargaining as the name suggests. Learn more about Collective Bargaining
Using a Business Interpreter
"It must have got lost in the translation." This lame excuse is not something an international business negotiator wants to use when an important deal collapses. They also don't want to have an angry CEO, with beet-red face, waving a lawsuit from their foreign counterpart, and demanding to know what happened. We conduct many of our hard-won international deals in English, which is commonly viewed as the international business language. However, many negotiations require
Articles
Negotiation Coalition
A temporary union between two or more individuals or groups for a common aim or goal. A relatively common practice utilized in multi-party negotiations, used to gain advantage in the negotiation. Coalitions are more common when negotiators' stand to gain more through collaboration than through competing.
Definitions
The Unethical Side of Negotiation
'The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple' - Oscar Wilde Welcome to the dark side! We are about to open the proverbial can of worms. This is not going to be a moralizing sermon, but you are going to be asked to look inside and find out where you stand. It's unlikely you lived thus far without being 'taken for a ride', or duped by someone. Who has made it this far in life life without telling a lie? Even if it's only one of those little 'white lies', which many people accept as
Articles
BATNA
BATNA is an acronym popularised by Roger Fisher and William Ury which stands for 'Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement'. BATNA answers the question: 'What would you do if you weren't able to agree a deal with your negotiation counterparty?' Your BATNA is the alternative action you'll take should your proposed agreement fail to materialize. Most business people simply use the phrase: 'Best Alternative'. Your BATNA options typically include: finding another counterparty
Definitions
Negotiating with 8 golden steps, the agreement table
People never plan to fail, but they often fail to plan. This is a sensible and shrewd maxim that has dogged many business owners through the ages. It's the prime reason why so many intrepid enterprises fail so miserably, despite the determined efforts of their proud owners. A grand idea had illuminated their hopes, and they thought or assumed they couldn't fail. They crashed into stark reality when their ledgers bled the color red, and consequently, the life of their business
Articles
Counter Purchase
An arrangement where one company (the seller), agrees to sell products or services to a foreign purchaser, but also simultaneously agrees to purchase specified products or services from the foreign partner. Also known as parallel bartering and is the most commonly used form in a countertrade agreement in international business interactions.
Definitions
Negotiation Approaches and Perspectives
'It is human nature to think wisely and act foolishly' Anatole France The worst mistakes are the ones we know we should've avoided in the first place. Yet, we will occasionally err because we are infallibly human. The best thing we can do is to try and recognize those errors that are most avoidable. When sitting down at the negotiating table, it might be a good idea to get ourselves into the habit of going through a mental checklist. This is the time to lean back and take a reality check.
Articles
Negotiation Bargaining Zone
Your Bargaining Zone is the range or area in which an agreement is satisfactory to both negotiating parties. The bargaining zone is essentially the overlap area between walk away positions in a negotiation. Before entering into a negotiation, it's essential that you reduce your risk by deciding not only your walk-aways for each goal or negotiable, but and also predicting other negotiators' walk-aways too. Clients on our negotiation training courses often push back saying:
Definitions
Negotiation Anxiety Solved
Who We Are In both our personal and professional lives, we all have our own unique style. This is also true when dealing with problem-solving, dispute resolutions, and negotiations. Our individual personalities were formed early in childhood, tempered and sculpted by a lifetime of coping with the anxiety-provoking raw experience of life. Every situation that we face acts as a teaching aid. We learn to adapt our own unique style in tackling any future problems that lurk down
Articles
Aspiration Base
Setting the highest achievable negotiation target level in terms of goals or objectives to conclude a negotiated agreement.
Definitions
How to Behave in Japan: Appropriate Japanese Behaviour
"WHEN IN JAPAN, BEHAVE AS THE JAPANESE DO." IS THAT REALLY BEING CULTURALLY INTELLIGENT? Deciding on the right nuance of culturally appropriate behavior in Japan is not easy. I used to work with Colorado-born Fred Hevers in Tokyo. He spoke astonishingly fluent Japanese, much better than mine. Impertinent though it was of me, I once suggested to him that he was far too polite when he spoke to many Japanese. He took it well, and seemed to ponder it. We both moved on to other jobs. When
Articles
Arbitration
A process to resolve a dispute between negotiating parties who have reached a deadlock in their negotiation. The parties in dispute are referred to a ‘third party’, which is one that is either agreed upon by the parties in dispute, or as provided by legislated law. The third party renders a judgment that is binding on the parties in dispute. Arbitration is often used in international negotiations and in collective bargaining.
ZOPA Negotiation (the Zone Of Possible Agreement)
What Does ZOPA Stand For? ZOPA might almost sound like a foreign word for a cheer of joy, or maybe even a new and exciting soft drink about to splash the marketplace. It's neither, but if you have a wide ZOPA in your negotiation, it's nearly as sweet. Negotiation ZOPA stands for Zone Of Possible Agreement. It's the blue sky range where we can make deals that both sides in a negotiation find acceptable. Whether we're buying something at a bustling yard sale or entering into a complex
Articles
Negotiation Anchoring
Anchoring is an attempt to establish a reference point (anchor) around which a negotiation will revolve. The anchor will often be used as a reference point to make negotiation adjustments. Anchoring often occurs when the first offer is presented at the beginning of a negotiation.
Definitions
Avoiding Common Pitfalls during Negotiations in China
Western business people are flocking to the Far East. China has clearly become one of the most sought after places that offer a near endless source of potential market growth. For many westerners, the eastern part of the world is a place steeped in mystery and a culture, both alien and fascinating to our way of doing things. China is a vast potential marketplace of over a billion plus potential. Millionaires spring up like weeds virtually overnight, while millions of peasants
Articles
Negotiation Bargaining
What is bargaining? Bargaining is a simple form of the distributive negotiation process that is both competitive and positional. Meaning bargaining doesn't seek to create value but instead focuses on negotiators claiming value. Bargaining very often revolves around a single issue—usually price. Bargaining predominates in one-time negotiations, e.g. buying or selling a car or house when you don't intend on having an ongoing relationship. One side usually attempts
Definitions
Knowing When It's Time to Walk-Not Talk
"A long dispute means both parties are wrong." Voltaire Knowing when and how to negotiate is one thing. Knowing when not to negotiate at all, is an altogether different matter. Every savvy negotiator is aware that there are times to break off the talks for now, in order to enhance the talks later. Reasons could include a cooling off process or to re-evaluate new information. However, there are other thorny conditions which can crop up when the circumstances compel you to not negotiate
Articles
Winners Curse
Occurs when an under aspiring negotiator sets their target or aspirations (goals or objectives) too low at the outset of a negotiation and is granted an immediate agreement by their negotiating counterpart.
Definitions
Principal and Agents in Negotiation
In negotiations, you have to know who's sitting at the table. Some of these individuals can make binding decisions on the spot. In many other situations, the people involved represent the decision makers. They may have only limited authority. Or, they may have no authority at all. Let's look at this in more detail. Principals In all negotiations, the principle parties are the decision makers. These are the people who ultimately make or break the deal. These are the 'Top Dogs'.
Articles
Integrative Negotiation
Integrative negotiation is often referred to as "win-win" and typically entails two or more issues to be negotiated. It often involves an agreement process that better integrates the aims and goals of all the involved negotiation participants through creative and collaborative problem-solving. Relationship is usually more important, with more complex issues being negotiated than with distributive negotiation.
Definitions
Business Negotiations in Japan
Shattering Common Stereotypes I discovered many things from my 1980s consulting and training work in Japan. One of them was that Westerners in business meetings with Japanese were generally more ill at ease, uncomfortable, and awkward than were the Japanese. This went so much against the stereotypes that both Westerners and Japanese business people shared. People generally viewed the Japanese as shy violets; Westerners as sociable and extroverted. My research about businesspeople,
Articles
Negotiation Agent
A person who acts for or in place of another individual or entity as their representative in a negotiation with a third party. An agent, sometimes referred to as a third party agent, has full or limited authority to act on the behalf of the party they represent.
Definitions
The Trust Building Process in Japanese Society
Build Trusting Relationships The Japanese believe that once the initial contact and introductions are completed, the next stage of the process involves developing trust through deeper knowledge of what the Westerners have to offer. This includes: How we handle ourselves as businesspeople and managers. Our efficiency, manufacturing methods, and the standard of quality of our products. Whether or not we are people they can do business with. There are times when the seller
Articles
Negotiation Positions vs. Interests
When two people take opposing sides on an issue in a dispute, they both often refuse to budge from their differing viewpoints. The result is a stalemate. If both sides find a solution, then both can win. We call this resolution a win-win negotiation outcome. You can achieve a win-win by training yourself to pay attention to the interests driving the other side's position in a negotiation. The Negotiation Position The simple reason why many people fail to find a negotiated agreement
Articles
Your Ideal Negotiation Meeting Location
The question as to where a negotiation should ideally take place is a critical one and gives rise to both well-thought advice and knee-jerk reactions. The most widely held belief taught on most sales negotiation courses and buyer negotiation courses is that negotiators are at an advantage holding negotiation meetings on their own territory. I would like to offer some alternative food for thought. Negotiation text books often make analogies with sports events where, true
Articles
Ways to rationalize a stalled negotiation
Everything at the office was moving smoothly along until a nasty little hurricane decided to tear a hole in your supply line. In a time of short supply and high demand, your main supplier is sitting across from you at your desk. He is poking his finger in the air for emphasis, while loudly demanding a 20% increase in their delivery costs. He ends his tirade by telling you that he is,' Not going to budge.Period!' Now, you ask yourself, how am I going to deal with this guy when my company
Articles
Sales Team Negotiation Training: Customized Case Studies
The Negotiation Experts make extensive use of case studies and negotiation training games in training sales negotiation teams. Simulating commercial sales negotiation training scenarios customized to our client's business reality is the best way to assess sales negotiators' strengths and weaknesses. There's no better method of rapid feedback. Mistakes in role-playing don't end up costing sales revenue or sales margin, and role-plays are highly engaging. In this article,
Articles
Frameworks in Negotiations
Preparing for a negotiation can be equated to a couple coming together to build their dream house. Each will have different ideas and visions,on how the house will be designed. They both want the house, but their interests in what they want to derive from the functionality of the house will vary from their unique perspectives. One wants a brightly lit solarium filled with tropical plants; the other wants a roomy workshop. They can either work at cross purposes and end up in a drawn
Articles
Resolving Interpersonal Conflicts
Resolving interpersonal conflicts in the workplace is a healing process often utilized by management. However, it's also a powerful tool that management doesn't often make available to front-line workers. This can be a costly mistake. Interpersonal conflicts between co-workers, can escalate and lead to harmful and bitter repercussions. The resulting damage, if not immediately addressed, can have a negative impact on both morale and productivity. The Issue of Interpersonal
Articles
Negotiating Skills give you options in the Furniture Store
"Let me propose a few options, each of which would be acceptable to us," I said to the furniture store manager in our negotiation. "Either provide us with 80% of our money back for the practically unused piece of furniture we purchased or give us store credit for the full amount. Bear in mind that we just bought a new house. We may very well purchase more items at your store in the future." "Interesting," he replied. "I'll give the owner a call and see what he thinks. Of course, as you know,
Improve your Employees' Negotiation Skill Outcomes
If your company is like the majority of companies today, you are looking at the bottom line seeking for ways to improve results. The negotiating skills of your employees control revenues, and have a direct and significant bearing on financial performance. Employees are negotiating regularly, with customers and suppliers to buy and sell goods and services. In fact, most every relationship a company has must be negotiated or re-negotiated at some point. Most employees entrusted
Articles
Public Leverage in Negotiation Outcomes
Seldom does a day go by that I don't read in a newspaper about a high-profile negotiation. Perhaps it is a union picketing when talks break down, or a board of directors attempting to ward off an unwanted merger. It might even entail the possible settlement of a litigation lawsuit between prominent companies. When I read about these, I often think about why the negotiation has "gone public." My first thought always is to assess who initiated the public coverage of the negotiation.
Articles
Gender Differences in Negotiations
In their book, Women Don’t Ask (2003), Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever state that 57% of male Carnegie Mellon graduate business students negotiate their starting salaries. However, only 7% of women negotiate salaries. This difference results in men's starting salaries that are 7.6% higher than women's. Why don’t women attempt to negotiate as often as men? If women did negotiate, is there any reason to think women would not do as well? When men and women negotiate with
Articles
Dealing With Your Emotions in Negotiations
Many negotiations, due to their nature, can create and foster strong negative emotions. Where individuals meet to primarily promote their self-interests or where the past histories of the parties involved have been coloured by acrimony, it is not surprising that often emotions are more powerful than the facts in shaping the course and outcome of the negotiations. However without emotions it would be impossible for people to reconcile important conflicts. Emotions motivate
Articles
Dispelling Negotiation Myths
After Gerard L. Nierenberg authored The Art of Negotiating in 1968. Since then, many books on negotiating followed including the ones I authored or co-authored, Winning the Negotiation, Negotiate the Deal You Want, and The Human Side of Negotiating. However, the message in a lot of the other works was that negotiating was viewed as some sort of a game instead of a process. In fact, one book was entitled The Negotiating Game. Negotiating is a game Let's compare negotiation as a
Articles
A New ICON for Negotiation Advice
Finding Agreement in a Negotiation Two decades after the original publication of Getting to YES, by Roger Fisher and William Ury, the conflict resolution classic is still unrivaled in providing a distinct prescriptive framework for turning rivals into collaborators (Fisher and Ury). Their method of principled negotiation remains one of the most powerful influences on the study and practice of negotiation within academia, government, civil society, and the business
Articles
What are the Positive & Negative Effects of Negotiation Influencing?
Negotiation can be considered as a skill that assists individuals or teams to obtain an agreement based on their interests. Ultimately, however, what we do when we negotiate is to attempt to influence others to accept our way. Sometimes we succeed; sometimes we don't. Negotiation literature is full of training tactics and strategies that describe ways of achieving this goal. Two Kinds of Influences There are two kinds of influences: positive and negative. If we want to change
Articles
Limited Authority Negotiation Tactic
Negotiation tactics are perhaps one of the most significant tools we use in the negotiating process. However, tactics don't often leap out shouting, "Here I am, look at me." If they did, the other side would see right through them. They wouldn't be effective. More often than not, tactics are subtle, hard to identify, and used for many purposes. A good example is the limited authority, or authority limit, tactic. The essence of authority limit is that the negotiator lacks the authority
Articles
Power Negotiation Principles & Techniques
The manner in how you behave during a negotiation can have a dramatic impact on the outcome. I've been teaching negotiating to business leaders throughout North America since 1982 and I've narrowed this concept down to five fundamental power negotiation principles. These principles are always at play in your business negotiation process, and will help you smoothly achieve your goals. Get the Other Side to Commit First Power Negotiators realize that you're usually better
Articles
Price Negotiation Techniques
Why Should You Ask For More? One of the most important sales training techniques to remember about the concept of power negotiating is that you should always ask the other side for more than you expect to get. Rothschild pawn Henry Kissinger had this to say about getting more at the negotiation table: "Effectiveness at the conference table depends upon overstating one's demands." The Most Important Questions Here are several reasons to think about when you ask yourself why you
Articles
Aspirations, Anchoring, and Negotiation Result
When people prepare for negotiations, they spend considerable time thinking about the factual issues, the legal doctrines, the economic matters, and anything else they consider relevant. They frequently spend no more than ten to fifteen minutes pondering about their negotiation strategy. In fact, most negotiators begin an interaction with only three things in mind that directly relate to their encounter: where they plan to begin where they hope to end up their bottom lines
Articles
Sales Negotiation Process Tips
How many times have you heard: "You've got to lower your price by 5% or we will have no choice but to go with your competition." "You will have to give an exception to your policy if you want our business." "I know that you have good quality and service, but so do your competitors. What we need to concentrate on here is your pricing." "I agree that those special services you keep bringing up would be fine, but we simply don't have the funds to purchase them. Could you include them at no extra
Articles
Collaborative Selling Training
Collaborative Selling Training The world of business has altered and continues to change dramatically and rapidly on a regular basis. Markets have swelled and evolved in size from local to national to global markets. Technology no longer gives any single company a particular competitive advantage, while their clients have become much savvier. These and other changes have developed an environment in which salespeople must adopt new attitudes, learn new skills, and gain
Articles
Negotiation Bracketing: How To Use It and When To Avoid It
If you're a plaintiff's attorney, you have likely participated in a bracketing-based negotiation at some point in your career. Either side of a negotiation may use bracketing, one of the oldest and most simplistic negotiation ploys. Bracketing Technique in Negotiation The technique is quite straightforward. The side that wishes to start bracketing begins by establishing the amount of money they want to use as a target to settle the case. The bracketer then assumes a "counterpunch"
Articles
Sales Training: How to Negotiate Price
You may already have heard this story - it's popular on sales training courses in Los Angeles and other cities. Two sisters have a single orange. Like two well-raised sisters, they decide to divide the orange in half. One sister takes the orange, peels the fruit, takes the rind and cuts it up for use to flavor a pie crust. The other sister takes the fruit, eats it, and tosses the rind into the trash. These two sisters focused on the "what" and compromised without asking the most primary
Articles
Winning through others' Negotiating Social Styles
Successful negotiators have a positive vision of their success. They fully understand their subject matter and have a firm grasp of the negotiation process. In addition, they can also read people very well. Accomplished negotiators know not only their own personal negotiation style, but also their counterpart’s preferred negotiation style - sand they use this knowledge to build a stronger relationship that will help achieve their goals. Most people undervalue the impact
Articles
Don't Fall Victim to the Competitive Negotiation Style
Do nice negotiators have a tendency to finish last - or "lose" more often - in their negotiations? And if so, how can they protect themselves from this trend and be more effective? This is a common dilemma for many nice negotiators. When faced with an aggressive and competitive negotiator, should they try to compete back or use their naturally more cooperative style? Let me start by dispelling the myth that a cooperative style leads to losing more often in all their negotiations.
Articles
Buyer Advice for Real Estate Negotiations
Buy and Sell Real Estate A real estate investor came up to me one day and asked me, "How can you negotiate the best possible deals as a buyer in a sellers' market?" "It's not easy," I replied. "But using certain negotiation strategies will increase your ability to achieve the best possible deal." Of course, understanding the procurement negotiation framework is a very important precept in the negotiation process. A sellers' market means there are more buyers and demand than there
Negotiator Styles in Bargaining
I. INTRODUCTION Attorneys and business people negotiate perpetually. They negotiate within their own organizations, with prospective and current clients and customers, and with other parties. Most negotiators employ relatively "cooperative" or relatively "competitive" negotiation styles. Cooperative bargainers tend to behave more pleasantly, and they endeavor to generate mutually beneficial agreements. Competitive bargainers are often less pleasant, and
Articles
Three Reasons Why Negotiators Fail
While volumes have been written on negotiating tactics, techniques, and strategies, relatively little is written on the reasons negotiators fail to achieve their stated goals and objectives. This article examines three essential reasons why many negotiators do not achieve their objectives. The article also touches on the issue of why so many negotiators, who are capable in one area of negotiation, find themselves literally incapable of excelling in areas of negotiation
Articles
HR Leading through Persuasion & Influencing
You might wonder whether you are playing the role of Atlas with all those corporate responsibilities that have been thrust upon your weary shoulders, or maybe you feel more like a circus juggler wondering what task is going to be thrown at you next. It's no wonder, with all these initiatives Human Resources are spearheading in today's shape shifting corporate universe, that HR executives often feel overwhelmed. Despite all the added responsibilities, the Human Resource Director
Articles
Deceptive Negotiation Gambits and Counter Measures
Not everybody plays the game by the golden rules, and even though we know this self-evident but bold reality as the plain simple truth, it is human nature to be more trusting than not. The hard truth is often that we may not see the light of the other's deceit or manipulative gambits until we have lost value. You know the signs after the event: the hairs on the back of your neck prickle, or a tightening in your gut. Your body has flashed a warning sign that something is not right, and you
Articles
The Art and Science of Negotiation (Book Review)
The Art of Agreement The Art and Science of Negotiation takes a novel and bold approach to the negotiation problem from two perspectives. The title itself reveals this dual approach, viewing the totality of a negotiation as integrating the people puzzle and intuitive approach. Art is one side of the coin. The book also examines the negotiation process through a detailed empirical approach. It uses models, mathematics, and analysis to complete the other side of the coin, the
Articles
What Every Negotiator Must Know Before they Negotiate
'Ignorance is Bliss' and 'Look before you leap' are old proverbs that occasionally haunt all too many of us. We side step some of our more irksome problems, hoping that if we ignore them long enough they will simply go away. Either that, or else we tackle our daily problems without giving any thought about planning our approach and plunge right into them to get them out of the way. Quite often, the problems that we either ignored or blindly leapt into see us land in a muddled mess. Afterwards,
Articles
Negotiation Success: How To Evaluate & Measure
"How can we evaluate the negotiation ability of our managers, sales people and others who negotiate on behalf of our company?" I was lately asked by a client. "After all, we only seldom get the opportunity to really find out what they left on the table. Few of their counterparts will ever tell us what they were truly willing to do." "It's difficult," I replied. "Especially as just closing the deal may not be so great if they could have achieved better results by using more effective
Articles
Creative Strategies To Solve Negotiation Problems
'Ideas are the root of creation' Ernest Dimnet We evolved because we were able to stand up and see above the tall, swaying grass. We could now see the predators that were stalking us, and hear them snarl in rage as their afternoon lunch deftly disappeared into an impenetrable thicket. Human beings were given opposable thumbs so they could nimbly manipulate the physical world around them into tools to defend themselves. Mostly though, we survived because we could think, create,
Articles
Books: Learning to Negotiate With the Japanese
Rapid Rate of Change Books on doing business negotiations with the Japanese age quickly, because the country itself has always been changing quickly. Facts and statistics are only good for a year or so. So, some of the "best" books about Japanese business, which are still quoted repeatedly, are actually very much out of date. These include: Robert Ballon, Joint Ventures and Japan (1967). Adams and Kobayashi, The World of Japanese Business (1969). Yoshino, The Japanese marketing
Articles
Setting The Climate For A Non-Confrontational Negotiation
What you utter in the first few moments of a negotiation frequently sets the tone of the negotiation. The other person quickly gets a feel for whether you are working for a win-win solution, or whether you're a tough negotiator who's out for everything they can grab. That's one problem that I have with the manner that attorneys negotiate-they're very confrontational negotiators. You receive that white envelope in the mail with black, raised lettering in the top left hand corner
Articles
Negotiating Rationally (Book Review)
Negotiation Is a Rational Process Negotiating Rationally is about exactly what the title says it is. Written in three parts, each section takes the reader through a logical sequence. Together, the parts provide a sound basis in how to rationally approach a negotiation. Whether they're a first-time novice or an experienced negotiator who's attended some of the best negotiation courses, this book gives the reader a smart starting point in learning the essentials of negotiating.
Articles
The Global Negotiator – Making, Managing, and Mending Deals Around the World in the twenty-first Century (Book Review)
Create a Valuable Partnership The Global Negotiator is a knowledgeable and practical guide for any business that is either considering or already involved in forming international relationships and partnerships. In our shrinking world of globalization, it's essential for business executives to understand and appreciate the fundamentals of conducting business in the international marketplace. As the book's subtitle suggests, an international business arrangement
Articles
The Heart and Mind of the Negotiator (Book Review)
The Opposition of Emotions and Logical Thinking The author is a recognized and distinguished Professor of Management and Organizations at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. This highly recommended book is logically constructed and broken down in painstaking detail. The book's title hints at the opposing forces that a negotiator must recognize and overcome. It's a competition between our emotions and logical thinking tugging powerfully
Articles
Negotiate like a Gambler
Knowing When to Walk from a Business Negotiation Most executives delight in upcoming business negotiating sessions with about the same enthusiasm as they have about a root canal at their local dentist. The stakes are high. Negotiate too hard and the deal is lost. If you're too timid then you will leave money on the table, which in today's economy is nearly as bad as losing. Having been a strategic negotiator for a lot of years, I realize that successful negotiation is an art, rather
Articles
Credibility: 5 Ways To Make People Believe You
Negotiation Credibility The absolute cornerstone of your ability to persuade, rests largely upon the level of negotiation credibility that you achieve with your negotiating counterpart. When you talk, do they really believe what you’re telling them? Unless they do, there is simply no way that you can persuade them to do what you want them to do in a negotiation. People might listen to you, but they won't act until they believe you. Let me emphasize this again. People won't
Articles
Harvard Business Essentials - Negotiation (Summary & Book Review)
Concepts and Principles of Negotiations Negotiation is part of a series of books produced by the Harvard Business School. This book is well written and uses simple language to facilitate the needs of the novice negotiator. It's also a practical tool for any business manager. The book gives an excellent structural foundation in the essentials of negotiation skills development. Additionally, there are a number of well-crafted worksheets to help develop and apply the concepts
Articles
Power and Negotiation (Book Review)
International Relations and Negotiations This book is the seventh of a series developed and edited by the Program on the Processes of International negotiation (PIN), based at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (HASA) in Laxenburg, Austria. The foundation for this program is focused on international negotiations. Power & Negotiation contains a series of articles written by academics and professional consultants based throughout the world. The
Articles
Practical Ethics: Four Paths to Greater Virtue
Negotiation Ethics It is no surprise to me that, in this time of comprised ethics and values, there are an ever increasing number of books and articles that stress the importance of ethics and values in everyday life. Ethics, ethical behavior, and taking personal responsibility for choices carry even more importance in today’s business world. It is with this in mind that I would like to share with you a few reflections on ethics to assist us maintain that high standard of thought,
Articles
Time Pressure in Negotiation
Why Do Negotiators Use Time Pressure? In Puerto Prince, Haiti, former President Jimmy Carter, Colin Powell, and Senator Sam Nunn were in intense negotiations with Haiti's military commander, General Cedras. The telephone rang. It was President Clinton calling to advise them that he had already begun the invasion and they had 30 minutes to get out of there. People become pliable under time pressure. When do your children ask you for something? Just as you're hurrying out of
Articles
Negotiation (Book Review) – Is This the Best Negotiation Book?
A Valuable Information Resource Negotiation (2nd Edition) is a must-read for both the novice and the professional negotiator. This book is packed with the latest developments in the theory and practice of the negotiation process and conflict management. The authors have drawn upon a rich pool of resources from business schools, education, public policy, psychology, and many other sources. The result is an in-depth product that delves into the subject of negotiation. This
Articles
How to Succeed When Working With Tactical Negotiators
The top priority that people have in negotiating sessions I teach, is dealing with tactical, positional negotiators. Students will present comments like, "I dislike to negotiate because it forces me to deal with ‘those people’ who use underhanded negotiation tactics to try to trip you up or fool you. It is adversarial, and I am there trying to get an agreement or solve a problem. All they want to do is trick me so they can win." The problem in dealing with these situations is
Articles
The Best Types of Questions to Ask in Your Negotiations
Do you use and can you tell apart the various types of questions in your negotiations? How often can you tell when your chain is being pulled to get a "fight or flight" response out of you? Asking questions the right way is both an art and a science. Ask the question the wrong way, and the other negotiator might act like a turtle, becoming defensive and withdrawing into their shell. Ask the question the right way, and the other negotiator might "spill the beans." Let's look at
Articles
Negotiating Foreign Currency Exchange Agreements (Part 2)
The other foreign currency challenge that can cause us to scratch our heads while our faces screw up in a perplexed frown is how to manage situations when the foreign currency is not easily convertible. The reason could be a result of the unsteady political climate of the country, or the foreign trading partner has taut policies that deliberately limit the ability of its citizens to use the foreign exchange market. The value of currencies could also be deliberately regulated
Articles
