Negotiation Space

Almost every negotiator has to present his or her offer. It could be argued that the better your presentation is, the better the outcome of the negotiation will be for you. How do you go about improving your presentation?

Use rhetorical flourish

According to a 2008 article in Business Week magazine, there are four ways you can improve your presentation, and they have to do with rhetoric. It is more about how you present the information than what the information is. Author Carmine Gallo recommends that you use these four rhetorical flourishes:

• Analogies
• Similes
• Metaphors
• Triads (delivering three concepts)

Use online software to jazz up your presentation

Some people use PowerPoint, others rely on paper handouts or even writing on a whiteboard. You may also consider online presentation software, which has lots of bells and whistles to give your presentation pizzazz.

Entrepreneur Maureen Carroll tells Inc. Magazine that her favorite online tool for presentations is Prezi. With Prezi, you can include text, graphics, videos and other items in your presentation, and zoom from thing to thing.

Mashable provides a list of thirteen online presentation applications that you can use as well.

Share your presentation online

There are several places online where you can share your presentation, in many cases for free. Wish some, you may be able to link them to your LinkedIn Profile or put on Facebook. Here are three websites to check out:

Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/

Sliderocket: http://www.sliderocket.com/

Slidebloom: http://www.slideboom.com/

What tips do you offer to improve presentation? Share in the comments.

We spend a lot of time here at Negotiation Space talking about what you should say during a business negotiation and when you should say it. Perhaps we should also discuss what you should not say.

Don’t let emotions get the best of you!

Your first rule is to avoid saying anything when your emotions are getting the best of you. With any strong emotion—anger, sadness, even happiness—people tend to become less rational. Some people even lose touch with reality or the situation at hand. During a business negotiation, take a time out if you get emotional so that you can avoid saying anything “in the heat of the moment.”

Don’t make strong assertions if you aren’t sure

Dr. Chester L. Karrass also advises that you avoid making strong assertions, unless you are 110% sure of you are stating. If you have any doubt, he suggests saying “I reckon” instead.

5 Statements to Avoid

Inc. Magazine has suggestions for “5 Things You Should Never Say While Negotiating.” Author Mike Hofman writes that you should never say the following:

• The word “between” (or throw out a range)
• “I think we’re close.”
• “Why don’t you throw out a number.”
• “I’m the final decision-maker.”
• Obscenities.

What have you learned is best never to say while negotiating? Share with us in the comments.

Negotiations: How to Handle Objections

“Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.” Samuel Jackson

There will always be objections—to your price, to your delivery, to your product or service, or maybe even to you. How you handle these objections will determine the success of your business negotiation.

The first step in handling objections is to try to understand the viewpoint. You don’t have to agree with the objection, but you must understand how the other party is thinking. Convey your understanding to the other party by re-phrasing the objection as a question. You can say something like “You think our delivery time is too slow?”

Handling objections also involves pre-negotiation preparation. For instance, if you are a seller, make a list of your product or service’s attributes, benefits and disadvantages. Do the same for your competitor’s product or service. Then, write down every conceivable objection to your product or service. Brainstorm with a group if possible. Come up with a list to counter these objections.

You will notice some objections are hard to handle and others are easy to handle. Easy-to-handle objections can always be refuted with available evidence (competitive pricing for example).

Other objections are harder to deal with. Dr. Chester L. Karrass suggests dealing with these by turning the objection into a yes-or-no question, and trying to elicit a “yes” answer. For instance, you can say something like “I see you are concerned with the price of this product. If you check our competition, you will notice that they don’t use the same material in producing the product, and you want this material if you want the product to have a 25-year life span, right?”

Dr. Karrass counsels that you should NEVER agree with the other party’s objection. In the example above, you would never agree point-black that the price is too high, instead you would only note that the other party thinks the price is too high.

What do you do to handle objections? What process do you follow?

This week, China’s president Hu Jintao has been meeting with President Obama in Washington. The Chinese-US relationship has become increasingly important for both economies, yet there was opposition to the visit. Some oppose China’s stance on human rights and others are concerned about China’s monetary policy, which artificially inflates the value of the yuan. The political and economic opposition puts pressure on both sides, making it harder to negotiate.

In Huffington Post, Blythe McGarvie argues in the article “President Hu and Negotiations” that to better understand the Chinese position, it is important to know the “Beijing Consensus.” She writes:

“Joshua Cooper Ramo coined the term “Beijing Consensus” in 2004 in his 60-page Foreign Policy Centre article as he described China’s approach to new development. He states, “it is defined by a ruthless willingness to innovate and experiment, by a lively defense of national borders and interests, and by the increasingly thoughtful accumulation of tools of asymmetric power projection.” The Consensus addresses both the global balance of power and domestic issues such as quality of life and social and economic change.”

The Beijing Consensus has three main theorems:

1. “Chinese leaders who want to keep options open and preserve flexibility …. The only true path to success is one that is dynamic and responsive; no single plan works for every situation.”

2. “…Chinese behavior “demands a development model where [sic] sustainability and equality become first considerations, not luxuries.”

3. “China’s leaders want a peaceful rise by using economic leverage to keep the U.S. in check and assure China’s own financial sovereignty.”

Cultural differences also matter, as we have discussed previously on Negotiation Space. Matthew Edwards provides some more points to consider in the blog post “Negotiation skills when doing business in China,” published in Flying Solo. Two important points are that the Chinese don’t like to say no, which leads to different outcomes that what seemed to be agreed upon.

Today marks the 50^th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s inauguration as president of the United Sates. In honor of the occasion, the JFK library in Boston has made available, in digital format, many letters, writings and movies from its archives.

When Kennedy took office on January 20, 1961, the world was in the midst of the Cold War. Two superpowers—the United States and the Soviet Union–were dealing with each other based on what politicians deem “mutually assured destruction.” Fears of nuclear war were very real and dictated the course of foreign policy for both countries.  Yet, in his inaugural address to the country, Kennedy talked about negotiation. This is what he said:

“So let us begin anew—remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms—and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.”

Kennedy summarized the win-win theory of negotiation masterfully. He advocated looking for common ground. He also thought that negotiations should be civil while still demanding assurances and proof from the other party.

On March 21, 1961, Kennedy wrote the following in a National Security Action Memorandum on the US-USSR Commercial Air Transportation Agreement:

“Prior to the initiation of the US-USSR negotiations on the draft agreement, I would like to have prepared for my approval a statement of objectives to be sought and the general principles to be followed in the negotiations. Such a statement would serve as a guide to the negotiators in responding to the Soviet counter proposals, as well as ensure that the negotiations are closely linked to our over-all relations with the USSR.”

Here Kennedy makes certain that negotiations have clear and stated objectives to serve a guide to the negotiators, and to make it easier to answer any counter moves.

You can access these and other documents at the John F. Kennedy library online: http://www.jfklibrary.org/

A year ago on Negotiation Space, we discussed how civility can save your negotiation. It is worth revisiting this now as the country marks Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday on Monday, January 17 and also deals with the aftermath of the horrible tragedy in Tucson, Arizona.

It is hard to escape the calls for increased civility in political discourse. Although in the case of the Tucson shooting it is not clear that political rhetoric led the shooter to execute his rampage, it is easy to see how angry, heated exchanges can lead to violence. In terms of the civil rights movement, Dr. King advocated for civil disobedience—using quiet resistance instead of violence.

The issue for business negotiations is that attacking and creating an “us-versus-them” dynamic does not lead to agreement. Any negotiation starts with the premise that the parties are seeking to reach agreement. Insulting the other party is not going to result in compromise and finding common ground.

Dr. Chester Karrass writes:

“There are people who try to get what they want by becoming emotional, by embarrassing the other person or becoming a nuisance. Most of us become defensive when we encounter such behavior. We are not prepared for people in business to display emotions or act in an embarrassing way.”

Dr. Karrass goes on to say that people who act this way in a negotiation are using an intimidation tactic designed to make you less assertive in supporting your position.

To deal with incivility, you first must recognize that if the other party is being rude or otherwise unpleasant, it may be a negotiation tactic to put you on the defensive. Take the higher ground, but also stand your ground.

How do you deal with incivility in a business negotiation?

Last week, for the first time ever, the Constitution of the United States was read out loud in the House of Representatives. The Constitution lists many political and civic rights available to U.S. citizens such as the rights to freedom of speech and of peaceful assembly.  However, the Constitution does not cover rights for negotiators. That is why Dr. Chester L. Karrass developed the Negotiator’s Bill of Rights, which consists of seven “amendments.”

In drawing up a “Bill of Rights,” Dr. Karrass seeks “to help negotiators feel more comfortable in situations that normally threaten their self-esteem and cause them to retreat rather than advance their viewpoint.”

As a negotiator, you have seven inalienable rights. These are:

1. You have a right not to understand
2. You have a right to be wrong
3. You have a right to be indecisive
4. You have a right to be repetitive
5. You have a right not to answer questions, and you have a right not to know the answer
6. You have a right to your own viewpoint, and to be somewhat irrational or emotional
7. You have a right not to be liked

Negotiating is hard work, and the “Bill of Rights” allows you to recognize that you are not perfect and that you will make mistakes, that not every one will like you or what you say, and that all of it is just fine. If you are too sensitive to every mistake that you make, you will quickly become defensive and that will put you in a weak position. It’s best to keep these imperfections in perspective and focus on the job at hand.

Will you adopt the Negotiator’s Bill of Rights?

For both buyers and sellers, understanding pricing is crucial. Buyers want to know as much as possible about the price whereas sellers usually want to keep the details to themselves. How does a negotiator get around the secretive nature of pricing?

For buyers:

Are you a buyer trying to understand the seller’s pricing structure? It is important to get your exact cost breakdowns—in many cases so you can compare pricing with other vendors. Often, sellers will resist giving you this information, unless you can convince them that cost breakdowns will help their long-range interests.

There are several ways to convince the seller to provide you with the price breakdown:

1. Make the case that—due to policy and legal regulations–you cannot deal with sellers who don’t provide breakdowns.
2. Delay giving your order until you get the price breakdown.
3. Tie this purchase to future sales.
4. Leverage the competition: tell the seller they are providing the breakdowns.
5. If all else fails, protest to a higher authority.

For sellers:

Pricing is something most sellers try to keep close to the vest. Revealing too much could be troublesome and create a loss of negotiating power. If you are a seller trying to avoid providing a price breakdown, following are few tactics you could use:

1. Your company policy prohibits it
2. Detailed information is not available
3. Providing breakdowns is a large expense, due to the detailed nature of the work
4. Cost breakdowns involve proprietary information
5. If all else fails, keep saying no.

How do you deal with pricing issues? Please share your tactics (both as a seller and as a buyer) in the comments.

As we say good-bye to 2010, and get ready for 2011, what better time to come up with some New Year’s resolutions to improve your negotiations in the coming year.

Before we look forward to the New Year, it is a good idea to look back and review the year that was. A few questions to get you started:

• How many negotiations were you involved in?
• How did you or your team fare?
• What were the most contentious issues and how did you resolve them?
• Did you deadlock on anything?
• What did you find was the most useful negotiating strategy or tactic?
• If you did not reach a deal that you wanted, what was the main reason?

From your answers above, have you identified areas for improvement? Have you identified areas where you did well? What conclusions can you draw? Are there any trends?

First negotiation resolution for 2011: Continue doing what works.

Second negotiation resolution: Identify and improve your weak areas. Perhaps you should work on your strategizing or your market research.

Third negotiation resolution: Practice an assessment after every negotiation to discover what works and what doesn’t work. Keep a record of your assessments to identify patterns and changes over time.

Fourth negotiation resolution: Keep informed on general business issues and not just issues related to your industry. There may be issues looming that will affect all businesses and the economy in general.

Fifth negotiation resolution: Keep abreast of technological changes. Entrepreneur magazine has a good list.

Sixth negotiation (and business and even personal) resolution: Get and stay organized! For a starting point, read this article about business de-cluttering from USA Today.

Karrass and Negotiating Space wish you a very happy and successful New Year 2011!

One key fact that every negotiator must know is that power in a negotiation can be manipulated. Because power is dynamic and not stagnant, negotiators can find ways to increase their power during a negotiation.

To get started on figuring out your sources of negotiating power, Dr. Chester L. Karrass offers six power-building questions to ask yourself. These questions are designed to find a new course of action in order to increase your power.

1. Can I enhance my base of power by taking an action I am not presently taking?
2. Can I enhance my base of power by permitting or forcing the other party to take an action he or she is not presently taking?
3. Can I enhance my base of power by causing the other party and myself to take an action together we are not presently taking?
4. Can I enhance my base of power by not taking an action I am presently taking?
5. Can I enhance by base of power by not preventing the other party from taking an action he or she is presently taking?
6. Can I enhance by base of power by preventing the other party and myself from taking an action we are presently taking?

(The above questions are taken from Dr. Karrass’ book The Negotiating Game.)

Clearly, it is important to continually self-assess. As you can see, power derives from action and from inaction. You must figure out which actions you need to take and which you should refrain from taking. The key is that at every step of negotiation, you can take a read of the situation and reset your course of action.

What do you do to increase your power during a negotiation?