Listening to our counterparts is imperative to negotiation, but it is meaningless if the right questions aren’t being asked. People often disguise commands as questions or use a tone that evokes accusations instead of empathy. Most people think they ask great questions, but questions that already supply an answer, or are engineered to get the answer we want, are low-value questions. Dan Oblinger, a recurring guest on Negotiations Ninja, calls these “garbage questions” and says…
This Is Your Brain On Negotiation
We often think of marketing as advertising – picturing Don Draper in his Madison Avenue office overlooking New York City, thinking up the cleverest way to talk about cigarettes. When thinking about the human brain, however, there are so many different ways to “market” your product or service through psychology. These marketing ideas can also be applied to negotiations and how you present your offer. On a recent episode of Negotiations Ninja podcast, I talked…
Business Etiquette in Hong Kong
When dealing with differences in culture during international negotiations, etiquette is an important strategy/tactic to consider. Etiquette coach, Bernice Lee, joined me on the podcast a few months ago to discuss etiquette, largely dealing with the culture in China and Hong Kong. She had so much valuable knowledge to share that I invited her back for a second round. In the latest episode with Bernice, we talked in more detail about body language, and how…
Creating Alignment with Challenging Internal Customers
Emotional intelligence, or EQ, is a highly important part of negotiation and success. In procurement, professionals tend to excel at strategy and following process and downplay the magnitude of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence has been linked to career success more than intelligence alone, proving EQ a critical tool to have. Luckily, unlike IQ, EQ proficiency can be developed through exercise. On a recent episode of Negotiations Ninja I spoke with Antonio Humphreys, Adobe’s marketing procurement…
From Singing To Sourcing
When examined, two different careers can have similarities. Procurement, in particular, is a linear move, rather than a parallel, to careers that seem opposite at first glance. Life experience renders skill sets that are transferable, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time. On a recent episode of Negotiations Ninja, I spoke with Jason Cammorata, the strategic sourcing and procurement lead at MDC Partners. We spoke about his evolution from professional musician to…