Negotiating with the Dark Side: Business Bullies
We've all encountered bullies in our lives. Whether it was on the playground as kids, or later in life at work, they come in all shapes and sizes. Some will confront you head-on and give you the proverbial punch to the face. While others are passive-aggressive, finding a more indirect way to knock you down. Bullies are a pain in the ass, but we must learn to deal with them.... Read more
Empathy In Negotiation
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... Read more
Never Split The Difference
Chris Voss has been a recurring guest on Negotiations Ninja. As the former Chief Hostage Negotiator of the FBI, Chris has highly specialized insights into human behavior. Neuroscience plays a role in all decision making, including at the negotiating table. A lot of how-to books present theories that are opposite to what Chris has learned throughout his extensive career. But do they hold up? Through his book, Never Split the... Read more
Getting The Meeting
The business world is saturated with people trying to get each other’s attention. What if there were a way to secure your meeting without cold calls, cold emails, or random social media interactions? Cue contact marketing. In its simplest form, contact marketing is the act of giving a stranger a gift with the intention of getting a meeting. It is an elevated approach that artfully gets the attention of your... Read more
Social Engineering In Negotiation
Social engineering is defined as the use of centralized planning in an attempt to manage social change and regulate the future development and behaviour of a society. What if the idea of social engineering was used on a micro-scale to steer or influence the behaviour of one person? In a recent episode of Negotiations Ninja podcast, I spoke with Chris Hadnagy, CEO, founder, and chief human hacker of Social-Engineer and... Read more
Franchise Sales and Negotiations
Franchising is a unique business model. As the franchisor, you are relying on strangers with money to carry out your vision. As a franchisee, you are doing all of the work to get a startup to success based on someone else’s vision and goals. Negotiations and difficult conversations between franchisor and franchisee are inevitable and different from traditional business negotiations. I had the former vice president of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, Evan Hopkins,... Read more
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... Read more
Negotiating ERP Implementations
Creating a procurement process is only one part of Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP. ERP and procurement are often implemented at the same time, and corporate rules interfere with both, as corporate policies can be stifling and restrictive. Clearance from accounting may be required to procure an item over X dollars. Approval from lawyers may be necessary if unionized staff or laws are in question. SAP software (Systems Applications Products)... Read more
Negotiating in Europe
When entering a negotiation in Europe, it is important to defer to the local process. Robert Semethy, chief procurement officer at Erste Bank in Vienna, joined me on a recent episode of Negotiations Ninja. He has been working in Europe for years and has gained a lot of insight into the differences between business in the U.S. and Europe, particularly in negotiation. There is an international style of negotiation that seems to be... Read more
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... Read more