What is the secret sauce in every negotiation? How do you go from prospect to business partner? Cody Lowry—the President of Intermark Automotive—has learned the secret in his 25+ years in the marketing industry. It’s all about the schmooze. Schmoozing isn’t meant to be manipulative or coercive. It doesn’t mean you’re a smooth-talker. What does it mean? Schmooze—or you lose How do you find success in the negotiation and sales process? Cody points out that…
What does the Cost of Inaction Really Cost?
Most people don’t truly understand what the cost of inaction is costing their organization. Conversely, it’s quite easy to see what an action is costing them. So how do you bridge the gap? How do you get someone to embrace necessary change when the cost seems so high? Professor and noted author Jonah Berger shares his thoughts that are outlined in his most recent book: The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone’s Mind. Overcome endowment: Bring…
The 4 Most Common Types of Bias
What are the most common types of Bias? How do they influence a negotiation negatively? In episode 151 of the Negotiations Ninja podcast, Dan Lappin talked about the dangers of the biases that we bring into the sales process. Your inherent bias influences every question you ask and decision you make. The best way to overcome bias is to cultivate an awareness of the baggage you’re bringing to the negotiating table—on the sales OR the…
How to Make ANY Negotiated Agreement Better
Businessmen and women often forget that a negotiated agreement can still be changed. You have the option and opportunity to optimize an agreement throughout the business relationship. Why would it benefit you to renegotiate what you thought was a good agreement? Josh Weiss talks about it extensively in an episode of the Negotiations Ninja podcast. We share a few of his key thoughts in this post. You can be creative to maximize value Howard Raiffa—who…
Sean Callagy’s Strategy: Find the Pain Point to Get a Yes
Sean Callagy has developed a four-part communication strategy to go from “hello” to “yes” in a negotiation. One of the steps involves finding your counterpart’s pain point and understanding it at a deeper level. Why is finding someone’s pain point so important? People make decisions because they’re in pain and they want to get out of it. They want to avoid it—period. Sean points out that “People don’t get into better shape until they’re in…