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 Difference, Chris highlights how to…
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…
Chinese Etiquette and Negotiation
Respect and etiquette are a great determinant of success within negotiations. No one wants to negotiate with us if we are ignorant, removed, or distant from our surroundings. As soon as we leave the familiarity of North America, new cultures, traditions, languages, and norms emerge. Throughout my travels in the world of procurement, I’ve at times found myself surrounded by new cultures, business etiquette, and ways of doing things. Being aware of this is incredibly…
Who Makes The First Offer?
Should you make the first offer or should you let the other party make the first offer? There are two schools of thought here. The first says that you should always let the other party make the first offer. The second says that you should make the first offer. Both think they’re right, so which is actually right. Well, I’m not short on opinions, so allow me to weigh in on both. Always Let the…
Body Language Series – The Handshake
In 1971, a book called Silent Messages was published. In this book the author, Albert Mehrabian, concluded that people based a salesperson’s credibility on factors other than the words the salesperson said. The argument that was made was that 55% of a salesperson’s body language and 38% of the tone of the salesperson’s voice determined whether the salesperson was credible. Only 7% was assigned to actual words that were said. Think about that. The argument…