Negotiation Nibbling
It goes by many names, but being nibbled on as a sales person sucks. Being so close to the end of a deal and then having to give something additional up, just before signature, is brutal. So how do you recognize it and how do you avoid being nibbled on? You've worked your ass off to get this deal and close it. And it's a big one too. The deal... Read more
The Logic Argument Is BS!
"Mark, you teach the preparation of development of strategy and efficient process in negotiations, but then in the same class you talk about tactical negotiation warfare and learning how to grind in a negotiation. The two seem counter to each other and I'm not sure I buy in to the need to learn to grind. My expectation is that as I approach the negotiation logically, so will others and therefore... Read more
5 Negotiations Quotes That You Can Apply to Your Next Negotiation
When I started this blog, I swore I would never do a list style post. And yet, here we are. But if you'll forgive me, I think this type of post requires a list. We're fortunate to live at the time that we do. There have been so many great business people, philosophers, and educators that have gone through hell in tough negotiations and they've crystallized their negotiation and communication... Read more
Are Women Good Negotiators?
Forgive me for the inflammatory title, but I wanted to get your attention. The truth is, they're every bit as good as men, but many of them don't believe that they are. You see, women have unfortunately been subject to system of oppression for a long, long time. And while we, collectively as western society, have come a long way in leveling the playing field, the effects of years of... Read more
The Power of Persistence In Negotiation
People often ask me, "Which personality type is the best for negotiation." For a long time that question stumped me. It stumped me because there are so many personality types that I've seen be successful at negotiation that I don't think it takes a certain personality type to be great. In thinking about the question more, I think I'd re-frame the question to, "What traits do the most successful negotiators... Read more
Failure Is the Best Teacher
So much is said, these days, about failure. Some people say, "I don't believe in failure. I either succeed or I learn." or I've heard, "Failure is a frame of mind.". I've even heard people say, "There is no such thing as failure you've only found out how not to do something." I call bullshit on those statements. Failure or losing at something is the best teacher. And I think... Read more
WIN Summit
I consider the The Women’s Insights on the Art of Negotiation Summit (WIN Summit) to be one of the most important conferences around today. I believe that empowering women to become better negotiators is noble and critical work. For too long women have borne the impact of a system that does not encourage or enable them to move forward. I am proud to be a very small part of a... Read more
Diminishing And Negative Returns
Turns out you can push a salesperson too far in a negotiation. You can negotiate to a point where the business becomes unsustainable and there are even cases where companies have gone bankrupt because of a negotiation going too far. And, the unfortunate truth is that many sales people don’t know how or when to say “no”. This is a HUGE issue! It's so big that a big portion of... Read more
My Daily Negotiation Discipline
I'm very fortunate to live and breathe negotiation and I'm likely a bit odd because I believe that good negotiation skills truly have the ability to change people's lives. Over the years I've developed a few practices that I do daily that have helped me develop my negotiation skill set. Some of them may seem obvious, but you may find some a little less so. What follows are the 3... Read more
Unethical Negotiation – The Plant
Deliberately planting false information in a negotiation to mislead the other party is unethical. The plant could happen a number of ways too, and it's important to be on the lookout for it. This can happen a number of ways and I'm going to discuss the most common two that you need to be on the lookout for and how to make sure you don't get caught by them: 1.... Read more