In this throwback episode of Negotiations Ninja, we revisit episode #90 with Matthias Schranner—former hostage negotiator and founder of the Schranner Negotiation Institute. We talk all about the mistakes that are commonly made in negotiations, including avoiding deadlocks. How can a deadlock actually change the outcome of a negotiation? Listen to this throwback to learn more!
Deadlock in Negotiation Should Be Your Starting Point, Ep #90
What is forensic interviewing? How can it be applied to the enterprise sales and procurement process? In this episode of Negotiations Ninja, Michael Reddington—an interrogation, sales, and negotiation expert—will talk all about interrogations, listening, questioning and how they intersect with sales, negotiation, and procurement. Don’t miss it!
“Certified Forensic Interviewer” is simply a designation, like an accountant achieving a CPA. It proves the highest level of expertise and mastery in the field of interrogation.
There are times when Michael uses the term, and it spikes interest. Other times, he jokes that you’d think he just splashed them in the face with a bucket of ice water. When it comes to conversations about his career and how it applies to business, he uses analogies to help cross the bridge, so people understand the connection.
He believes the bottom line is that people perceive how you communicate with them as proof of whether or not you respect them. In any conversation, you don’t want to start by picking a fight—especially if you need to get information from someone.
If you need information and someone else has it, they’re in control of the conversation. They control when to share, how much to share, and why to share. You have to keep that in mind as you choose your approach.
In the investigative sense, the end goal of an interview is to get the truth, whatever it may be. It isn’t to get a confession or an admission. To get to the truth, you must inspire a sense of commitment in someone to share that truth. If you use techniques where someone says, “Okay, whatever, I’ll just tell you,” you may not get the whole truth. They may change their story as soon as they walk out of the room.
Your goal is to communicate with them in a way where they can save face and commit to sharing the truth. Whether you’re engaged in negotiations, sales, leading, coaching, or mentoring, you don’t want compliance. Compliance is temporary, is accompanied by resentment, and it’s only a short-term tactical win that could cause long-term strategic problems down the road. It’s about creating commitment over compliance.
The interview process begins before the conversation starts and continues after it’s completed.
Michael starts the process with preparation. In the same way he’d prepare for an interview or interrogation, he uses the same techniques to prepare for business conversations. He focuses on the key phrases he’s always lived by, such as “illustrate before you investigate” and “questions can be perceived as invitations or attacks.”
You have to take a strategic long view and use the same persuasive elements. You use situationally aware observation, ask great questions, move people from resistance to commitment, and even follow up after. The only way to prove you listen and care is to follow up after the interaction has concluded. The approaches line up quite well between interrogations and enterprise sales.
In Michael’s opinion, trust is heavily reliant on rapport. The more you can build authentic rapport, the more you can increase someone’s trust level. But if you get a recommendation to work with someone from someone you trust, you may trust that person right off the bat. If you do your research and believe someone is the best of the best, you might come in with some initial trust built as well. One can exist without the other.
However, Michael believes that the harder you try and build rapport, the more it negatively impacts trust. If someone feels like you’re “trying” too hard to be their friend, it sets off bells and whistles. They question why you’re trying so hard.
For example, Michael had a Zoom call with someone and saw a plethora of sports paraphernalia on their wall. It would be a temptation for a lot of people to see that and immediately say, “Hey, I see you’re a fan of…” As soon as you do that, people know you’re trying to build rapport. Michael emphasizes to “Slow your roll.”
This particular person was from Kansas City, which just so happens to house one of Michael’s favorite BBQ places: Arthur Bryant’s. This person asked a question that allowed Michael to illustrate a conversation he had at Arthur Bryant with someone he was training. It created something they had in common that unfolded naturally, versus dumping everything he knew about Kansas City at the beginning of the conversation. It’s far more strategic.
Many sales and procurement people don’t know how to weave stories into their conversations. You have to be interesting and compelling, so people want to interact with you. So how do you tell better stories? What kinds of questions do you ask? How do you ask them? Learn more in this fascinating episode with Michael Reddington.
Jeanette Nyden and Lawrence Kane are the authors of “The Contract Professional’s Playbook,” geared toward helping procurement professionals perfect their craft. In this throwback episode, they share a performance & outcome-based approach to fit a collaborative negotiation model. They also talk about managing frustration, the changes happening in the procurement world, and the vital importance of performance-based outcomes in the contract. Check it out!
Developing A Contract Playbook, with Jeanette Nyden and Lawrence Kane, Ep #111
David Perry is a sales and business development expert. He’s an industry veteran who understands the game of sales at the top level. David advises world-class brands on how to adapt and get value out of marketing and advertising technology during digital transformations. He’s worked with 100+ companies in various industries, including technology, healthcare, and financial services. He’s also the author of the book “The Game of Sales.”
Why “The Game of Sales?” It comes down to his audience. David has read everything from brittle and dry to interesting and entertaining business books. He wanted to make sure his book was fun, thus the title “The Game of Sales.” David thinks it can be easier to think of it as a game to be able to take a step back and see how things work together. Learn more about his book and the concepts he covers in it in this episode of Negotiations Ninja!
How does a salesperson approach an enterprise sale? David has talked with some of the top salespeople in the world that have been successful year after year. This “dare to care” concept is central to their success. It might sound cheesy, but caring about your customer is essential. Once you commit to caring, it can take a lot out of you and be challenging. It’s not a methodology; it’s a quality that top salespeople have. If you don’t care deeply about your customer, you won’t be able to put in the time necessary to go through the twists and turns of the customer relationship.
David quotes Teddy Roosevelt in the book when he says, “Nobody cares how much you know unless they know how much you care.” Enterprise salespeople may be working with an executive that has 10,000 people reporting to them. What can you offer that person if you don’t care about their business? Even if you’re capable and smart, they can sense if you don’t care. You’ll get dropped in a second.
It’s an area where a lot of procurement people have misconceptions about how salespeople think. Successful enterprise salespeople genuinely care. Many books only focus on tactics and strategy—very few focus on a caring mindset.
How should salespeople prepare for the certainty of horrible meetings? What should the fundamentals of a meeting look like? Listen to hear David’s thoughts.
In putting this book together, David wanted to share everything he learned from Adobe, Amazon, Google, and IBM and give them to the reader. They can understand the things that will take them off their game. What will fluster them and throw them off? David’s goal was to prepare his readers for the unexpected—so it wasn’t unexpected.
Facing “the dark side” is about the inner game that each salesperson faces. It comes down to improper responses to an external situation that you’re going through. The uncertainty and inability to deal with it can send you into a dark place. David has seen successful salespeople bounce into this space and bounce right back out. He’s seen other people existing in this “dark side” because they get sucked into it.
It could be an improper reaction to an acquisition, a territory change, a change to a comp plan, a change in a manager, or other organizational changes. These are things you can expect will happen. You have to learn to focus on gratitude to snap back. No matter what company you work for, you’ll find yourself in challenging situations and tough times.
David often sees people struggle with having a rough territory, reorganization, or that their quota is misaligned with the territory. A lot of people get stuck in a self-defeating mindset where they feel like things are done “to” them, it’s “someone else’s fault,” or “I have no control over the situation.”
Many people approach sales as if they are going to be working as a “lone wolf” the entire time. But David prefers to assemble a dream team. What does that mean? You can’t go it alone.
You may not get to choose the team that you work with. But David points out that you can turn any team into a dream team by taking the best aspects individual offers and making them feel valued for their perspective. It doesn’t help to be overly critical with a team member. Instead, focus on how you can help and how you can plug the hole with another team member.
Learn more about David’s methodologies in this episode of Negotiations Ninja!
Do you have experience with negotiating across cultures? Negotiating with different cultures means you’ll run into different beliefs, mindsets, and concepts. Words and phrases can be unique to one culture and interpreter entirely differently in another. Mihai Isman is an expert international negotiator who specializes in overcoming cultural barriers to find a successful resolution for all parties. In this Throwback Thursday episode of Negotiations Ninja, we revisit episode #123 with Mihai. Being able to negotiate with someone completely different than you is more important than ever. Don’t miss it.
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