Art of Negotiation
Chapter 09. Time factor in decisions
The key is in not spending time,
but in investing it. ― Stephen R. Covey
Timing and timing are key to having an effective negotiation.
You can get a great deal if you know how to seize the moment.
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Secret revealed
For example, you may be planning to buy a new car.
In practice, salespeople often have to meet certain sales quotas each month.
If you go to car dealerships in the first three weeks of the month,
surely, these employees are still not
under too much sales pressure.
So most likely during the negotiation process,
they will offer the highest and most rigid price.
The best time to buy a car is the last two
or three days of the month.
You can go to the dealer earlier to test drive
and choose the car you want to buy.
But wait until the last two or three days
before entering the new month to begin negotiating the final price,
as well as terms and conditions.
You will always get a better deal,
even a “bargain”.
A few years ago,
I held a sales conference for more than 1,000 people.
I mentioned the car buying opportunity factor
as a random comment to the audience.
Unexpectedly,
there were about 100 car salesmen of different companies sitting
in the auditorium.
They were very angry at my “reveal” of what was supposed
to be their “career secret”.
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Beware of the sense of urgency!
Perhaps the most important factor
when calculating the opportunity to renegotiate has to do with feeling.
The more you crave negotiation,
the more your advantage wanes.
Good employees and negotiators often use every means possible
to create a sense of urgency that undermines a client’s ability
to negotiate effectively.
“If we can’t make a deal today,
I’m afraid you won’t get this low
as all prices will change tomorrow morning,”
is a good tip from salespeople. row.
Or “we have a special promotion for this product,
but it ends at 5pm this afternoon.
After that, the price will go back to the way it was.”
To counter this,
when asked to make an immediate decision,
or else you will lose a special term or condition,
simply respond with:
“If you have to make an immediate decision,
I think I will refuse.
But given the chance to consider your offer,
I would most likely agree.”
In the early part of American history,
fire brigades were privately owned,
and they were primarily the wealthy local stores.
When a house is on fire,
the homeowner will ask someone to run to the fire station
to offer help as quickly as possible.
When the fire truck arrives,
the owner of the fire truck will negotiate
with the landlord the cost of extinguishing the fire.
As you can imagine,
the landlord was not in a position
to negotiate in his favor.
Because of such inequity,
all fire stations were later owned
and managed by the city.
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Don’t rush to make a decision
Another ploy in negotiation is “push”.
This move is usually used
when the other party tries to push you to make a decision
before having a chance to think it over.
Whenever you are prompted to make a decision,
you can respond with,
“I need more time to think about this decision.
I’ll tell you the answer later.”
In fact, excellent negotiators often procrastinate.
Procrastination is also a form of polite refusal.
The more you delay making a decision
while the other side wants
to quickly get to the end,
the more advantages you have.
Delaying an agreement is a great technique
you can use to defend yourself.
Postpone serious decisions
for at least 24 hours for more thought and consideration.
The more time you have to think,
the more likely you are to make the right decision.
As a result,
the final agreement will be more effective.
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Set and avoid deadlines
Another useful piece of advice regarding timing
and timing is deadlines.
Whenever possible,
give the other party time to make a decision.
Tell the other party that if you do not receive a decision
by a specific time or date the terms
and conditions will change others maybe,
everything will come to an end.
Price, you will sell the product or service to
Herb Cohen, a negotiation guru and negotiation trainer,
tells of a valuable lesson he learned
when he was first promoted to manager.
At that time, he was sent to Japan to negotiate a large production contract.
This potential deal is important to the company
as well as to himself as a young manager.
When he arrived in Japan,
his host partners picked him up in a limousine to the hotel
and said they would take care of everything
during the visit
because he was their guest of honor.
They asked him for information about his plane ticket to know
when he would be leaving and arranged to take him
to the airport at that time.
So they knew he had six days in Japan.
During the first five days,
they generously poured wine
and invited him to dinner.
They took him to the factory
and took him on a tour around.
But they said nothing about the deal.
Because his partner was so polite,
he responded as politely as possible.
By the sixth day,
they still hadn’t made any move on serious negotiations.
In the end,
important details were negotiated in the car
as he was on his way back to the airport.
He had to reluctantly agree to a deal far worse
than the one he could have made if he had realized
that they were using their time to put him in a difficult position.
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The 80/20 Rule in Negotiation
When negotiating and calculating opportunities,
the 80/20 rule also has a special meaning.
According to this rule,
the last 20% of the content of any negotiation is related
to 80% of the important issues
and the value of the entire transaction.
1. The first 80% of a negotiation will involve only 20% of the issues
that need to be decided.
You have to accept the fact
that the first 80% of the discussion will revolve around non-material issues.
Only near the end of the negotiation,
and time running out,
do you sit down,
discuss,
2. And finally agree on the most important issues
that need to be considered at the time.
What I have learned over the years is patience in the first phase
of the negotiation.
Haste won’t help.
If you have two hours to discuss a deal,
the most important things will be decided in the last 30 minutes.
So be patient!
