Category: Negotation Mastery

Negotation Mastery

Triggering “No” peels away the plastic falsehood of “Yes” and gets you to what’s really at stake.

Chris Labs

Along the way, keep in mind these powerful lessons: Break the habit of attempting to get people to say “yes”. Being pushed for “yes” makes people defensive. Our love of hearing “yes” makes us blind to the defensiveness we ourselves feel when someone is pushing us to say it. “No” is not a failure. We have learned that “No” is the anti-“Yes” and therefore a word to be avoided at all costs. But it really often just means “Wait” or “I’m not comfortable with that.” Learn how to hear it calmly. It is not the end of the negotiation, but … Continue reading Triggering “No” peels away the plastic falsehood of “Yes” and gets you to what’s really at stake.

Negotation Mastery

Prepare a negotiation One sheet

Chris Labs

Section I: The Goal Think through best/worst-case scenarios but only write down a specific goal that represents the best case. Section II: Summary Summarize and write out in just a couple of sentences the known facts that have led up to the negotiation Section III: Labels/ Accusation Audit Prepare three to five labels to perform an accusation audit Section IV: Calibrated Questions Prepare three to five calibrated questions to reveal value to you and your counterpart and identify and overcome potential deal killers. Section V: Noncash Offers Prepare a list of noncash items possessed by your counterpart that would be … Continue reading Prepare a negotiation One sheet

Negotation Mastery

Every negotiation, every conversation, every moment of life, is a series of small conflicts that, managed well, can rise to creative beauty.

Chris Labs

Embrace them. And so I’m going to leave you with one request: Whether it’s in the office or around the family dinner table, don’t avoid honest, clear conflict. It will get you the best car price, the higher salary, and the largest donation. It will also save your marriage, your friendship, and your family. –Never split the difference, p.243 Continue reading Every negotiation, every conversation, every moment of life, is a series of small conflicts that, managed well, can rise to creative beauty.

Negotation Mastery

Hunt for Black Swans during unguarded moments

Chris Labs

Pay close attention to your counterpart during interruptions, odd exchanges, or anything that interrupts the flow. When someone breaks ranks, people’s façades crack just a little. During a typical business meeting, the first few minutes, before you actually get down to business, and the last few moments, as everyone is leaving, often tell you more about the other side than anything in between. –Never split the difference, p.237 Continue reading Hunt for Black Swans during unguarded moments

Negotation Mastery

Your counterpart is acting not rationally (to you)?

Chris Labs

They probably have hidden interests. Your counterpart will often reject offers for reasons that have nothing to do with their merits. Ex: A client may put off buying your product so that their calendar year closes before the invoice hits, increasing his chance for a promotion. Or an employee might quit in the middle of a career-making project, just before bonus season, because he or she has learned that colleagues are making more money. For that employee, fairness is as much an interest as money. Whatever the specifics, these people are not acting irrationally. They are simply complying with needs … Continue reading Your counterpart is acting not rationally (to you)?

Negotation Mastery

It is when we hear or see something that doesn’t make sense – something “crazy” – that you need to push forward, even more forcefully.

Chris Labs

It is when we hear or see something that doesn’t make sense – something “crazy” – that a crucial fork in the road is presented: push forward, even more forcefully, into that which we initially can’t process; or take the other path, the one to guaranteed failure. […] when we’re most ready to throw our hands up and declare “They’re crazy!” is often the best moment for discovering Black Swans that transform a negotiation. –Never split the difference, p.232 Continue reading It is when we hear or see something that doesn’t make sense – something “crazy” – that you need to push forward, even more forcefully.

Negotation Mastery

Know your counterpart’s religion

Chris Labs

Knowing your counterpart’s religion is more than just gaining normative leverage per se. Rather, it’s gaining a holistic understanding of your counterpart’s worldview. It’s extremely effective in large part because it has authority over them. The other guy’s “religion” is what the market, the experts, God, or society – whatever matters to him – has determined to be fair or just. –Never split the difference, p.228 Continue reading Know your counterpart’s religion

Negotation Mastery

It often doesn’t matter what leverage actually exists against you; what really matters is the leverage they think you have on them.

Chris Labs

That’s why I say there’s always leverage: as an essentially emotional concept, it can be manufactured whether it exists or not. If they’re talking to you, you have leverage. Who has leverage in a kidnapping? The kidnapper or the victim’s family? Most people think the kidnapper has all the leverage.. But how many buyers do the kidnappers have for the commodity they are trying to sell? –Never split the difference, p.221 Continue reading It often doesn’t matter what leverage actually exists against you; what really matters is the leverage they think you have on them.