Category Archives: Negotiating

It looks simple

Obviously …

It’s usually a bad start to a productive conversation if your opening comment starts with, “It looks simple enough to me…,” or “Obviously, they should…,” or “Why don’t they just….”

You’ve probably now confirmed that you really don’t know what you’re talking about.

You may have already heard me quote the genius scientist and mathematician, Albert Einstein, who allegedly said, “For every complicated problem there is an easy and obvious solution – that is always wrong!”

Maybe you have a better solution or a simple answer to a difficult question, but if you are going to convince anyone that you know what you’re talking about, you should start with asking for clarification of what exactly is the problem.

Once you confirm your understanding of the problem you can more likely present a well-reasoned argument for the solution that seemed simple and obvious to you. It may now seem more clear to others. Further discussion may even lead to a better conclusion.

It starts with a conversation, not a speech trying to prove how smart you are.

Be better. Do better. 

Del Chatterson, your Uncle Ralph

Learn more about Enlightened Entrepreneurship at: LearningEntrepreneurship.com

Read more of Uncle Ralph's advice for Entrepreneurs in Don't Do It the Hard Way & The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans - 2020 Editions.

 Read more Blog posts at: LearningEntrepreneurship Blogs. 

 

 

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Enlightened Entrepreneurship, Negotiating

High pressure sales tactics

Because they work

beach resortIf you have recently strolled the beach near any southern resort hotel, you have probably been introduced to the “body snatchers,” timeshare salesmen offering attractive incentives – free dinner, golf, Cirque de Soleil tickets – for you to attend a brief sales presentation at their resort.

And then you can easily waste half a day being held hostage by a hierarchy of high pressure sales people persuading you to buy-in to the timeshare concept. It can turn into a very unpleasant vacation experience. Or you can learn something useful to take home for your own business.

Here are my thoughts, after four weeks in Mexico listening to the pitches and the complaints.

For Sellers:

  1. Train sales people well and ensure consistent use of the most effective tactics and pitches.
  2. Remember that every question, problem or complaint can be resolved by selling a solution – an upgrade, a new product, a new service package.
  3. Keep all the initial prices high enough to allow for negotiated discounts and package deals and still leave room for generous buyer incentives and sales commissions.
  4. Ensure sales reps are careful not to oversell or promise too much.
  5. Build in a process for confirming and clarifying the terms and conditions to ensure customer understanding and acceptance before sign-off.
  6. Ensure that operations and customer service staff have the same understanding of product and service offerings and can effectively resolve any “misunderstandings” that may be perceived as sales staff having over-promised and under-delivered.
  7. Generally, avoid the negative customer perceptions from high pressure sales tactics, but keep the effectiveness of a focused, motivated, well-trained and well-managed sales force.

For Buyers:

  1. Push past the prepared pitch and the recommended sales solution to every problem.
  2. Gain control of the agenda and lead them to your preferred solutions.
  3. Get all your questions answered clearly before making any decisions.
  4. Be as aggressive and persistent as the sellers are.
  5. Get it in writing. Read it carefully before signing.

All basic principles that you already knew, but reinforced by high-pressure timeshare sales tactics.

Be better. Do better.  (And enjoy your winter vacation in the south.)

Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson

Visit LearningEntrepreneurship.com for more Blog posts and articles.

Join our mailing list for regular e-mails with ideas, information and inspiration for entrepreneurs.

Check out Uncle Ralph’s books:"Don't Do It the Hard Way" and "The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans" Both are available online or at your favourite bookstore in hard cover, paperback or e-book.

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Negotiating, sales, salesmanship

The Power of No

Be willing to walk away

Saying-noIt's not a tactic and it's not a bluff. It's a change in attitude that changes the relationship for both sides.

Now you are only here because you both want to be. And you're working toward the same objective. Confronted with a firm no, both parties will find a better way to get to the win-win.

Or agree to walk away to other options and stop wasting each other’s time.

Be better. Do better.

Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson

Visit LearningEntrepreneurship.com or contact DirectTech Solutions at www.DirectTech.ca for assistance on your strategic business issues, growth and profit improvement plans or your exit strategies.

Join our mailing list at LearningEntrepreneurship.com for ideas, information and inspiration for entrepreneurs.

Read more articles at:Learning Entrepreneurship Blogs. 

Click Here to check out Uncle Ralph’s books, "Don't Do It the Hard Way" and "The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans" Both are available online or at your favourite bookstore in hard cover, paperback or e-book.

 

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decision making, Negotiating

No conflict of interest?

Look closer

deal makingThe next time an agent, broker, lawyer or advisor offers to help and work on both sides of the deal, say “No thanks”.

If they try to tell you there is no conflict of interest for them, then reply, “Either you know you’re lying, or you do not. Either way, I’m disappointed. And the answer is still no thanks.”

They see no conflict of interest because their only interest is maximizing their own return from the deal. Sorry, but there is no other way to explain it.

They may try to sell the concept of mutual interests and you may get all parties including the advisors, to agree on a deal, but compromises will be made and you may simply have everyone being equally happy/unhappy.

Aligning mutual interests, or the naively optimistic cliché of “win/win”, may sound easy and look obvious. It’s not.

Be better. Do better.

Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson

Visit LearningEntrepreneurship.com or contact DirectTech Solutions at www.DirectTech.ca for assistance on your strategic business issues, growth and profit improvement plans or your exit strategies.

Join our mailing list at LearningEntrepreneurship.com for ideas, information and inspiration for entrepreneurs.

Read more articles at:Learning Entrepreneurship Blogs. 

Click Here to check out Uncle Ralph’s books, "Don't Do It the Hard Way" and "The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans" Both are available online or at your favourite bookstore in hard cover, paperback or e-book.

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Negotiating

The price is the price

Almost never

And it’s a problem. Pre-occupation with price leads to bad decisions, if we miss the important factors that determine the value.

low price!We have all seen frequent examples of nonsensical pricing and have our own favourite stories of a deal we have boasted about, without admitting that it turned out badly.

TV ads. Only $19.95! Buy now and get another one for free, with a bonus carrying case, and free shipping. Beware of side effects. Certain conditions apply. What could go wrong for only $19.95?

Or my favourite story of a guided tour in Tangiers that led us to a local carpet manufacturer. Beautiful small handmade carpet, “retails in America for $2500, factory price only $700!” We negotiated him down to $200. (Including the tour guide’s commission, of course.) Wow, what a deal. Then on the way back to the tour bus, we met a street vendor with what appeared to be exactly the same carpet, for only $100. We said “no thanks,” until he came down to $20. Now we can boast of the price on two matching carpets. But I wonder, were they both mass-produced somewhere else, was one stolen?

And that’s the problem with focusing on the price. Consumers insist on it, but usually fail to ask why the price is so low. Is it cost reduced to the point of being unsafe and unreliable? Was it manufactured in a dangerous, environment-destroying factory using child labour? Who cares, at that price.

It may be the seller’s strategy, to attract or distract, with the price. But buyer beware, there is always more than the price to consider before you decide.

Be better. Do better.

Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson 

Visit LearningEntrepreneurship.com or contact DirectTech Solutions at www.DirectTech.ca for assistance on your strategic business issues, growth and profit improvement plans or your exit strategies.

Join our mailing list at LearningEntrepreneurship.com for ideas, information and inspiration for entrepreneurs.

Read more articles at:Learning Entrepreneurship Blogs. 

Click Here to check out Uncle Ralph’s books, "Don't Do It the Hard Way" and "The Complete Do-It-Yourself Guide to Business Plans" Both are available online or at your favourite bookstore in hard cover, paperback or e-book.

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Negotiating