Ellie sat across from me and sheepishly admitted that she wasn’t a good negotiator. As a powerful government procurement agent, you would have thought that she had contract negotiations down to a science. When pressed, Ellie admitted that she knew the business...
Back in the day, when money was flowing and people were feeling fine, giving a little without getting anything in return was not a problem. Today, it’s a problem. Volumes are down, margins are shrinking and you have to add more to the bottom line. How? By taking...
Have you gotten a call like this before? “Hi, Susan. I sent over the contract. Did you get it? And, my boss told me that he wants a couple of more people trained on your system that were not included in the contract. This won’t be a problem will it? Call me.” Susan...
This economy is separating the weak from the strong, even when it comes to negotiating business related deals. In the boom years, many average sales people looked like stellar sales people and didn’t have to negotiate much. All that has changed. It is becoming more...
Follow these four steps to a winning counter proposal! Step One: Restate their words exactly as they said them It seems to me that you are saying . . . What I hear is . . . . Step Two: Ask clarifying questions What is your greatest concern here today? What bothers you...
