At the end of a failed negotiation too many people blame bad karma for the result. Often they failed because they got to the negotiation table too quickly. The rush was to negotiate, where it should be to prepare.
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Recently we chaired a panel session at a conference run by the Medical Technology Association of Australia. The title of the session was Sustainable Healthcare, a panel discussion exploring the differing business needs of suppliers and hospitals. While it was about health, the problems with KPI’s apply to many businesses.
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On my desk is a book called Catastrophe. The subtitle of the book: The story of Bernard L. Madoff, the man who swindled the world. In case you don't know who he is, he was a respected fund manager and former chairman of the NASDAQ who was arrested by the FBI for the "white-collar crime of the century": swindling investors out of US$50 billion.
So, how could so many professional investors and regulators be fooled, and for so long?
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Clearly in most negotiations involving technology it is becoming harder for negotiators on the supply side to show the strategic value of the technology to organisations on the buying side.
Clarity is required not around the features and benefits, but around the value piece.
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Recently in China we delivered a three-day workshop in Strategic Account Management. Many things were different. China has 33 provinces or states. Account Managers can be responsible for one or more province? So what? The ten biggest provinces have populations between 54 million and 104 million. So an account manager can be responsible for a region with a population of between 2 and 4 times the population of Australia. How's that for a challenge in managing your time?
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There is no doubt that Big Data is coming. No, let me correct that: Big Data is here.
But how much big data are we generating?
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I have been studying and practicing Negotiation for three decades. For much of that time I have understood the power of asking good questions. In the last few weeks I attended a breakfast being delivered by one of my colleagues, Stephen Kozicki, and discovered a great negotiation question.
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As more companies move from sales management to account management, we regularly get asked "how can we measure improved strategic relationships?" In sales management, we are focused on the short term so typically we measure sales results and sales prospects in dollars. Yet if we are serious about developing strategic relationships, then the results will typically being to appear between 18 and 24 months after we start behaving strategically.
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You are different, there's nobody just like you. So, how can we be persuaded in predictable ways? Well, there's a one word answer: process. We can all be persuaded in predictable ways by using a process. This process needs to be based on understanding the psychology of persuasion.
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All of us have been in a negotiation that has ended with a much better outcome and greater satisfaction than predicted with the result based on how well we communicated with the other person. I have the great privilege of working on 'live deals' all over the world and get observe many great negotiators.
My research observations in these live scenarios would suggest quite strongly that the way a negotiator 'frames' their communication has a direct and substantial impact on the outcome of the deal.
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One of the triggers for changing your organisation is time. Whether you realise it or not, when you design your organisation you build it to suit a timescale. The timescale for many organisations is the month. Every month your report sales, margins and profits. Doesn't everybody?
Let's look at how time affects your organisational design.
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Recently, I worked with a team on a live negotiation with a private hospital. The deal was for medical supplies and drugs worth about $25 million a year for a three-year contract.
During the preparation I noticed two behaviours in the team. First, team members could not focus on preparation. The culprit being constantly handling their smart phones. Second, how quickly the team’s energy levels dropped during the day.
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We are all busy, too short of time with our too long to-do lists.
When I suggest spend some time preparing to persuade, some people roll their eyes. They have too little time without taking more time to persuade. So, they will do nothing or ....
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This week, a manager asked me: “what should my account managers be doing today?” My answer was, I don’t know exactly what they should do today. But at the end of the month, I call tell you exactly how you know if they are doing their job.
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July 13th, 2015: Greece has a deal, or has it?
When you read the fine print, there are many conditions and many qualifications which the seven-page statement from the summit says are: “our minimum requirements to start negotiations with the Greek authorities”. So, the multi-party negotiations are not over and will continue probably for months.
Read More![Stop and Think [The Flood, the bridge, the helicopter and a hat stand.]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5385613ee4b0883f7108f96f/1432619292342-FPA99RPSVZ791JQVK5K3/image-asset.jpeg)
You will at times have problems with your major accounts or an issue will arise at a critical negotiation; re-think your approach and frame your response in possibilities and not what can’t be done.
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In a world of information overload and so many different points of view, it can be hard to cut through the noise and figure out what's useful. For salespeople and account managers, an emerging theme recently is the concept of the challenger approach.
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We went from Australia to New York, Krakow, Warsaw, Paris, London, Dubai and then back to Sydney. The preparation for 5 people to travel that distance in a month was extraordinary.
However, it also meant that as problems arose, as they did, we were able to change our mind quickly, because of the preparation. Often working on live negotiations the more we prepare, the more we play with ‘what if’ possible solutions. The more we role play, the more we test possible ways of dealing with problems. This means that we can start negotiations not focused on stated positions, but examining the common ground that exists between all parties. We become a problem solver and solutions happen quicker.
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If you’re considering implementing SAM but aren’t sure if it’s right for your business, then here is a real example of how SAM has increased results and transformed an already successful company.
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Farm life has many lessons for the agile negotiator. As some of you know, my wife, 3 daughters and I own a farm 2 hours of north of Sydney in the beautiful Hunter Valley. It is a lifestyle farm of nearly 13 acres, river frontage and a handmade timber and mud-brick house. A great place to recharge and reflect on life. It also helps to have one of the most popular vineyards in the Hunter Valley, Camyr Allyn, http://www.camyrallynwines.com.au/ just up the road.
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