Managers in today’s complex business environment require negotiation skills for business success. They need to develop a toolkit of negotiation strategies and understand how these influence and are influenced by their surroundings. Being successful in leading groups and shaping group decision making is vital, both internally and with key customers and suppliers.
Read MoreIn a previous blog, we explained some of the reasons the Brexit negotiations are so difficult.
Imagine for a moment, that you have been given the job of leading the negotiations. How would you prepare? Let's start at the end. Assuming we have a deal, who has to approve it?
Read MoreSo, the UK has voted for Brexit. What's next? Negotiating the exit. What does this involve? Part of this is Article 50, where the UK has to give notice it's leaving. There's good news and bad news about Article 50. The good news is it's only 300 words and the bad news is it's only 300 words. Why both good news and bad news?
Read MoreProblem: Need to improve business results. and have already identified that your people do not have the required skills.
Solution: Find appropriate course and send people on the appropriate course.
Will just sending your people on a course be enough to improve your business results?
Read MoreOne of the toughest negotiations is when one side wins and the other side loses. For example, a mining company wants to mine in a forest area and a local government wants to stop the mine because they want to preserve the forest. If one side wins, the other loses.
This is so difficult because each side brings a position and then spends all their energy defending their position or attacking the other side's position.
In the toughest negotiations, we need to look beyond positions and explore interests.
Read MoreWhen images are used skillfully, they can increase interest and participation, excite creativity, stir emotions and memories, provoke questions and uncover common ideas. There are two approaches to using images in presentations: the image as illustration and the interactive image. In this blog, we will discuss the image as an illustration.
Read MoreProcurement departments are perceived as only being focused on reducing prices, so many suppliers will avoid procurement where they can. Instead focusing their energy on building relationships and providing value for business unit contacts. So, suppliers only deal with procurement when they are forced to.
But is this too big a risk, how much influence do procurement have in your industry and how quickly is this influence growing?
Read MoreColour is a powerful tool that can enhance any presentation. Research shows that colours can evoke an emotional response and make your message more memorable and persuasive. However the psychological impact of colour can also ruin your persuasive message, so think carefully about your choice of colour.
Read MoreThis blog follows on from previous blogs on organisations that are too good to change. In this link to a 13 minute TED video, Alison Sanders discusses the art and science of tracking trends. Apart from some fascinating trends, she discusses the importance of timing your action. Most organisations are too late because they do not prepare soon enough for the dramatic impact.
Read MoreOne of the world's experts on this topic is Gene Zelazny, Director of Visual Communications for McKinsey and Company. Just pause for a minute and consider that one of the world's top management consultancies pays someone to be the Director of Visual Communications. McKinsey specialised in fact-based analysis, so why pay attention to visual communication? Because, it takes more than logic to persuade an audience to act. The audience must understand, agree and remember. Visuals help people process the message faster and are more persuasive than words.
Read MoreWith fewer customers generating more of our revenue, we need to get better at managing our strategic relationships. Whether we call this Strategic Account Management or Key Account Management, we must get better at managing the customers we can’t afford to lose.
There is good news and bad news about managing these strategic relationships.
Read MoreOver the last couple of years, we have seen several organisations that are too good to change. But, how can organisations possibly be too good to change?
The answer is simple: they can deliver better profits this year doing almost exactly what they have always done.
Before you get too confident consider that a company's fall from grace can frequently be traced back to its time of greatest achievement!
Read MoreImagine the phone rings, a voice says we have kidnapped Jill and you need to pay $500,000 in 24 hours to get her back alive. The phone goes dead, what should you say next time the phone rings?
Before we answer the question, let’s consider ...
Read MoreWhen you are creating a presentation to a client or a workshop presentation - be sure to include some visuals to help make your message memorable and to increase your credibility.
More than 80% of what we learn is linked to what we see.
Read MoreOver the past 25 years I have enjoyed working with individuals and teams on live negotiations in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and China.
Cultural differences in negotiations tend to occur because we overlook or ignore small differences that can be amplified into major issues.
Read MoreToday, thanks to my friend Ian Byrne of Pegras, I read that everyday its estimated humans are producing data equivalent to 10 million blu-ray discs. The world in general and business in particular is overflowing with data. Back in 1978, Samuel Coleridge Taylor wrote: water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. Perhaps if he wrote this line today he might say: data, data everywhere and not a bit to persuade.
As the tsunami of data washes over us, we drown. While the tsunami of data is new, techniques for understanding data are old.
Read MoreOne of the most common problems people selling complain about is pressure to reduce their prices. There are several ways to prevent price pressure. In this blog we will discuss how to resist price pressure when negotiating.
Read MoreImagine you could start your business again. What if you could start with a blank piece of paper and design your business to take advantage of the internet?
Read MoreMany of us are time-poor, so we rely on social media to keep up to date. Recent research from Italy warns us this can be risky.
While the research was based on Facebook, the conclusions apply to all social media including more business-relevant social media like Twitter and LinkedIn. One questions tested was:
“When online do people encounter opposing views or do they create the equivalent of gated communities?”
The short answer is people create the equivalent of gated communities. People select and share content that supports their views and ignore the rest. This is hardly surprising because it has been known for many years.
Read MoreAs the year begins we start to plan. On my desk when I arrived back at work was a brochure. A brochure for the Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA) conferences.
SAM is helping some of the best performers in markets deliver faster growth and higher profits. At the same time SAM is building stronger strategic relationships which uncovers more sales opportunities and makes their competitive position even stronger.
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