Top Tips - May 2010
Negotiating: Win-win or start with "No."
In a book I looked at recently, the author believes that negotiations shouldn't begin with "Yes" or "Maybe" which is worse than useless. They should most often begin with "No" and giving permission for the other party to say "no."
In his book "Start with No", Jim Camp informs us that theories of negotiation like "Win-Win" are pure fiction. In negotiation, sometimes someone wins and someone else loses. But the long-term outcome may be quite different -what might have been compromised into a mediocre solution by win-win can often be better for both parties when one side loses at the outset.
A case in point from the book; a contract is drawn up with terms that one party can no longer fulfill. There can be a time to renegotiate the contract before its term, despite the terms and conditions. Why?
What if the contract specified that a vendor sell at a price that would drive them out of business? If that product is absolutely critical to the buyer's product or service, they'd better negotiate rather than fail to receive the product/service. Going elsewhere to find it from a new supplier implies time and risk, and could be more costly than sitting down to re-negotiate a new deal.
Camp's experiences are in direct contrast to some of business guru Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Successful People", which I thought was quite interesting. To remind you, the habits are:
- Be Proactive
- Begin with the End in Mind
- Put First Things First
- Think Win/Win
- Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
- Synergize
- Sharpen the Saw
Mr. Camp actually has no issue with the majority of these habits, but he disagrees strogngly with two of the seven principles:
- Begin with the end in mind, and
- Think Win/Win.
In the case of negotiation, sometimes it's better not to be overly focused on the goal, i.e. getting the lowest price or making the sales quota for the month, otherwise you can easily appear needy.
What's more, being too focused on your own goal might cause you to make dangerous assumptions or fail to realize the underlying situation. Jim also laughs at the idea of systematic win-win. He gives the reader plenty of real-life examples where losing either was just that...losing, or was a neutral outcome; not a win, but better than other potentially worse outcomes.
You can visit his website here: www.startwithno.com
Any comments? Drop me an email.
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