The Art Of Negotiating

Stop and think about the times you’ve seen your decision maker enthusiastic about something. But in fact, what that box looks like, its color and design, its price point, where and how it is shelved, everything about it has been carefully arranged to negotiate with you, the completely detached buyer. For some of us, it could be the color of the box that does it. For others, it’s the price. I hope I didn’t just ruin your view of those pieces of cinnamon toast crunch cereal that stare out at you with eyes and mouth wide open on the General Mills Cinnamon Toast Crunch boxes! Now correlate the criminal investigating/crack interviewing/buying decision in a supermarket aisle with the research that told you who is paying what to whom, and you have the basis of a strong negotiating stance. Of course, to do any of that, you need to understand the emotional center of that individual, and to do that, you need to put yourself in his or her shoes as best you can. Actually, you already know a lot more about this than you think. One way or the other, you have watched your decision maker in action for some time and with more than normal interest. You certainly know what they think of you. You understand how your work or position has affected their life and career, and you undoubtedly have a good idea of what drives their decisions. Look back over the interactions between the two of you to recall times you’ve seen a bit of worry on their face. From your own observations, you know your decision maker’s principles, style, what drives them, what makes their life difficult, the future they are looking for.

Feel A Whole Lot Better

Let’s say that you knew that your decision maker’s decision maker, the head of the division, had expressed her disappointment that the team hadn’t generated more revenue over the last quarter. Sure, everybody knew that. After all, few institutions on earth are bigger rumor mills than a corporate workplace. But not everybody will know how to use that information. It’s a safe bet that your decision maker will be focusing enthusiastically on productivity in the coming months while worrying about the numbers. By the way, I do believe that the impulse to negotiate is universal. In me, it is so automatic as to almost be subconscious. I do it all the time. I also appreciate a master negotiator when I see one, and no one is more masterful in negotiating, positioning, and selling than the Bachelor Nation star Colton Underwood. Talk about playing to the emotions of the decision maker and of his audience! Colton does this better than anybody I have ever seen, and it seems to come naturally to him. You probably know that getting cast into the lead role of The Bachelor requires a number of interviews. It made for great television.

Always Suffering

I am happy for him for living his truth and coming out. I am incredibly proud of anyone who speaks their truth, and I am a strong supporter of The Trevor Project. I urge you, the reader, to visit thetrevorproject.org to understand its mission and perhaps support this incredible cause. But back to business and The Bachelorette. Everything was closed. But Colton talked very publicly about the disease he had endured, informing listeners about its physical and emotional toll. Crushed sales, a very successful launch, and a New York Times bestseller! He always told me that he has long wanted his own show, and he positioned himself thoughtfully and carefully to get one. Inevitably, that fell through after they broke up, and he pitched me on possibly doing another show with him, one where his other friends and I were his wingmen in his new dating life. That, too, fell through. A powerful story and one that is bound to be as impactful and as winning as the man himself. But the takeaway from his example is to do your positioning, planning, and strategizing before the selling.

Don't Walk Away

Then watch the results work in your favor. Every new job starts with a negotiation, and it is essential in that first negotiation that you hold out for as high a starting salary as you can. Because that starting salary becomes the baseline for every raise you will ask for or be offered over your career in that company. It also becomes the baseline when you leave that company and try to move to another. Increasingly, hiring managers demand to know what your starting salary was at the company you’re leaving. This is just one reason why planning is essential when you negotiate. Well ahead of entering into a negotiation, you must plan every aspect of it thoroughly and precisely, or risk failure. Draft your notes however you like, save them, refer to them, tighten and improve what they tell you, review them, hold on to them, and preserve them. The first preparatory step of planning is to define your goal. Whether for a raise in your current job or for a whole new job in a whole new organization, what exactly are you aiming for in setting out to negotiate, and how might your decision maker respond? The two questions are inextricably linked, because unless you can show that you will be delivering value equal to the value you’re asking for, your decision maker will have little reason to grant what you ask. Then quantify the value you expect to deliver to your decision maker. All of these are valid and legitimate components of establishing a money goal. What objective deliverables have you been a part of or do you execute regularly? What is the financial value of those deliverables in terms of added revenues or costs saved? What nonfinancial benefits have those deliverables achieved? What special projects have you managed or executed within the organization? What has been the revenue or savings impact of those projects? What is the value of your work output divided by the cost to achieve that output?