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Anchoring – How to Better Improve Your Negotiation Efforts

“In negotiations, anchoring can tie you down, but it doesn’t have to weigh you down. Used right, it can be the brisk breeze that sails you to greater negotiation ports.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

Anchoring occurs in every negotiation in one form or another. To enhance your negotiation position, be aware of when it occurs, the intent of it, the mindset you adopt when observing it, and what response you or your negotiation counterpart will have to it. Those ingredients will drastically affect the flow and outcome of the negotiation. Consider the following.

Anchoring Intent:

Know the intent of anchoring. It should align with your negotiation plans. In some situations, it may be prudent to let the other negotiator anchor his position first. The justification would be based on him displaying more of his position than you displaying yours. Regardless of the option you choose, remember the person that anchors first sets a mile-marker that establishes a boundary in the negotiation.

Anchoring Tonality:

When considering how to implant your anchor, consider the tonality you’ll employ to assist your efforts. As an example, if you state your position with a timid sounding voice, you run the risk of sounding unsure and weak. On the other hand, if you convey your intent with a rich and deep voice, you’ll project the perception of authority. You’ll be more believable, influential, and convincing; a deep voice is commanding; It projects authority. In either case, be mindful of the perception your tone of voice has on your pronouncements.

Anticipate Response:

Unlike other tools in a negotiation, you should use anchoring judiciously. It will become the cornerstone upon which an easy or tough negotiation ensues.

Before choosing when and how you’ll anchor your position, consider what the response might be to it. When planning, assemble actions that will buttress up and progress your position while keeping the negotiation away from quagmires.

You should always anticipate your counterpart’s next move. When anchoring, anticipate several future moves that he might make.  Since anchoring establishes the foundation from which you’ll move forward, be more diligent in your timing, thought process, and implementation.

Mental Mindset:

Be aware of your mental state of mind when attempting to use anchoring as a viable tool in negotiations. If you’re mentally weak about making your offer, per how you’ll anchor it, assess why you have that mindset; more than likely, it won’t serve the goals you’re attempting to achieve. If you can’t muster the mental fortitude to deliver your offer in a manner that supports your efforts, it may be better not to anchor it at all. You don’t want to worsen your chance of acquiring a better deal.

Counter Anchoring:

If you’re aware of what your negotiation counterpart is attempting to achieve by anchoring you to his position, and you don’t like the position it places you in, counter to the extreme opposite. The subliminal message you’ll send is, there’s a wide gap to overcome. It will also serve to message that both of you will have to make a significant movement to advance the negotiation. You can signal that you’re willing to attempt that broach if he is, too.

The potential pitfall of responding to the extreme is to risk an impasse due to such a wide gap in anchors. Thus, you should be thoughtful about how you refute an anchor that’s established and whether you’ll set it first.

Anchoring is the persister that sets the boundaries that follow. It also foreshadows the strategies that will persist after its establishment. Used adroitly, it can be the first volley of an enhanced negotiation. Thus, if you use anchoring skillfully, you’ll be on a path to heightened negotiation outcomes … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.TheMasterNegotiator.com/greg-williams/

#Anchoring #Improvenegotiation #Power #secrets #HiddenOpportunities #Mistakes #Management #SmallBusiness #Money #Negotiating #combat #negotiatingwithabully #bully #bullies #bullying #Negotiations #PersonalDevelopment #HandlingObjections #Negotiator #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #psychology #NegotiationPsychology

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Best Practices Body Language Management Marketing Personal Development Sales

Business Introductions Made Easy

Many details come together to create an impression. Of great importance is the first time an individual meets another person face-to-face. In business settings, we often find ourselves in situations of having to make an introduction. Not only will you present yourself to others, but very often you may be the one introducing two people to each other. Here are a few tips to help you through both scenarios.

MAKING AN INTRODUCTION

Whom you introduce first matters

Decide who the senior most person is between the two you are introducing. Ask yourself who is the VIP in this situation. Turn to the higher rank person first to start the introduction. You say the senior most person’s name first. However, please know that a client/customer always outranks anyone in your organization, yes, even the CEO.

Here are some examples:

  • How to introduce a new employee to the CEO of the company. Turn to the CEO first and say, “Jane Smith (CEO), I would like to introduce you to Tom Johnson (employee), a new employee. Tom Johnson, this is Jane Smith, the CEO of XX.”
  • How to introduce a CEO to a client. Turn to the client first and say “Adam Jones (client), I would like to introduce you to Sarah Thomas, the CEO of ABC Company. Sarah Thomas, this is Adam Jones, a client of ABC Company.”
  • How to handle age rank. If you know the age of each person, you introduce the younger person to the older person.
  • How to handle gender. Gender doesn’t matter. You always consider rank.

Add an Interest Point

It is nice to be able to give the two people you are introducing a common interest point that may help them continue their conversation. “Jane Smith, I would like to introduce you to Sally Hanson, the president of XYZ Company. Sally Hanson, Jane Smith is a sales consultant for ABC Company. You both have an interest in XX (hobby, sports team, attended the same university).”

SELF-INTRODUCTION

With a genuine smile and looking into their eyes, say, “Hello, my name is Sheila Anderson (say your name slowly – more on this in a bit!). I am a personal brand strategist with Image Power Play.” Shake hands after the introduction is made to ensure you focus on listening to the introduction.

INSTANCES WHEN YOU CANNOT RECALL A NAME

We have all been there when you see someone you met, and you cannot recall their name. Do not be embarrassed. It’s a common occurrence, and the other person has likely experienced it themselves. Here is what you can say in this situation: “Hello, my name is Sheila Anderson. I met you a few months ago at the Chamber of Commerce mixer. It’s nice to see you again. Please tell me your name again.”

Repeat the other person’s name a couple of times during the conversation to ensure you remember it. Moreover, do not be afraid to ask them to, so you make sure you pronounce it correctly. The sound of our name is one of the most precious words we ever hear. We all like our names to be pronounced correctly.

I help executives create a powerful image and brand so they look and feel confident wherever they are. Contact me at sheila@imagepowerplay.com to schedule a 20-minute call to discuss how we can work together to grow your visibility through my return on image® services.

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

How to Prevent Your Nerves From Getting the Better of You

“Nervousness is a part of life. When it serves you, embrace it. When it dis-serves you, shun it.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

“I started verbally stumbling. I don’t know what came over me. I heard senseless words coming out of my mouth; they made no sense. It was like my brain had disconnected from my mouth. My nerves were definitely getting the better of me.” Those were the words of an overly exasperated woman recalling a conversation she had with a senior member of her organization. Do you have such moments? We all do. Have you ever stopped to question why that occurs and how you can prevent it?

Continue reading to discover how you can recognize the pending onset of such moments and how to thwart them when they occur.

Stress

First, recognize that stress is usually the culprit behind your brain-freeze moments. Stress is promoted by several factors (i.e. lack of rest, the perception of your social position related to others, preparedness deficiency, sleep deprivation, physiology, etc.). Identifying the cause and when your nervousness occurs will allow you to better address it.

Triggers

Psychologically, actions are evoked by triggers that serve as stimuli for those actions. Note and recognize the source(s) and cause(s) behind the triggers that move you to react. Specifically, observe the stimuli that cause you to act a certain way in certain environments. In some cases, the source behind the trigger may be an unsettled action that occurred earlier in your life. Then, when confronted by a similar environment or circumstance, subliminally, you react the way you did years ago. Address that source and you stand a greater chance of controlling the trigger.

Lack of Preparedness

I know what might occur in the upcoming situation. So, I’ll just wing it. A lack of preparedness can be stress inducing. Since no one truly knows what might occur in the future, we speculate. The better we can tap-down the assumptions of what we think may occur, the better we can control the variables that feed uncertainty. Considering the possible scenarios that we could encounter prepares us for those engagements while lowering the mental threat that might otherwise stem from fear of not being in control.

Physiology

Where physiology is concerned, some people start to mentally shut down. “I don’t want to hear about how a lack of rest, exercise, depleted hydration, and/or the lack of a proper diet can hamper me from reaching peak performance”, are the thoughts of some individuals. But, when your body is physically misaligned, as the result of missing the ingredients mentioned, you become mentally deprived of a coherent thought process. Don’t overlook the value that physiology plays in your overall wellbeing. To do so is to psychologically rob your thought and presentation process of greater consistency.

What does this have to do with negotiations?

Every negotiation is fraught with situations that claims fear as an ingredient of its process. That fear may stem from being uncertain about how to act or react in situations, or being fearful of what might occur if one finds oneself in a no-deal position. Command control over your emotions when contemplating such thoughts. Do so by controlling the thoughts that might lead you down a path laden with nervousness.

By addressing and preventing the nervous tensions that could hamper your negotiation, you’ll enhance your negotiation efforts. You’ll be preventing such nervousness from getting the better of you … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

#PreventNervousness #prevention # Nerves #Success #Emotion #Business #Progress #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #liars #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions

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Best Practices Body Language Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

How to Make ‘You’ a Better Negotiator

 “Small increments add up. Observe the small increments that make you a better negotiator.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

Did the word, ‘you’, draw your attention to this article? If you don’t think it did, think again. If not at your conscious level, subliminally, it did affect you. Knowing when to use ‘you’ in a negotiation can make you a better negotiator.

The Story:

“I’m canceling my monthly subscription”, stated an irate customer. “Why”, asked the service manager. “Because I didn’t like the way you resolved my issue”, replied the customer. With that, the service manager crossed his arms and retorted in a defensive tone, “what did you expect me to do? I told you we don’t settle that type of claim!”

‘You’ can be an insidious or gravely dangerous word if not used correctly in a negotiation. ‘You’ is very directive. It’s not me, or someone else, it’s directed at a single individual, you. When negotiating, be cautious about when and how you use that word.

The following are ways to use ‘you’ to enhance your negotiation efforts, while making you a better negotiator.

Using ‘You’ Strategically:

  • Consider the other negotiator’s demeanor. The opposing negotiator’s mood will affect his perception. In some cases, depending on his mood, the word ‘you’ can be perceived as being accusatory.
  • Inflection impacts the perception of ‘you’ (e.g. you need help? you need help!) – In either example, the question or statement could be perceived as being heartfelt or sarcastic depending on the inflection of how it’s posed.
  • Since ‘you’ grabs the attention of a person, use it to command attention (e.g. I need you to consider this, now.)

Using ‘You’ Haphazardly:

  • Some negotiations can become very heated. During such times, be aware that ‘you’ can ramp temperatures higher (e.g. you do it too!)
  • Not being strategic when using ‘you’ can dilute its value (e.g. do you mean that? You don’t mean that!) When ‘you’ is the first word in your statement or question it becomes more poignant.
  • Don’t overuse ‘you’. To make it more impactful, use it to stress and/or highlight a point (e.g. that is good versus, you are good.)

Body Language:

To assess the effect of ‘you’ during the negotiation, observe hand, head, and eye movements. Immediately after stating, ‘you’, observe your negotiation counterpart’s body language.

  • Hand – palms extended facing you, he’s defending himself against your proposal/accusation (i.e. whoa, not so fast.) – palms up and shoulder shrug (i.e. what do you want me to do?) – palms down, after having been up (i.e. rejection) – fist (i.e. anger)
  • Head – moving away (i.e. putting distance between you and your assertion) – moving toward (i.e. willing to embrace or confront (definitive action noted by demeanor)) – head tilted (i.e. in thought mode)
  • Eyes – narrowing (i.e. focused, attentive to what’s being conveyed and how it’s being stated) – wide (i.e. excitement, can be good or bad – assess meaning based on demeanor)

When seeking to enhance a negotiation, or threading the needle of doubt, consider how you can employ the usage of ‘you’. When used appropriately, you’ll expand your negotiation position exponentially. You will experience greater negotiation outcomes … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.TheMasterNegotiator.com/greg-williams/

#Opportunity #Power #secrets #HiddenOpportunities #Mistakes #Management #SmallBusiness #Money #Negotiating #combat #negotiatingwithabully #bully #bullies #bullying #Negotiations #PersonalDevelopment #HandlingObjections #Negotiator #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #psychology #NegotiationPsychology

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Women In Business

That Which Gets Rewarded, Gets Repeated

“Watch what you reward to ensure the value contained is worthy of being rewarded.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert 

Are you mindful of what you reward? What’s rewarded gets repeated. That means, you set a precedent when you reward an action. That action then becomes a guideline to which you compare future actions. Those future actions may serve you to a point and then lead you astray. Thus, you must always be attentive to the actions you reward.

Action Drivers:

Do you note what drives you to action, when it occurs, and the spark that ignites it? When actions lead to positive outcomes, you should note what gave them life. Those are actions that warrant rewarding; they’re serving to advance your goals. Never ignore something that adds value to your life. To ensure that you don’t, note when such value exists.

Routines and Processes:

Do you observe the routines you engage in that lead to greater satisfaction? At the end of the day, take a moment to reflect on the activities you engaged in during the day and assess your degree of satisfaction. By measuring your satisfaction, you’ll note the routines that allowed you to experience it. If you’re truly satisfied, incorporate the routines that serve you best into a process you engage in whenever you wish to experience those sensations again.

Message and Image:

If a message is too harsh, at some point, the recipient may turn a deaf ear to it. One must always be open to matching the delivery of a message to the way the listener wishes to receive it. The better that match is, the better the probability that the message will be received.

Watch the message delivery you reward. If you reward the wrong delivery, the further you’ll be from success.

Aches:

Heart aches, stomach aches, headaches, are all signs that something’s out of kilter. Always be alert and apprise when life tosses you warnings. The thought or action that promoted it should be a sign to not reward that action in the future. You don’t want to be in that place again.

The more aware you are of what you reward, the more aware you’ll be of how to progress your life. If you note when you receive the greatest return for the efforts you exert, that’ll lend insight into what you should reward … and everything will be right with the world.

What does this have to do with negotiations?

Negotiations are intensely entangled by rewards and penalties. If you observe what fears motivate the other negotiator, you can use negative stimuli to motivate him to action. Then, you can reward him for adopting your perspective by lessening those fears.

When engaged in any negotiation, consider the topics mentioned in the headings above. All of them impact the flow and outcome of a negotiation. Thus, the more aware you are of the stimulus that promotes them, the better you can utilize them to enhance your negotiation efforts. Therein will lie what you should reward during the negotiation.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

#Rewards #Mind #Brain #Thinking #Success #Emotion #Business #Progress #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #liars #Mask #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions

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Marketing Personal Development

Your Corporate Website: The Cyber Face of Your Company

As a C-Suite executive, you take direct responsibility for many aspects of your business. This also means that you know the necessity to delegate specific responsibilities to those who have expertise in these areas.

You don’t take direct charge of the payroll or personally hire everyone who joins your company. You don’t play lawyer, accountant, or personnel manager.

You also don’t play webmaster. An expert designed and set up your company web site. However, your web site is an aspect of your business to which you need to pay close attention.

Many prospective clients get their first view of your business online. They’re searching for a product or service, see a listing for your company, and click on the link. What happens next can determine whether you gain a client or prospect or someone who immediately clicks out and goes on to click the link of one of your competitors.

Visit your web site at least once a month and do your best to see it with the eyes of someone who’s viewing it for the first time.

Is It Visually Appealing?

  • What’s your immediate impression?
  • Does it look inviting?
  • Does it make you want to explore further?
  • Does it appear to be professionally designed?

Does It Provide Easy-to-Find Information?

  • Can you glance at your site’s home page and know immediately what services your company provides?
  • Does the page feature your mission statement in succinct, direct language?
  • Does the home page (and all other pages) have a navigation bar that shows the visitor how to find information on specific aspects of your company?
  • Is the contact information (phone number, address, email address) clearly shown on each page?

Does It Offer a Way to Persuade Your Visitor to Provide Contact Information?

This is vital. Even if the visitor doesn’t decide to pick up the phone or send an email message, you can still benefit from his or her visit.

Some businesses, for example, in exchange for the visitor’s email address, offer ebooks, white papers, checklists, videos and other free irresistible free opt in offers. This is an excellent way to build an email list.

Does It Look Friendly?

This may be one of the most important factors in your web site’s qualities. To turn the visitor into someone who contacts you, you need a web site that projects a quality of being approachable. This is less difficult to convey than you might think.Having a photo of the CEO is one excellent way to project a friendly quality.

  • Use photos of your main corporate headquarters, both outside and inside.
  • If you manufacture physical products, show photos of them.
  • Many web sites effectively use short videos that act as a tour of your business.
  • Have testimonials strategically placed on the home page and throughout all the pages of the site.

Study Your Competition

Now that you’re thoroughly familiar with your company’s web site, visit those of your competitors. This tour may leave you very happy with your site, but if this is the case, don’t become complacent. Look for details or design features that you believe would make your web site even more appealing.

Be Vigilant

It’s never been more important to have a dynamic, vibrant corporate web site that appears welcoming and inviting. First appearances count everywhere, but they assume special importance in the virtual world.

Pat Iyer is a ghostwriter and editor who has been online since 1996. She works with C suite executives to polish their written communications. Reach her at patriciaiyer@gmail.com or through her website Editingmybook.com

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Women In Business

Game Theory Finite and Infinite – How to Be a Better Negotiator

“The perceptional difference between finite and infinite can belie your thinking. Always be aware of the one that’s serving you and the one that’s not.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

When we play games, we engage in the wonderment of possibilities. When seeking to negotiate better via game theory, the perspective you adopt determines how you’ll plan for the negotiation and how you should engage in it.

There’s a heavy degree of mathematics involved in game theory. Two aspects I relate to negotiations are the perspectives of finite and infinite propositions. The one you adopt should be determined on the type of negotiator you’re negotiating against and how quickly you or he seeks an outcome.

Finite Negotiating:

Finite negotiations have fixed rules that both negotiators generally agree to. The negotiators may stray slightly outside of the boundaries but they’ll come inbounds in an effort not to have the boundaries expand beyond manageability.

Finite negotiations are good when seeking rigidity in a negotiation. There’s an approximate start and end time/date for the negotiation. Rules that dictate how the negotiators will engage in the negotiation must be established, too. Those rules should be rigid enough to maintain control of the negotiation and endowed with enough flexibility to overcome impasses.

Infinite Negotiating:

Infinite negotiations do not have specified end dates. They have mile-markers denoting deliverables at points in the negotiation. The negotiation itself is without hard rules. Thus, the negotiators know that either can change the rules; if not stated, it should be, so everyone understands the rule(s) of the negotiation.

An infinite approach to negotiating takes into consideration how either negotiator might advantage himself by altering the rules of the negotiation. Knowing that the negotiation doesn’t have a set end date means that each of them must consider long-term strategies. That also implies that the negotiation may encounter the changing of negotiators on both sides. This may occur a multiple number of times.

Finite Vs. Infinite Negotiation Strategy:

A finite strategy in a negotiation might entail negotiating with a major supplier, one that provides supplies to you and your competition. To get the best deal, so you can offer your product to the consumer at a lower price, you might make substantially larger purchases from that supplier than your competitor does in hopes of enticing the supplier to give you the best deal.

With an infinite negotiation strategy, you might start off adopting the same position as outlined with the finite strategy. The strategies then differ at the point when you decide that you’re occupying such a large share of the supplier’s business that you begin to dictate better prices than what you received with the finite strategy. At some point, you may even consider buying the supplier’s business or crating a business that competes against the supplier. In so doing, you’re aiming each maneuver at the competitor that you started the original negotiation with. The infinite approach becomes the longer activity you use to deal with your competitor.

Finale:

As the case in most negotiations, in game theory, a negotiator should negotiate from the assumption that the opposing negotiator will do whatever he can to maximize the outcome in his favor; you should view trust as a vestige virgin. Be prepared to thwart his efforts wherever possible. Thus, even when negotiating from a finite position, be ready to shift to an infinite style of negotiation. By doing so, you’ll prime yourself for a long-term negotiation, one in which you’ll have greater control throughout it no matter what course the negotiation adopts … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.TheMasterNegotiator.com/greg-williams/

#GameTheory #Opportunity #Power #secrets #HiddenOpportunities #Mistakes #Management #SmallBusiness #Money #Negotiating #combat #negotiatingwithabully #bully #bullies #bullying #Negotiations #PersonalDevelopment #HandlingObjections #Negotiator #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #psychology #NegotiationPsychology

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Marketing Personal Development

Why Machine Learning Should be in Your Present, Not Just Your Future

I have spent the last 40 years on the cusp of various technologies. (It’s a trick. If you are on the cutting edge, there are no experts, so you get to call yourself one.) Now I am an expert in Marketing and AI. (See what I did there?)

I actually have been working in text analytics since the 80s and was first exposed to machine learning in IBM Research in the 90s, so I have been doing this for a while, if that counts for anything. So I am used to hearing people talk about how AI is the future. And it is.

But it’s also the present.

Sometimes, it’s just how you talk about it. I remember early in my career, I did what I thought was a knockout presentation on some new superpower technology, and as the audience was filing out, a few people came up to speak to me afterwards. They were all very excited and all agreed as one person breathlessly said to me, “Wow, you are really a visionary.”

Except that’s bad. Because that means that they didn’t think they needed to do anything about that technology for three years. So if every time you hear about machine learning it sounds to you like Big Data 5G Blockchain, then you are missing the power of the present.

Machine learning can take the data you are sitting on and start predicting outcomes that you needed to wait to have happen. We are working with clients to predict the bounce rates of new pages without having to wait three months to see what they are. You can imagine applying the same approach to exit rate, social shares, inbound links, and any other content metric.

Think about what an advantage that is. Rather than suffering with poorly-performing pages for months until the data stabilizes, you can make changes presuming that those pages will perform the way similar pages have in the past. So make them look like better-performing pages instead. But do it now, not months from now.

That is what machine learning does. It takes all the data that you already have and speeds up the correct decision. That speed is your competitive advantage. Or at least it is your competitive advantage if you are using machine learning now. Conversely, if you think AI is the future, then it might be your competitor’s advantage now.

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Management Marketing Personal Development

Tips for Succeeding as a First-Time Manager

Jennifer Gluckow, founder of Sales in A New York Minute, knows a thing or two about sales. She’s also a first-rate manager with plenty of street cred. When she was placed in a sales management position, she quickly learned how to motivate her reps. Here’s what she shared with us about young and first-time managers in her recent Manage Smarter podcast.

Immediate Feedback

It’s always great when your younger reps make a sale. But, they need you most when the sale doesn’t happen. When you, and they, are first starting out, make sure they discuss their disappointments with you. These sessions allow you to point out what they could have said or done differently. The discussions also give you a chance to boost their ego, so they don’t get lost in negativity.

Mind the Age Gap

Long ago, presidential candidate Dan Quayle questioned the suitability of his opponent, Ronald Reagan, based on age. Reagan scored huge points, and went on to win re-election, after he famously turned around the challenge by saying, “I am not going to exploit for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” If you’re much younger than the team members you’re supervising, be prepared to feel some heat. “They’ll seem nice and friendly, but they’re totally judging you,” remembers Gluckow, who was in the situation of supervising much older sales reps. You don’t have to form deep personal friendships with your team members. You just need to get them to do their best. To earn their respect, and cooperation, Gluckow quizzed her team members on what mattered to them about the job. Once she tapped into their emotional connection to the job, it was easier to convince them to work with her and make quota.

Make a List

Most sales managers have been reps. They’ve suffered under managers who were rude. Or, they’ve put up with constantly being handed the worst assignments. Or, they’ve had to figure out how to succeed on their own, because their manager couldn’t be bothered training them. You don’t have to be that kind of manager. Gluckow made a list when she first started managing people. She wrote down the traits of the best managers she had and made sure she emulated them.

If you want to start your management career on the right path, consider doing the same.

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Investing Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Women In Business

Aha – What Just Happened?

“Never let thoughts lazily reside in your imagination. Some seek life to serve you.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert 

Do you take note of what’s occurring when you’re in different environments? If you don’t, you’re missing aha moments. Aha moments occur when your paradigm shifts about a perspective. That paradigm shift can lead to greater understandings about how you perceive your environments. Some aha moments are truly life-changing.

Aha – Don’t focus on ‘too’ easy or ‘too’ difficult. Assess the degree of difficulty associated with any task you contemplate, but don’t be over obsessive. If you think a task is too easy, you might put off addressing it because you think it will only take a short amount of time to complete. If you think it’ll be too difficult you might put it off altogether.

Aha – You don’t know what you don’t know. When making decisions, consider what you might not know that could add value to your thoughts. If the possibility of what you don’t know is overwhelming, delay your decision, continue thinking.

Aha – Everyone has the same amount of time and yet some are more successful than others. The account for their success lies in the way they utilize time. There are 1440 minutes in a day. To become more successful in life, don’t ‘kill’ time; use it to improve yourself. Make the most of the time you have.

The moment you embrace aha moments as enhancers in life, you will begin to elevate your life … and everything will be right with the world.

What does this have to do with negotiations?

When negotiating, what do you hear? What do you see? Does your periscope seek aha moments? There’s hidden value in such moments. You’ll only experience them if you’re watchful. Here’s how you can become more attuned to the possibility of aha moments.

Keep an open mind.

Be receptive to ideas, suggestions, and offers that initially may not be appealing. By considering the offer from other perspectives, you may experience that aha moment that leads to a greater outcome.

What’s that background noise?

Background noise can be a metaphor for anything that alters your perception. In some cases, negotiators have manipulated their environment by lacing it with different aromas. The opposing negotiator was not mindful of the fact that the maneuver was stimulating him. Had he realized, he may have recognized the aha that was captivating his senses.

Change environments. 

Changing environments opens the doorway to aha moments. When you feel stumped in a negotiation, call a timeout. Take a break to alter the way you’re thinking.

In your next negotiation, take note of what you’re not paying attention to. Ask yourself why your new thought had not captured your attention before. What you’ll experience is another way to uncover aha moments.

Thank you Mitchell Levy, The AHA Guy at AHAthat and TEDx Speaker

– Watch Mitchell’s TED talk: BEing Seen and BEing Heard as a Thought Leader

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

 To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

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