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“Do You Love To Hate Me Out Of Fear” – Negotiation Insight

“The only reason you hate me is that you fear me. Your fear stems from not knowing me and accepting me and my ways for what they are. You think I’m trying to take something from you. Nothing could be further from the truth. All I’m attempting to do is live the life promised me, which was paid for by the sweat and toil of my ancestors. My voice is that of a cry of a people whose time has arrived.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)  Click here to get the book

 

 

“Do You Love To Hate Me Out Of Fear”

 

The two of them were standing there – they weren’t bothering anyone. Then, a cruising vehicle came to a halt. The occupants began assailing the two individuals with racial slurs and hurled four-letter words at them. While doing so, the occupants of the vehicle were also shouting, “go back where you belong,” which was ironic because the two people were living in the same neighborhood as the vehicle’s occupants.

Everyone knows the passengers in the car didn’t mean ‘go home’ when they shouted at the other people. They were implying, leave this country. Their sentiments said, leave our country. And that shows how ignorant some people can be. When you speak of the U.S., it’s the native Indians, if anyone, should tell others to go back where they came from – and they don’t.

So, what causes some people to hate others? In most cases, they do so out of fear, which stems from a lack of understanding about the culture or motives of other individuals. In the minds of others, such hatred originates from the way another group has treated a group of people. Such as what occurred during the days of slavery. Even though it happened in the U.S. many decades ago, the remnants of it still linger in today’s culture. And those remnants appear to be growing stronger, versus being eradicated with time.

 

Racism

Imagine being ripped from the land you love, an environment, a place you’ve called home. Your life may not have been everything you wanted, but you were free – and your life was yours to shape and mold as you wished. Then, your life takes an unimaginable turn. It’s a change that was unanticipated, unsought, and unwanted. It’s one that’s unappreciated. Within an instant, your life has changed forever. And that change is one that your lineage will suffer from for generations to come.

Okay, so that didn’t happen to you, your father, or even his father. It occurred so many generations and decades ago that your thought is, why can’t ‘they’ just let it go. To which the reply from ‘them’ might be, you don’t understand me and what’s happened to those like me. And that’s why I can’t let it go. We cannot forget, less you further entrap those like me. Do you wonder why some people of some races despise people of other races? If you do, wonder no more. The hate comes from the scabs of racism. And those scars are still healing while some attempt to pour salt into them.

 

Off The Plantation

Oh, happy day! That’s what many people thought in the U.S. in 2008. The country had elected its first president of color. The change that so many had hoped for had finally arrived – or so they thought. There were whispers of, “we’re off the plantation now!”

Instead of the new light of hope shining brighter, calls arose demanding that the shackles used to ‘keep them in line’ be reapplied and strengthened. ‘Overcome this,’ was the silent riposte that sought to reinsert itself. It shown in new laws and opened attitudes that had, up to that point, lurked in the shadows of the dark. Then bam – it came into the light for all to see. It bellowed in statements such as, ‘Jews will not replace us.’ For others, it was, ‘go back where you came from.’ While some thought that they’d finally escaped the proverbial plantation, others were sending their surrogates after them in an attempt to reenslave those that sought freedom to live the life that the constitution had guaranteed them.

 

Protest

I’m not your ‘boy,’ respect me – me too! I’m taking a knee to protest injustice.

When the existing powers try to hollow the mind and opportunities of any race continuously, eventually, turmoil will occur. It will start in the form of protest, which may last for decades. And those protests will become even stronger over time. They run the risk of upsetting what some see as the natural order of things. We’ve seen it occur in South Africa and other places around the world. And it can happen in America.

When people become sick and tired of being sick and tired, they’ll seek to eradicate the pain, and ill-will thrust upon them. There mantra has been, and they will be encouraged in shouting, we shall overcome. The question you might consider is when they do, who will you side with – where will you stand?

 

Reflection

Do you hear me now? The voices of the oppressed are growing louder. To lend a tone of deafness is to ignore the inevitable. Change always occurs. And thus, you can embrace it or not. If you choose the latter, change will still manifest itself, and you’ll be changed anyway. So, come to grips with the forces that are assembling. Do so by seeking ways to add your voice to those forces. By aligning yourself with it, you’ll have a role in the shaping of what it becomes. That means you’ll have an outlet for your voice to be heard. Without your voice, you’ll become muted by the masses. And for them, everything will still be right with the world – but for you, it won’t.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d 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 https://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

 

#Love #hate #csuitenetwork #thoughtcouncil #Bodylanguage #readingbodylanguage #Negotiations #Control #Conversations #NegotiationStrategies #NegotiationProcess #NegotiationSkillsTraining #NegotiationExamples #NegotiationTypes #ReadingBodyLanguage #BodyLanguage #Nonverbal #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #negotiation examples #Negotiation strategies #negotiation process #negotiation skills training #negotiation types #negotiation psychology #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself

 

 

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

“Do You See Evil In The Myth Of No-Good People” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

“Never assume people sharing the same ethnicity are exactly alike. Everyone possesses uniqueness. If you misinterpret that, you’ll mistake your uniqueness.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)    Click here to get the book

 

“Do You See Evil In The Myth Of No-Good People”

The two men clamored about another individual that appeared to be out of place. One said to the other, “he’s up to no good – I can tell because he looks just like those no-good people. The man’s associate said, “I agree.’ He does look and sound like those no-good people.” Later, the two men discovered that the person about whom they were speaking was their new boss. Both of them swore the other to a pledge of silence about what they’d discussed. And both felt ashamed about what they’d said.

There are myths that people of particular ethnicities are ‘all alike.’ Nothing could be further from the truth. Some nuances pronounce the individualism of each and everyone on earth. Even if they’re small, there will be times when it’ll behoove you to observe those small differences. In some cases, little will hang in the balance. At other times, your life may be what’s hanging.

What are the origins of misperception? Why should you be concerned about it? And how might you alter your perception to improve the way you see others and the world? Those are the questions addressed in this article.

Mindset

What about you – do you ever harbor feelings or thoughts about those that you perceive as being no-good? Everyone may have such beliefs at times. When you do, be mindful of where those thoughts are taking you. There are times when they’ll careen into trenches that lead to treacherous waters. And, those waters can be the cause of your demise.

Your mind is an instrument that causes your body to adopt actions. And your actions can alter the reflection of your account. That means, they’ll be times when you may want to engage in an activity because a subject reminds you of something you’ve encountered in the past. While that may be true, you might consider how your current situation is different. Doing so will alter your perspective, which may lead to you adopting a different attitude and action.

Origins of Misperception

Your mind wants to protect you. Because self-preservation is eminent in everyone. That may be the source of your adverse feelings or reactions to certain people. Recognize it for the value it contains. Which means, you should control it. The way to insulate your thoughts from harming you is to recognize the specific stimuli you have that cause a particular reaction. Everything you first view as a threat isn’t. Sometimes, it may be the environment. At other times, it may not be the environment but the people in it. The point is, you should be aware of what’s motivating you to think and act in a particular manner in different situations. And assess to what degree out-dated assumptions may be driving your thoughts. Doing that will give you insights into the best way to alter them.

Your View/Perspective

Why did you do that was the question asked. Because I was upset, was the reply. Emotions can be daunting when dealing with them. And they’re more formidable when they’re not serving your betterment.

When you look at a scene, a person, a group, what do you observe? Is there a particular individual that stands out? If so, why? What draws your attention to that individual? Even if she’s not in a group, and your attention focuses on her, what drew your attention? Those are the types of questions you should pose to yourself before making snap judgments about people. Seek to see them for who they are. Don’t make an initial assessment that they’re evil or up to no good because they remind you of someone that has preceded them. If you take the time to investigate the hidden qualities they possess that you initially missed, you may uncover less appalling aspects.

Reflection

If you’re unaware of the prejudices you possess towards people, you’ll act and react to them based on those prejudices. And that can lead you to treat them unjustly and create untenable situations. Thus, be aware of the thoughts that emanate from your mind. Those thoughts can take you away from harm or put you in harm’s way. The controlling factor, per the direction you choose, is the control you exercise over your mind.

In challenging times, become more aware of your thinking process. Doing so in less challenging times will allow you to create a consistent trigger-like mindset. And that will enable you to think faster in situations that may appear to be threatening.

Good thoughts can stem from your mind, but only when you’re thoughtful enough to curb the bad ones that attempt to control you. When you lose control, you lose control of your judgments. Then, you act on instinct. And sometimes that can leave you in unwanted positions.

Once you learn to discipline yourself and manage your emotions better, you’ll discover new ways to manage your thoughts better too. That means you’ll no longer see evil in those that you previously classified as being no-good. Your mind and body will appreciate that. And everything will be right with the world.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d 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 https://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

 

#People #csuitenetwork #thoughtcouncil #Bodylanguage #readingbodylanguage #Negotiations #Control #Conversations #NegotiationStrategies #NegotiationProcess #NegotiationSkillsTraining #NegotiationExamples #NegotiationTypes #ReadingBodyLanguage #BodyLanguage #Nonverbal #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #negotiation examples #Negotiation strategies #negotiation process #negotiation skills training #negotiation types #negotiation psychology #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself

 

 

 

Categories
Entrepreneurship Management Negotiations Operations Sales Skills Women In Business

“When Is The Best Time To Promote Change” – Negotiation Insight

“Change is inevitable. Even if you don’t embrace it, change is changing you.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)   Click here to get the book

 

“When Is The Best Time To Promote Change”

 

There he was – with his life dangling on a fraying thread. He sensed that his career, all that he’d worked for, and all that he’d accumulated would soon be lost. He wondered how he’d allowed himself to get caught up in such a dire position – as he thought aloud, is there anyone that can save me. At that moment, as though God was giving him a second chance, someone whispered, is it time for a change? Would you like my help now?

In any situation, there’s an optimum time to introduce change. It’s the time when one can maximize the leverage one has in an environment. That’s also the sweet spot to seek before implementing change. Because that’ll be the point when you’ll have the most significant opportunity for your views and values to sway the opinions of those you seek to influence. And here’s how to go about doing so. 

Chaos

Anytime chaos exists in an environment, the chance for change becomes heightened. Because, when it occurs, there’s usually a lack of order and stressing factors that have become part of those surroundings. A lack of cohesiveness can also reveal itself in the unsureness of people that don’t know what direction to take. At other times, confusion may stem from a simmering feud amongst competing factions.

Regardless of when or how chaos occurs, be alert for it. And if it’s not prevalent, it may behoove you to insight chaos by feeding the desires of competing forces. Prepare yourself ahead of time with plans at the ready to nurture the calm that others will search for from the chaos that precedes serenity. When you sense it, hear the sounds of opportunity inviting you to take action. Then, search for ways to implement your plans to quench the thirst for harmony that warring factions will pursue. Be sure you’re the one recognized for ushering harmony back into the void that dispelled tranquility. Your reward will come in the form of increased authority and influence.

Crisis

While chaos can reside within crises, the latter has characteristics that avail the opportunity for change that chaos might not possess. For one, a crisis is usually the result of an existing, real, or perceived imminent threat existing, whereby people expect immediate actions to be adopted. That’s the main reason you should denote crisis from chaos and when the former occurs. You’ll need to address crises in a quicker manner, which means you’ll have less time to develop a plan. That’s the reason you should have a plan to address a crisis and a different strategy to address chaos. While pieces of either may possess interchangeable parts, you should create each design to stand alone as separate entities.

Timeliness

Before implementing change, you should consider the timeliness of it. There will be better times than others to do so, which will impact the degree of success you have. In assessing timeliness consider

  1. How dire the situation is where you seek to invoke change – if a condition is viewed as being acceptable, and thus not warranting modification, your thoughts will be less valuable and perceived as being less required. In that case, the change that you offer will be less likely to be accepted.
  2. The time-period you’ll use to introduce your suggestions for change based on the situation – it may behoove you to have a rolling implementation of your recommendations if you require time to assess the progress of the plans you’re currently implementing. At other times, it may be more beneficial to implement strategies to incite change faster. Always be aware of the time frame you’ll use to implement change. The period in which you do so will impact the probability of your success.
  3. Other people that have or may have a stake in maintaining the status quo versus those that want to alter existing conditions – either side may be a dominant force of contention. Therefore, the better you know what the contending factions are, the better you can plan for how you’ll use or combat them.

Reflection

No matter what activities surround you, if you seek a change, and it’s not happening fast enough, you must inject it into the environment. But you must do so at an optimum point and time. If you fail to abide by those parameters, you run the risk of having your plans met with failure. And if that occurs, others may banish you to an unforsaken position within the midst of your environment, never to have the opportunity to influence change again. To prevent that from occurring, mark your time when harmony abounds. But seek opportunity when you can wreak havoc passively, and don’t leave your fingerprints on your activities.

The more you can induce change for the betterment of the powers to be, the better will be the power that you can control. That will enhance your influence and persona, which will heighten the prospects of you being the ‘go-to’ person when other exciting situations arise. And everything will be right with the world.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d 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 https://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

 

#Time #Change #csuitenetwork #thoughtcouncil #Bodylanguage #readingbodylanguage #Negotiations #Control #Conversations #NegotiationStrategies #NegotiationProcess #NegotiationSkillsTraining #NegotiationExamples #NegotiationTypes #ReadingBodyLanguage #BodyLanguage #Nonverbal #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #negotiation examples #Negotiation strategies #negotiation process #negotiation skills training #negotiation types #negotiation psychology #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself

 

 

Categories
Body Language Entrepreneurship Human Resources Investing Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

“Negotiator Do You Know How To Combat And Use Manipulation” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

“There’s nothing wrong with manipulation, as long as you’re the one controlling it.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)  Click here to get the book

“Negotiator Do You Know How To Combat And Use Manipulation”

 

Warning: The following information will enhance your awareness of how to manipulate people. The intent is not to provide you with details for that purpose. Instead, the resulting ideas aim to allow you to protect yourself from those that would use manipulation tactics against you.

Recognizing the forces of manipulation is a necessity when dealing with people. Because, while you’re intentionally or unintentionally manipulating others, other people are manipulating you. The latter leads to the mood you adopt when interacting with people, the impact that it’ll have on future interactions with your allies and those that oppose you, and the shifting path that it might lead to per your future. Thus, you should always be mindful of the effects that manipulation will have on everyone in an environment – because future situations will be altered based on the reshaping of your current circumstances.

The following are ways to recognize when manipulation is prevalent, along with how to use and combat it.

 

  • Addressing Manipulation

 

  • Recognizing mindset – Before you can contest anything, you must be aware of what you’re confronting. You should be mindful of the potency of someone’s attempt at manipulation (i.e., weak, non-threatening, substantial, imminent threat, etc.) to assess the force you’ll need to combat it. While making that assessment, consider your current mindset, those of your challengers, and where your mental perspective will be after your response. By doing that, you’ll be adopting a long-game strategy, which will hopefully allow you to avert knee-jerk reactions to situations. Because, the latter can leave you in a position of re-action, versus being proactive and causing others to respond to your stimuli.

 

  • Priming mindset – To assist in your efforts of making others reactive to your stimuli, consider how you can shape their opinions and perspectives before they have substantial interactions with you. You can accomplish this by

 

  • being viewed as challenging the opposition that opposes your target audience

 

  • the alignments you have with other thought leaders of their ilk – those that they respect and aspire to be like

 

  • being perceived as a supporter of the efforts of those whose alignments you seek

 

The arching point is, you have to control your message and persona to be effective when combating manipulation or being manipulative.

 

  • Forms of Manipulation

 

  • Silent
    • Silent treatment – Recall the last time someone gave you the silent treatment. If it was someone of significance in your life, you probably experienced some form of dread. You may have wondered what you’d done, what might occur next, and what action you should be prepared to adopt. For sure, you went into thought mode. And that’s the effect that giving someone the silent treatment can have on your target. It can put them into a state of uncertainty. But, be aware that such treatment can also force your subject into the opposing camp to seek comfort from such treatment. So be attentive to when and how you use it.

 

  • Body language gestures that can enhance the projection of silent manipulation

 

  1. demeanor – calm acting in upsetting situations (e.g., either you or they get riled up, while the other party is calm and detached, leaving the other exasperated)
  2. display – displaying inappropriate or untimely smiles, smirks, frowns, etc., to convey a sense of foreboding or intimidation
  3. spatial – occupying someone’s personal space to make them experience uneasiness

 

  • Social proof – Seek to have positive aspects about yourself, your position, and your perspective in environments that your target frequents. That will shape how they perceive you and your actions, which is to imply that they’ll be more amenable to following your leads.

 

  • Guilt – Seek to make the subject feel guilty. Accomplish this by having your target’s peers side with your opinions. The silent message becomes something must be wrong with you (i.e., the target). Only the uninformed have such beliefs.

 

 

  • Verbal

 

  • Flattery – When people sense sincere flattery from you for them, it creates an attraction in you from them. To enhance your manipulation efforts, compliment others for an achievement or accomplishment that they’ve made and do so in the manner that suits their personality. While some individuals seek praise in front of others, some prefer more subtle acknowledgments. Know the form that best fits the target you’re bestowing adoration upon to maximize its effect.

 

  • Coercion – When you’re in a position of authority or supremacy over someone, it can be easy to coerce them to bend to your will. The challenge becomes, if you make someone engage in actions by that means, they may hold grudges against you, and seek ways to ‘even the score’ at a later date. Thus, you will have created a future problem for yourself. If you feel compelled to coerce someone into acts that they’d rather avoid, understand the potential ramifications of your actions.

 

  • Recognizing And Using Silent Forms of Manipulation

 

  • Gradual movements – Move gradually; it attracts less attention. It’s easy to become susceptible to being manipulated. That’s especially true when it occurs over an extended interval of time. During such times of the manipulation’s effects, you and your environment become normalized. That means you accept what transpires in your environment as being ordinary. You perceive manipulative occurrences as being non-threatening. Thus, you become numb to the travails that manipulation may thrust upon you, while you sit calmly and not adopt actions to protect yourself.

 

  • Employment – To combat the protracted form of this manipulation, be observant about the day-to-day occurrence that suggests you alter your opinion about a matter. And if you wish to use this form against others, distract them from paying attention, while you employ your manipulative actions.

 

Reflection

To combat any form of manipulation, you have to be aware of its presence, the structure it exists in, and the intent that it makes to alter the current situation or environment. By identifying those factors, you’ll have a better position to manage the environment you’re in and use the effects of manipulation to your advantage.

Keep in mind that people don’t like the sensation of being manipulated if it’s to their detriment – but they don’t mind when it’s to their advantage. Thus, to enhance your efforts to manipulate others, have them perceive your actions as being favorable to them. Do that while being mindful to ward-off the efforts of those that would manipulate you to your disadvantage. And everything will be right with the world.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d 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 https://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

 

#Manipulation #Combat #csuitenetwork #thoughtcouncil #Bodylanguage #readingbodylanguage #Negotiations #Control #Conversations #NegotiationStrategies #NegotiationProcess #NegotiationSkillsTraining #NegotiationExamples #NegotiationTypes #ReadingBodyLanguage #BodyLanguage #Nonverbal #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #negotiation examples #Negotiation strategies #negotiation process #negotiation skills training #negotiation types #negotiation psychology #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself

 

 

 

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Best Practices Management Personal Development Sales

Your Value Focus Journey: Organizational Alignment

Part 2 of a 4 part series

In my last article, I declared that “customer focus” is too vague to measure and implement, but that “customer value focus” was the essence inside customer focus that you were unknowingly seeking. Then I introduced three domains in which any journey toward value focus should operate. In this article, I’ll talk about the first of those three domains, and what the journey looks like at three different levels.

Every customer value focus journey needs to include some organizational work: alignment between departments. This amounts to de-siloing your organization.  I’m all for developing robust expertise in many specialties, but the act of creating silos/departments also creates gaps for important stuff to fall through (it’s science. Anthropology, to be exact).

Working in this domain is coming up with answers to the question:

How well aligned is everyone in your organization to customer-perceived value.

Below, I describe some of the telltale indicators of whether you’ve moved beyond average to Good, Great, or Elite, describing characteristic behaviors at each level.

I’m also grafting in some of the research basis for these three performance levels, using a highly respected research house.  Of the 12 organizational behaviors of world-class sales organizations identified by CSO Insights in their 2019 Sales Best Practices Study, (SBPS) three of them belong in this domain.

I’ll plug them in below with the note “CSOi 2019 SBPS”, then their description of the behavior they surveyed for.

Good Organizational Alignment

Moving from average to good means that an organization started de-siloing. This tends to start as multiple two-department alignments. Think of water droplets on your car roof merging with each other, two at a time — on separate parts of the roof. The drops are getting bigger, but there is still no single organizing theme.

Here is a typical progression for one alignment “convergence”:

  • Sales and Marketing become aligned on leads, working toward a single definition of a lead rather than a large disconnect between MQLs and SQLs (marketing and sales qualified leads, respectively)
  • Sales and Marketing also begin aligning on content: advertising, sales support, customer education, sales training content and the lie – not necessarily all at once.  There is growing consensus between the two groups on definition, design, and utilization.
  • Customer service may be brought into the “team” as well, giving their input. (CSOi 2019 SBPS:  Sales, Marketing & Customer Service effectively aligned on customer needs/wants)

Another convergence often takes place between sales operations and sales management. This is common in good organizations but becomes more forward-looking and strategic at the good level. If a sales enablement organization exists in the organization, all 3 have begun to work to a unified set of strategic goals. (CSOi 2019 SBPS:  Sales Management, Sales Ops, Sales Enablement effectively aligned to drive results)

There will also be a customer experience (CX) initiative, which tries to capture every role who regularly touches the customer. This CX often starts as a level one CX initiative:  everyone working not to be the weak link in a customer’s total experience. Getting all parties aligned is significant progress, but the bar is set low, to “just don’t screw the relationship up”.

Great Organizational Alignment 

Where good companies have started interdepartmental alignment, great companies go even further.

Sales & marketing alignment gets deeper, and more focused:

  • Additional customer-facing organizations merge into the expanding island. At minimum, sales, marketing & customer service are engaged. (CSOi 2019 SBPS:  Sales, Marketing & Customer Service effectively aligned on customer needs/wants = known value gaps. )
  • Often, technical sales/sales engineering/application engineering, client success, and possibly technical support are included, at least occasionally.
  • Content strategies are now persona-based, and/or optimized for place in the customer journey. Real account-based marketing might come into use.
  • Lead scoring becomes even more sophisticated almost always well-linked to a collaboratively defined ideal customer profile. Lead scoring analytics capture telltale buyer behaviors, not just opens and clicks.
  • A voice of the customer function becomes more robust and influential, and begins informing content, and possibly lead definition

Customer experience management often progresses to level 2: emphasis shifts from “don’t screw anything up” to “figure out how to delight”. Customer-facing roles are almost always empowered to resolve customer issues within their own scope  — (CSOi 2019 SBPS:  Customers have consistently positive interactions in every channel they use to engage us).  In rare cases, if channels partners are used, CX initiatives try to pull them under the CX umbrella.

After some time operating at a “great alignment” level, the organization begins feeling like it values continuous growth culture, and develops a tolerance for continuous change.

Elite Organizational Value Alignment

Where great organizations bring more and more customer-facing roles into alignment with specific personas & are responsive to the customer journey, elite organizations turn several radical performance corners:

  • In one radical change, they all align to customer value, not just customer needs/wants.  The language of customer outcomes becomes the common denominator in alignment discussions and customer engagement strategies.
  • Everyone who touches the customer is proactively engaged…and enlisted in the process of value discovery. Everyone is a “value scout” who brings value gap discoveries back to the hive, for use by sales, marketing, products, production, implementation…every function of the company.
  • Lead scoring flows smoothly into opportunity scoring…up to and including the same scorecard through the entire customer journey.
  • With deeper insights into the customer world, focus on customer-described and customer-known needs/wants can graduate to predictably-recurring, but customer-unanticipated needs/wants, which often have higher value.  Because there are many customer-facing roles engaged in the process, outcomes associated with unanticipated value gaps are much easier to find, and their value easier to articulate.

In Elite organizations, value-based analytics go wider: from sales to every role.  Sales, marketing, product training, sales ops/enablement, leadership, and sales coaching are ALL focused in not just on customer features and benefits – but on value.

Customer experience goes to level 3: Beyond “delighting the customer” all customer-facing roles are actively engaged in uncovering…then delivering additional value

I Want More for You.  Radical, Elite Value Focus.

Cultural alignment is only one of three domains in your journey to elite value focus.  It goes hand-in-hand with the other two: Value-focused Sales Culture, and Value-focused Enablement…the topics of my next two articles.

Comment below, like, and/or share. As always, reach out if you have more in-depth questions, or read the next articles…then call me. We can talk about where you are in your journey and where you’d like to go next.

To your success!

 

 

 

 

Categories
Investing Management Marketing Personal Development Sales

Your Value Focus Journey: Sell…and Price…At Elite Level

Part 3 of a 4 part series

The ability to sell the value of your offer–then price it–is what pays for all of the value your company works so hard to produce.

Customer value is the kernel within “customer focused” that moves customer decisions, and you need to focus sharply on value. In the first article in this series, I introduced three domains in which any journey toward value focus should operate. Last week, I discussed the first of those three domains, organizational alignment around customer value, and what different achievement levels look like.

Your customer value focus journey also needs to progress in a second domain: your organization’s selling capability. Working in the sales performance domain is coming up with answers to the question:

How well is everyone in your organization able to build, sell, and price customer value.

I use the term buyer enablement (walking the customer through their journey, a value-centric take on sales) domain.  As you progress from average to “elite value-based seller”, skills deepen, and the number of participating roles widens radically.  I use three key components of customer value engagement to describe this domain:

  • Build: Uncovering and discovering value gaps, expanding them, and causing the customer to envision outcomes of having those gaps resolved.
  • Sell: Aligning the seller’s solution with desired customer outcomes.
  • Price: Facilitating the customer process of monetarily measuring the desirability of outcomes, then conducting a win-win pricing dialogue.

The most elite performers, those who employ radical value focus, are able to execute more sales at more profitable value-based pricing.

In this article, I describe the telltale indicators of whether you’ve moved beyond average to Good, Great, or Elite, describing characteristic behaviors at each level.

I’m also grafting in some of the research basis for these three performance levels, using a highly respected research house.  Of the 12 organizational behaviors of world-class sales organizations identified by CSO Insights in their 2019 Sales Best Practices Study, (SBPS) three of them belong in this domain.

I’ll plug them in below with the note “CSOi 2019 SBPS”, then their description of the behavior they surveyed for.

Good Sales Culture

Good sales organizations know that the sales process delivers more reliable results than “hire, onboard and hope”.  Good sales organizations develop playbooks and selling processes to track selling stages.

In addition, they implement a selling methodology to keep selling processes aligned with customer buying processes.

Perhaps more importantly, good performers consistently and proactively use — and preview — call plans to prepare for great sales calls. Call plans are one key marker beacon that you have a good sales culture. (CSOi 2019 SBPS:  We effectively use call planning tools to prepare for customer interactions).

Forecasting at good companies is based upon a combination of qualification criteria, gut feel, and progress through the selling process (increasing probability as an opportunity progresses through the sales funnel).

Profitable sales are usually not a point of emphasis in good companies. Pricing and discounting is seldom rigorously controlled. There is probably a nominal process, but the triggers for approving discounts/price exceptions are easy for certain salespeople to game. Companies at this level seldom formally track who is discounting, how much, and to which customers. As a result, they can’t even analyze the severity and scope of their discounting behavior. Compensation plans may include a profit component, but there is no formal system in place for sellers to be capable of consistently selling value.

Great Sales Culture

Where good companies use persona-based methodology tools as team selling tools, great companies make sure that all conversations add value to the customer’s buying process. (CSOi 2019 SBPS: We Consistently conduct mutually-beneficial sales calls with customers and prospects).

Great companies also leverage everything learned about each persona into handoff tools between (for example) sales and implementation teams – and/or account management.

Sophisticated account management methodologies, and executive interaction tools are used by great sales cultures to broaden and deepen relationships. (CSOi 2019 SBPS:  Our Sellers Effectively Communicate Value Messages that are relevant to buyer’s needs).

Forecasting rigor improves at this level: from feel and selling process completion to opportunity fit (varying degrees of precision here) and some estimate of customer engagement in their own buying process (CSOi 2019 SBPS:  We have a rigorous forecasting process that drives forecast accuracy).

Pricing and discounting rigor may develop at this level. There is probably a formal process, but discounts/price exceptions are probably still concentrated suspiciously. Even great companies seldom formally track who is discounting, how much, and to which customers, and it may not even be a point of emphasis. Compensation plans may include a profit component, but there is no formal system in place for sellers to be capable of consistently selling — then capturing (via price) — value.

Elite Sales Culture

In elite sales cultures, proactive call planning matures.

  • Instead of good sales calls only by salespeople, everyone who touches the customer is able to have at least a simple value discovery interaction.  Most companies find the idea of engaging all customer-facing roles in value discovery radical. Elite value cultures take advantage of the trusting relationships built throughout the customer organization.
  • Conversations are designed to facilitate a customer process of monetarily measuring the desirability of outcomes, then conducting win-win pricing dialogue. Such conversations inform value-based pricing, negotiation, and discounting/price exception processes. I can’t understand why this is so radical for so many organizations, but…it is.

Pricing and discounting rigor flourish at this level. There is a formal process in which discounts/price exception decisions are informed by accurate assessments of customer value. There is an objective system, understood by everyone in the company, for pricing decisions. Elite companies formally pricing/discounting behavior, with analytics on how much, to whom (which customers, which salespeople, which territories/regions, etc.) and on which types of opportunities pricing exceptions occur.  Compensation plans almost always include a profit component, and salespeople know how to maximize both their incomes and corporate profitability.

Underneath it all lies enough customer-world business insight so that your customers know that everyone who touches them understands their business and is trying to help them grow it.

Where Are You in Your Journey?  And Where Would You Like to Go?

Sales capability is one of three domains in your journey to elite value focus.  It goes hand-in-hand with the other two: Company-wide alignment around value and Value-focused Enablement…the topics of my other two articles.

Comment below, like, and/or share. As always, reach out if you have more in-depth questions, or read the accompanying articles…then call me. We can talk about where you are in your journey and where you’d like to go next.

To your success!

The value you create for your customers means nothing if they don’t know it…or if you can’t sell it…or if you can’t capture a price premium for it. Do all three, and you have a rare capability.

 

 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/selland-priceat-elite-level-your-value-focus-journey-mark-boundy

Categories
Marketing Personal Development Sales

Your Value Focus Journey: Enablement and Elite Customer Focus

The last of a 4 part series

If you aren’t enabling a culture of continuously improving value focus, you’re falling behind some competitors.

In part one of this series, I introduced the idea that customer-perceived value is the kernel within “customer focus” that actually moves customer decisions, and you need to focus sharply on value. I also identified three domains in which any journey toward value focus should operate. In the second article, I discussed one domain, organizational alignment around customer value, and described successive achievement levels. Part 3 dealt with the second domain: your organization’s selling capability.

This installment: The enablement domain, which is any activity meant to improve the performance of the sales function. Generally, it encompasses talent strategy, training, coaching, and content services.  Your customer value focus journey needs to enable continuous improvement whether you have a formal enablement function in your organization or not.

Enablement improves with a number of services incorporated, depth of each service, and breadth: who is included. More importantly, maturity increases with transitioning from event focus, to process-focused, to closed-loop process.

  1. An event focus might look like “train and coast”, or “coaching sprint” then coast.
  2. The process looks like ongoing training or developing a consistent coaching cadence.
  3. Loops close when coaching drives changed training when sales insights are captured for improved content and product innovation.  The more loops closed, the more elite.

One way the journey from average to good starts is when a company realizes that front line sales managers performing as “super salespeople” or “deal saviors” doesn’t scale — or build bench strength — nearly as well as coaching everyone to save their own deals. Another key indicator of maturity is the organization’s discounting process and behavior, from subjective/”squeaky wheel” management to objective, value-focused and tracked/analyzed

Like the other articles in this series, I describe telltale indicators of whether you’ve moved beyond average to Good, Great, or Elite, describing characteristic behaviors at each level.

I’m also grafting in some of the research basis for these three performance levels, using a highly respected research house.  Of the 12 organizational behaviors of world-class sales organizations identified by CSO Insights in their 2019 Sales Best Practices Study, (SBPS) five of them belong in this domain.

I’ll plug them in below with the note “CSOi 2019 SBPS”, then their description of the behavior they surveyed for.

Good Enablement Culture

Going from average enablement to good encompasses several capability upgrades.

First, and perhaps the most important aspect of up-leveling from average to good:  Spend time turning front line sales leaders into coaches, rather than just being super salesmen or deal saviors.  Deal savior-ism doesn’t scale, or build bench strength, and good companies know it. Coaching is the difference between “train and coast” and achieving behavior change. (CSOi 2019 SBPS:  Our sales managers effectively coach salespeople to higher levels of performance).

I’ve mentioned it elsewhere, but it bears repeating here.  In good companies, the enablement function becomes aligned with both sales and marketing, with a jointly-developed planning and execution cycle.

Additionally, to avoid the cost of bad hires, organizations focus on more effective hiring to get the right people in the right roles (CSOi 2019 SBPS:  Our talent strategy ensures we have the people capability to achieve our business goals).

As I described in part 3 on sales capability, at the good level, discounting is often still at an immature level.  Discounts are awarded based on subjective criteria such as salesperson nervousness.  Discounting is typically not even tracked, but there is a clear anecdotal pattern indicating that price exceptions are poorly controlled.  Enablement at the “good” level often considers discounting out-of scope.

Great Enablement Culture

Great enablement cultures understand the folly of “train and coast”. Learning starts to be viewed as an integral aspect of corporate life.

Coaching capability is put in place to ensure behavior change. Great companies realize that coaching isn’t a project, but an ongoing cadence…building into something that anchors a personal growth culture  (CSOi 2019 SBPS:  Our culture supports the continuous development of customer-facing professionals)

(CSOi 2019 SBPS:  We continually assess why top performers are successful)

I’ve mentioned it elsewhere, but it bears repeating here.  In good companies, the enablement function becomes aligned with both sales and marketing, ideally with a jointly-developed long-range plan for developing organizational capabilities. They share a vision for a continuous growth culture, emphasizing predictive selling behaviors.  After a while in this mode, the organization develops tolerance for, and may appreciate for continuous change.

Great companies manage and coach to predictive behaviors, not trailing results indicators, and develop analytics that track the big hitters. (CSOi 2019 SBPS:  We have a clear strategy for leveraging data (operational, customer) as an asset for sales

With adoption of sales methodology that aligns to personas & customer journey, forecasts can become more rigorous.  This happens when forecast probability is based on opportunity fit and customer engagement in the buying process, not just qualification and progress through a selling process (the norm at good companies).

Discounting/price exceptions mature a little at great companies.  There is an orderly process, often strictly followed, but there is often still no – or at least woefully inadequate tracking of “discount spend”. It’s typical that senior executives suspect, but can’t measure the problem because there are no metrics.

Elite Value Enablement Culture

Elite enablement cultures drive radical improvement in results by placing customer value at the hub of their strategies.

Elite enablement cultures close a bunch of loops.

  • They not only track sales performance analytics, but track coaching effectiveness.
  • Training and coaching everyone who touches the customer to uncover a wider set of value gaps, which feeds team selling, marketing efforts, and produces insightful product development ideas.
  • They track customer perceived value by outcome, to inform product training, content marketing, opportunity scoring.

Tracking customer value by opportunity informs a robust, objective discounting/price exception discipline – or value-based pricing for custom and semi-custom offers. Opportunity value also informs highly accurate forecasting, as the difference between value and price is a measure – in dollars –of customer preference.

Where Are You in Your Journey?  And How Far Would You Like to Go?

Enablement capability is one of three domains in your journey to an elite value focus.  It goes hand-in-hand with the other two: Company-wide alignment around value, and Value-focused sales capability…the topics of the prior two articles. I will go into much greater depth in my upcoming book, Radical Value, coming out in March (but I’m offering advance copies to reviewers).

Comment below, like, and/or share. As always, reach out if you have more in-depth questions, or read the accompanying articles…then call me. We can talk about where you are in your journey and where you’d like to go next.

To your success!

 

Categories
Leadership Marketing Personal Development Sales

Your Value Focused Journey: What is Your Sales Reputation?

 

Now that you’ve closed out another quarter — possibly another year – it’s a good time to reflect. Now is a good time to ponder some big themes that will affect your, and your business results in this new year. It might be a good time to do a little self-assessment on your sales reputation.  If you’re in sales, this might mean your personal reputation.  If you lead a sales team or a company, it’s a good time to think about how customers think of your team and your company

The turning of a new decade reminds us that the world is changing (I know, if you’re a purist, that happens in a year, but some things are too important to put off that long). Customers are changing; their business is changing around them, and the way they buy is changing.  Invest a little time right now considering those changes, and what demands that change puts on you.

This past year, I watched a few reputations change.  Some for the better, some not.  The thing is, the ones that improved did so because people understood the stakes, and what was required to make positive changes.

As you consider your sales reputation, here are a few questions as food for thought.

The Mediocrity Merry-go-round:  Are You Riding it…Or Creating Your Own Journey?

Research has uncovered a self-defeating feedback loop that I call the mediocrity merry-go-round. It’s summarized below. Sellers don’t differentiate themselves and are therefore excluded by prospects as information resources.  Customers, therefore, self-diagnose to a greater degree, and multiple salespeople from different competitors respond to customer-prepared requirements.  This results in “multiple vendor presentations of the same solution”…and voila:  customers are proven right that salespeople aren’t worth consulting for more than price and delivery.

If you have a sales reputation as one of those “meet, but don’t exceed expectations” sellers, you are stuck on the merry-go-round.  The longer you ride it (and/or the more of your salespeople are riding it), the harder it is to hop off.  Worse, you can’t differentiate.  The more stuck you are on the merry-go-round, the more likely it is that you or your sales team discounts their way out of trouble rather than using your company’s differentiation.

Are You Responding to Customer RFPs or Shaping Them?

This question relates to being on the mediocrity merry-go-round but is directed at a specific marker: RFPs. If you have RFPs as a regular part of your business, you should be tracking pre-RFP engagement.  Major categories might look like:

  • An RFP that we didn’t know about before receipt.
  • An RFP that we knew about, but didn’t know what it contained
  • An RFP where we knew the contents before issuance but weren’t able to shape.
  • An RFP where we had substantial input in shaping before release.

Obviously, there are many other dimensions to consider in how actively you pursue an RFP (how much discovery is allowed prior to response, for instance), but the dimension of how effectively your sales team was able to get in front of an RFP isn’t just a predictor of success, but it’s an indicator of your reputation: whether you are trusted enough to be a resource to the customer as they define their own requirements.

Those selling opportunities in which you’ve been trusted to help shape requirements are those where your reputation is what it should be.  What percentage of your funnel does that last category represent?

Do You Have “Great Relationships”, or Are You a Valued Consultant?

We often hear the importance of relationships, but too few understand that “strong relationship” can mean liking: personal affinity, or trusting: credibility.  One is far more important than the other; your sales reputation relies more on credibility.  A seller with a reputation for insightful diagnosis of a customer’s situation and who builds personalized recommendations is going to be more successful than a seller who remembers a customer’s birthday. Some customers respond more strongly to the latter than others, but all customers appreciate the former more highly.

The research behind The Challenger Sale is just one data point that highlights the difference between the “personal affinity” side of the customer relationship and the “credibility” side. That research found that relationship-reliant personality types are not necessarily high producers, and (in a finding that combined the Challenger personality type with a credibility-building step that wasn’t covered) that forcing perspective moves the sales needle.  In a real-world finding that the Challenger research missed, half of the “Challenger” personality types are low performers who challenge without having built credibility. Successfully implementing Challenger means making sure that challenger type and challenging behavior is bolstered by a credible reputation. Business acumen, customer orientation, and empathy need to accompany the challenger type, otherwise, challengers are annoying know-it-alls who harm your reputation.

Are You a Discount-happy Order-Taker or a Profitable Producer?

Believe it or not, there are actually sales organizations filled with sales professionals who take pride in the margins of their won contracts. Unfortunately, many companies build reputations for discounting their way out bad selling situations.  Literally.  I mean situations caused by bad selling, not bad situations that mysteriously pop up during a sale.

Worse, if your company has developed a reputation as discount-dependent, you’ll find yourself not on a merry-go-round, but on a downward spiral. Customers are easily trained to expect, then demand discounting.  It’s much more difficult to train them that you have regained pricing discipline.

Worse still, companies who discount communicate, in the most convincing way possible, that their offer isn’t worth full price.  Price declares value.  I’ve seen companies whose offer regularly has ROIs in the hundreds of percent discounting to “win deals”.  I’ve got news:  with ROIs like that, the problem isn’t the “I”: the price. It’s whether an individual customer believes they’ll achieve the promised return…and discounting only adds to the doubt.

Perhaps worst of all: What does discounting do to your internal reputation?  If sales is the only department in the whole company which doesn’t seem to care about profitability, why should a sales leader expect a seat at the executive table?

Reputation Management: Analog Edition

Internet “reputation management” is a thing, but your sales reputation isn’t something you can hire an SEO expert or a reviews manager to fix.  You build a sales reputation one sales interaction at a time. Purposely, proactively, and consistently.  You’re building a reputation during each customer touchpoint.  Is it the one you want?

What is your sales reputation?  Want to talk about it? Want to do something about it? Contact me.

To your success!

P.S. If you want to read the rest of the series check out:

Part 2 – Organizational Alignment

Part 3 – Sell…and Price…at Elite Level

Part 4 – Enablement and Elite Customer Focus

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Negotiations Sales Women In Business

“What Is The Hidden Value Of More Civility, Pleasure?“ – Negotiation Insight

 

“What Is The Hidden Value Of More Civility, Pleasure?”

– Negotiation Insight

“What a time to be alive”, he thought. “I’m their leader, and they love me!” And yet, he had just defamed someone – a person that had recently died who’d given much of his adult life to serving others. The leader had a problem with civility. The problem was, he didn’t see the value in being civil. Nor did he understand that it transmits a sense of induced pleasure.

Do you know the value of civility? Are you aware of when and how to use it to induce the improvement you seek in others? If you think you’re not in search of some form of enhancement when you’re civil, this article may be eye-opening for you.

People tend to be more civil during certain times of the year or when they’re in particular environments. As an example, the public, in general, inclines to be more courteous and are in a state of merriment during the end-of-year holidays. They wish one another a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad, and a host of other greetings to display their civility and good wishes to humankind. What happens to that civility during the rest of the year, and why does it seem to wain after the end-of-year holidays? Here are some helpful thoughts to ponder when thinking about the value of civility and how you can use it to improve situations.

Know when civility might work, and when it might not work

In general, it’s nice to be kind to others. Because in return, they’ll be helpful to you. And there’s a psychological sense of pleasure instilled in a continuing exchange of civility. But some people take civility as a sign that others won’t fight back. We saw that manifest itself in Europe in the 1930s when one world leader sought to appease another. The appeaser thought he’d avoided future conflict. Later, the world discovered that those actions only fed the fervent fever of a man that would take the world to war.

When you seek to improve any situation, weigh the value that civility will have on the outcome. You might also assess what the lack of civility will cast. To enhance your assessment, know the character of the person with whom you’re evaluating. While some will respond favorably, others won’t. For those that won’t, let your lack of civility be your guide.

What causes one to dismiss civility’s value?

Some individuals possess a bullying mindset. They’re the ones that have gotten their gains by lying, cheating, and browbeating others. Thus, they’re accustomed to using the same bullying tactics that have gotten them to where they are. Because their value perspective is to belittle others to make them submit to their will, as alluded to earlier, they use the strategies that have worked for them in the past. That mindset and actions make such individuals easier to spot. Thus, they expose their future actions by the deeds they’ve engaged in in the past, along with how they engaged in those deeds. So, be mindful of someone’s track record when assessing the probability of using civility to induce a pleasant action. That means, when a person shows you his true self, believe him. Otherwise stated, what you see is what you’ll get.

Timing

As stated earlier, people are more amenable to being civil, depending on the environment and on certain occasions. And that’s where your opportunity may lie to influence them. If you’re aware of a person’s personality type and the times they’re open to being civil, choose a time and environment that’ll aid your efforts the most. The converse is true too. Meaning, if a situation is unconducive for civility and it serves your purpose, use that as an opportunity to influence your subject. As with most things in life, timing is everything. Thus, it impacts the probability of success or failure. So, use timing and the environments you’re in wisely.

Reflection:

There’re hidden pleasures in being civil. It’s shown through the dispositions displayed by those whose moods are enhanced as they engage with others. You can also see it displayed in the demeanor of those impacted by it when it’s absent. If you seek improvement in your environments, weigh the factor that civility might have to assist your efforts. It could be the extra weight that enhances your improvement efforts. And be mindful of how you apply civility based on your subject’s mindset. While it works to put some individuals in a more pleasant state, some will see it as an opening to mock or demean you. So, know when to be civil, in what situations to apply it, and with whom to extend it. Once you cover those bases, you’ll have a heightened chance of making others and yourself become improved. And everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d 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/

#Value #Pleasure #Civility #Bully #Bullying #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #negotiationexamples #Negotiationstrategies #negotiationprocess #negotiationskillstraining #negotiationtypes #negotiationpsychology #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #TheMasterNegotiator #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself

 

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Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

“Powerful Persuasion How To Boost And Increase Negotiations” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

“To increase your negotiation outcomes, increase your skills of persuasion.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert.

 

“Powerful Persuasion How To Boost And Increase Negotiations”

 

No matter her persuasion efforts, nothing seemed to increase her negotiation position. And the negotiations had extended over numerous sessions. She thought, if we don’t close this deal, we could be out of business. The negotiation was that dire! It had to bear fruit.

When was the last time you found yourself in a dire negotiation – one where everything was on the line? If you’re past your teenage years, more than likely, you’ve had such experiences. During such times, did you consider the impact that persuasion had on the negotiation and its outcome? Did you even think of the persuasion techniques you’d use before, during, and after your exchange of positions with others? You should have – because doing that would have altered the course and outcome of the negotiation.

The following are better ways to use persuasive techniques and how to implement them to enhance your negotiation efforts.

 

Shape The Mind – Mold The Perception:

Most people are persuaded to conformity by group thinking, acting, and adherence to what they listen to, and by those that they view as authority figures. Thus, to shape the mind of those that you wish to become your followers, you must mold their perception. The stimulation of that source may occur from figures seen on TV, heard on the radio or podcasts. They may even arise from those whose writing they observe in magazines and articles that they deem as possessing relevant content about insights that interest them. And that’s where your opportunity to mold their perception lies. You must be seen and heard in the mediums through which your targets have their perspectives molded.

The point is, to increase your chances of influencing the thoughts and actions of others, they must perceive you as someone with authority. They must view you as a person that possesses respected dominance in a domain that’s relevant to them. That perception will allow the recipient of your actions to become swayed by your suggestions, demands, or edicts.

So, what steps should you consider to shape the mind and mold the perception of those you wish to persuade?

  1. Casting Friend/Foe – Before your initial encounter with your target, determine if they should fear or like you. The cliché that comes to mind is, “It’s better to be feared than loved.” And that’s true in some cases.
  2. Once you’ve determined the demeanor to cast, assess the leaders in your target’s spectrum that will be most influenced by it, and gear your efforts at controlling those leaders. The linking of your persona to those already known as influencers by your target will eventually convey a sense of, they’re on board, and I’m just like them – so I should be too.
  3. Project and play your role in the venues in which your actions influence others. The goal is to allow them to ingrain in their minds who you are and what you’re willing to do to acquire the outcome you seek.

 

Reward – Congruency:

Consistency is the glue that holds your persona together. Thus, you must be mindful of projecting a consistent character, no matter the environment. If you’re generally amenable in some situations on some days and more demure during others, you’ll be sending an incongruent message. Even if you extend an agreeable attitude to those that accept your influence and chastise those that don’t, you’ll emit the signal of rewarding those that adhere to your wishes and punishing those that dismiss it.

The point is, you should reward those that accept your leadership and seek ways to disfavor those that challenge it. The amount of discord you allow is something you’ll have to address based on the degree of tolerance you have for non-conformity. And, the overarching message is, you’ll become rewarded by being consistent. So, be consistent in how you present yourself.

 

Conformity – Using Social Pressure:

Social pressure influences people. The factor that you should consider is, what form of social pressure you’ll use to control those that you wish to curry favor with, and what elements you’ll use to dissuade those that oppose you. You might:

  1. Praise those that seek recognition in forums that would allow your target to experience the highest degree of pride.
  2. Demean and denigrate those that oppose you in mediums that will have the most effect. To enhance this process, seek some from their clan to use as examples. If admonished forcefully, it’ll set a precedent that others will not want to incur.
  3. Leave an open path that dissenters can use to move towards you. And create a pit of hell for those that would continuously defy you. The more you can control the impact that others experience from social pressure, the more control you’ll have over them.
  4. Use your target influencers as your unwitting allies. Do that by exploiting their weaknesses as leverage points to entice or dissuade your target from adopting positions based on those that they see their influencers taking.

 

Nurture Continuing Compliance:

Once your target acquiesces to your demands, concessions, and desires, inspire them to continue their allegiance. You can accomplish that by doling out favors or granting requests that are slightly outside of what’s normal (do this with allies to display the extension of your generosity for those that follow your edicts). The fact is, once you’ve sought and acquired someone’s adherence to your demands, seduce them to promote their continued loyalty. It’s easier for them to meet your future requests – the more they meet your current ones. Because psychologically speaking, people naturally seek consistency. And that’s the reason you must encourage continuing compliance with your requests.

 

Reflection:

In all of your negotiations, there’s a power factor that sways the entities involved to move in one direction versus another. To be more powerful, you must increase your abilities of persuasion. Consider implementing the thoughts mentioned, how you’ll apply them, along with when you’ll achieve them. That will give you an increase in your advantage. And everything will be right with the world.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d 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 https://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

 

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