Negotiating your way around a tough economy

Okay, so we all know the economy is tanking at the moment. No news there. But have you thought about how you can use this to your advantage? All it takes is a little negotiating savvy and an eye for spotting opportunities. Check it out:

I recently read a business negotiation article by Eileen Alt Powell in the Home News Tribune that gives some very interesting statistics regarding the rise of bartering for goods and services in lieu of cash payments. This includes consumers looking to trade items or services with other consumers, as well as businesses that might be looking to trade services or work off excess inventory in return for new customers.

Jim Buckmaster, CEO of the online classified ad and forum giant, Craigslist, estimated there were more than 140,000 barter posts this past May, more than double the number from a year ago. Tom McDowell, executive director of the National Association of Trade Exchanges, also cites a down economy as the catalyst for the rising number of barter deals between businesses.

Another article found in Money magazine (Bob Tedeschi, August, 2008) flatly states if there’s any silver lining to our sluggish economy it’s that the consumer is back in charge with a lot more power to name his or her price. Here are a few examples the article cited:

• Mortgage Brokers: Volume remains low for those brokers that are still in business. When buying your next house, use that leverage to cut commissions.
• Health Clubs: Besides a downturn in business due to the aging of the Baby Boomers, the economy is keeping new signups to a minimum. It’s a good time to negotiate reduced rates on initiation and monthly fees.
• Cell Phone Service: If your contract has lapsed or is about to lapse, call your company’s retention department and tell them “the other guy” is offering some pretty attractive plans. What are they willing to do to keep you as a customer?
• Cable/Telephone/Internet Services: Like cellular phone service, play one company against the other. Mention competitors’ rates and tell them you’re considering switching to save some money.
• Electronics/Clothing/”Stuff”: Retail sales have been sluggish all year and as a result, consumers are often able to get significant additional discounts on big-ticket items. Use a comparison-shopping site to find the lowest price, bring it to the store, and find the person (usually a supervisor) that has the authority to “okay” a lower offer.

Two important things to know before you head out on the bartering trail:

First, like the proverbial “party poopers” they are, Uncle Sam’s eyes and ears at the IRS say some barter transactions are taxable. According to them, “The fair market value of goods and services exchanged must be included in the income of both parties.” That figure then gets entered on Form 1040’s Schedule C, which is titled Profit or Loss From Business. So, it would be in your best interest to consult a tax expert before proceeding in a barter deal. ‘Nuff said.

Second, if the extraordinary opportunities that exist out there have tickled your “barter bone,” you want to make sure you do it right and give yourself every advantage possible. What’s that mean? It means sharpening up your negotiating skills on September 18, 2008, at the Radisson Hotel in Piscataway, NJ, when the world’s foremost negotiator, Herb Cohen, presents the fine art of negotiating a deal.

In an exclusive New Jersey appearance promoted by Move Ahead 1, Herb, a worldwide bestselling author, will share his strategies and unique insights for reading people and situations, and negotiating from a position of strength. Learning Herb’s skill sets will help you to deftly manage negotiating situations in all walks of life, including business, personal relationships, and of course, bartering!

Don’t even think about it; register now! Your one-time investment will bring you a lifetime of returns. And you can take that to the bank!

Who’s Better at Negotiation Skills, Men or Women?

Two interesting articles came through my RSS reader today posting the results of a study regarding gender and negotiation skills. The first noted the following:

Women more skilled at business negotiations than their male counterparts.

I can buy that, being a woman. However let’s look at the study results based on simulations of business negotiations among 554 Israeli and American management students at Ohio State University, in New York City, and in Israel at the Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration. Dr. Yael Itzhaki who conducted the study (a woman as well) stated, “Women are more generous negotiators, better co-operators and are motivated to create win-win situations.” Women offered better terms to reach an agreement than men. And women were good at facilitating interaction between the parties, she found. The study also indicated that women are great listeners, they care about the concerns of the other side, and they’re generally more interested in finding a win-win situation - a statement coined by Herb Cohen, our upcoming seminar speaker - to the benefit of both parties than male negotiators.

Then just posted today…

When it comes to negotiating, men and women change gender stereotype

A study from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business assigned 190 MBA students to same-sex groups to represent either a high-status recruiter or a low-status job candidate engaged in a standard employment negotiation simulation. The study noted that when incentivized to make a positive impression on their counterparts, men and women in the high-status role acted in ways that contradicted gender stereotypes. Women negotiated more aggressively and men negotiated in a more appeasing manner.

Business schools are looking for ways to ensure graduates are given all the skills necessary to compete in an ever increasingly aggressive and competitive business environment. That means graduates entering the workforce are even more prepared to dominate in business. It’s not going to be whether you are a man or woman, but how well trained you are to negotiate and make the sale.

I could have told them to save their money. Women are the better negotiators. Just ask my husband!

So let’s hear from the men and women out there…who do you think dominates when it comes to negotiating the sale? Are you even prepared for the battle?

By the way, as far as men go, the master of negotiation is Herb Cohen. I’ll have a chance to go head-to-head with him this coming September. Will you be there?

How to Increase Employee Morale During Tough Economic Times

How come employees aren’t as happy as they were just a few years ago?  Quite obviously it’s because of the economy.   Employees are nervous and stressed in today’s volatile economy. Gas prices, food prices, downsizing. etc.   This causes lower productivity and raises health benefit costs for employers.

 

According to the American Institute of Stress, numerous surveys and studies confirm that occupational pressures and fears are far and away the leading source of stress for American adults and that these have steadily increased over the past few decades. So how can employers help their employees without breaking their already strained budget? 

 

Below are 3 simple ways employers can do this:

1. Be Honest.  Let employees know the state of the company.  It is critical that employers are honest about the company’s financial situation. If business is good, discuss new projects and contracts. If it’s not so good, focus on the integrity of the company and its management. 
2. Let employees know you care.  Provide information to employees about how to make the dollar go further, or where in the local area is gas the least expensive. Providing this information will show that you are listening and understand and ultimately, care. Providing this information won’t cost you too much time and more importantly, it doesn’t cost anything to provide information.
3. Don’t give up on training.  We know budgets are tight but there are some very cost effective training seminars that don’t require round-trip airfare, two nights’ hotel stay and a rental car. Look locally for a good ½ day or 1 day seminar and send your employees to it!   Not only does it show that you value their growth as an employee, it gives them a chance to be with each other, outside of the office and can be used as a really great morale booster. It’s also  a great return on a minimal investment.

There are several more ways to assist during slow economic times. These are just a few to get started.

 

A great way to view  a company is to look at how it treats its employees both in good times and bad.

A Tale of Two Brothers

I recently returned from an extended stay in Walt Disney World. Now, many people know I’m a big fan of Uncle Walt. The man’s determination to turn his dreams into reality was second-to-none. Along the way, he encountered plenty of pitfalls and obstacles and he surmounted every one of them.

And fortunately, he had his brother, Roy, to provide the safety net.

You see, as much a visionary as Walt Disney was, it’s common knowledge that he was virtually clueless about managing money. He’s even quoted as saying, “All I know about money is that I have to have it to do things. I neither wish nor intend to amass a personal fortune. Money may worry me, but it does not excite me. Ideas excite me.”

Well, that’s all fine-and-dandy, but we all know that without money, things don’t get done. And that’s where Roy Disney came into the picture.

Roy was to money what Walt was to creativity. And I think it’s fair to say that without Roy, there would be no Disney Empire today. Roy, a banker by trade, was the one who finagled the loans, took out the mortgages, and begged and borrowed from relatives when Walt told him how much his next idea or initiative was going to cost.

Did Roy like it? Heck no! Being frugal by nature, he often fought with Walt tooth-and-nail, claiming how they couldn’t possibly incur any more debt. It got to the point where the two brothers wouldn’t talk for weeks at a time, instead sending handwritten notes to each other from their separate offices in Disney studios when they needed to communicate.

But through it all, Roy loved and believed in his brother and somehow made it happen.

To simply say that Roy was good with money would be like saying Michelangelo was good with paints. No way. Roy was nothing less than a master negotiator to be able to pull off the deals he did to keep the fledging Disney company afloat.

Through it all, Roy proved that principles of negotiating go far beyond simply haggling over money and shaking hands over an agreed amount. It’s a mindset. It’s problem solving. It’s the ability to endear your self to another in order to bring about favorable results. It’s about understanding people’s true interests and finding a common ground.

If you’d like to acquire some of these high level, business-building negotiating principles that Roy Disney employed, then I strongly suggest that you take advantage of an opportunity to learn from the best negotiator in the world. Register now for Herb Cohen’s only New Jersey appearance at Move Ahead 1’s business development seminar on Thursday, September 18, 2008.

There’s one other quote of Walt’s that stuck with me from my trip. It’s on a sign in the “One Man’s Dream” attraction. It reads: “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

Okay. I quit talking. Now you begin doing.

You Gotta Be In It to Win It

 

 

 

I recently attended and exhibited at the NJBIZ Expo at the New Jersey Convention and Expo Center in Edison, NJ.  I wanted to make it a point to survey a few exhibitors as to, “how successful they thought the show was for their business”.  The comments I got were interesting. Here’s why.

 

One of the comments I received was, “I thought the show was great!  I got at least 4 fantastic leads to follow up on”. I heard this from an exhibit booth that was 2 spaces down from me so I had an opportunity to really watch how this gentleman worked.   Never once during the two day show did I see this person actually “in” his booth space. He was in front of his space, in the isle where people were walking. He greeted every visitor with a genuine “hello” and immediately asked if they had any questions about his organization, please feel free to ask. He allowed time for the visitor to browse his information and then, if there was interest, he spoke further with that individual.  Needless to say, he was properly working his exhibit booth and quite possibly received 4 new clients.

 

I also spoke with another exhibitor, who was working their booth with 2 people.  When asked the same question, their response was, “This show was a waste of time.  We could have been getting so much done in the office or on the road”.  Mind you, this was a large, well-known organization. While spying on their “tradeshow skills” I noticed that they showed up late, each day of the two-day show, they ate breakfast, and lunch in their booth, and spent all of their time sitting behind their exhibit table, chatting with each other, or on their cell phones, or, believe it or not…reading gossip magazines!  On the rare occasion that someone did stop at their booth, I overheard one booth staff member say, “I don’t know.  You’ll have to check our website on that information”.

 

Well, I don’t need to state the obvious but I want to give you just a few tips for how to properly exhibit at a trade show.

 

First you must remember this. A trade show puts hundreds of potential customers in your reach. You don’t have to drive, fly or spend an entire day just meeting with two or three people. Treat it as such. The attendees who visit your booth are your future customers.

 

Prepare. Be sure you are fully stocked with the materials you need for your exhibit. Don’t chance running out of business cards or anything that you use in your exhibit to attract customers.

 

Maintain a minimum of 2 people in your organization’s exhibit booth. This allows for one to be greeting new visitors and one to have more detailed discussions with visitors. However, you do not want to overcrowd your booth so a good rule of thumb is 1 staff member to 15 sq. ft of booth space. 

  

Consider breaks.  You never want an empty booth so be sure to break accordingly. 

This also allows time for the exhibit staff to check out the trade show, attend seminars at the show, etc.

 

Be sure breaks are not taken the booth. Stay professional and allow for breaks in the designated break area. All trade shows have them.

 

Inform current and potential clients of your participation and ask them to bring a colleague to the show.   Use this as a platform not only to generate new business, but to solidify and build on current business.

 

Limit the amount of product on display. Too much product can become overwhelming for the trade show attendee.

 

And finally, a proactive, friendly and well-informed booth staff member is often more effective in attracting attendees than a giveaway. Samples are valuable, but shouldn’t be the only draw to your organization’s booth.

 

There are hundreds more tips I can share with you. These are just a very basic few.   I think you get the general idea.  Working a trade show is a very interactive process. Don’t expect just because your booth is there and you are, “an exhibitor” that people attending the show will flock to your space.  Follow these basic tips and you will definitely see a return on your investment.

Herb Cohen — One Smart Cookie!

If Herb Cohen was a chef instead of a world-renown bestselling author and master negotiation skills trainer, I’m convinced he’d be one of the Food Network’s top personalities. I doubt if he has the culinary skills of Emeril, and Lord knows he doesn’t have the looks or allure of Rachel Ray. In fact, I have no idea if he knows how to season food, what temperature to cook at, or even the right ingredients to use. But I know he’d be in a primetime slot.

Why?

Simple—Because he knows how to sell it, baby. All you have to do is read his book, “Negotiate This! By Caring, But Not T-H-A-T Much” (Warner Hardcover, September, 2003) to know that much. Heck, this guy could sell a box of frozen fish to an Eskimo. (Ring Dings in a French bakery? Hamburgers to a vegetarian? You get the idea….)

And you know why he’s so damn good? Because—admittedly—he cares, But Not T-H-A-T Much.

It’s a compelling strategy worth learning…and relearning. And then learning again. It’s creative problem solving at the highest level.

Throughout the book Herb reveals details regarding his 30-plus years of being intimately involved in the mediation process of some of the world’s headline dramas, from hostile takeovers to hostage negotiations. He recounts colorful stories from the war rooms of some of the world’s largest Fortune 500 companies. And along the way he delivers what you picked up the book for in the first place — technical negotiation techniques geared towards the achievement of your business and personal negotiating goals.

Think you can learn something from this guy? Well, here’s your chance! Take some action right now and purchase a ticket for Herb’s only area appearance in Piscataway, New Jersey, on September 18, 2008. MoveAhead1, New Jersey’s premiere sales, marketing, leadership and professional business development promoters, will host him.

If your professional life involves any type of negotiations (and what professional life doesn’t?) and you choose not to attend this event, sorry, but you’re crazy. This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from…well, the guy that literally ‘wrote the book’ on persuasion techniques and the mediation process. If you’re not there you’ll be missed…But Not T-H-A-T Much!

Carpe Diem!

See you back here in a couple weeks.

Don’t judge a book by its cover!

New York Times’ bestselling author Herb Cohen’s reputation as a master of negotiation techniques is unparalleled around the world. And since I have the honor of being part of the Move Ahead 1 team that will host this legend at a sales training seminar on September 18 of this year, I wanted to know more about him. I mean, let’s be honest…when you look at him you think more in terms of someone’s kindly “Uncle Herb” rather than an individual that’s been intimately involved in mega-deals, hostile takeovers and hostage negotiations.

But don’t let the unassuming look fool you. I quickly found out that although he may look like someone that sells used suits off the rack this guy has provided his considerable negotiation strategies for high level business dealings and conflict mediation around the world.

Remember the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the skyjacking of TWA Flight 847? How about the seizure of the Achille Lauro? Herb’s considerable negotiation skills were utilized for all of them. His expertise in dispute resolution has been sought by the White House on a myriad of other problems as well, such as The Gulf Crisis, The seizure of the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru, and The Camp David Mideast Peace Talks. His list of clients is a “who’s-who” of top business executives, entrepreneurs, sports and theatrical agents, large corporations, and governmental agencies such as the Department of State, F.B.I., CIA., The U.S. Conference of Mayors and The U.S. Department of Justice.

Put it this way: He’s one of Trump’s heroes! What’s that tell you? Here’s what the King of Bad Hair Days had to say:

“There’s an art to deal-making and negotiating, and it’s an art that few people possess. Herb Cohen is one of those people. He knows what is involved in negotiating, as well as the indispensable tools required to be effective.”

That’s pretty high praise coming from someone who fancies himself as the guru of persuasion techniques.

Over the next week or two I’ll be reading Herb’s bestselling book, “Negotiate This! By Caring But Not T-H-A-T Much.” (I just leafed through the first few pages and was hooked before I got through the acknowledgments.) In fact, pick up a copy yourself and let’s find out together what “Uncle Herb” is all about. See you back here soon….

The Savvy Negotiator Ain’t So Savvy!

I recently read and interesting article, Negotiating Nuggets, written by Herb Cohen, one of the world’s most savvy negotiators.   What I found interesting about the article are the three points he makes.  They have nothing to do with being savvy.  In fact, the points he makes are quite the opposite.  You don’t have to be savvy to be a good negotiator.  Take a read. 

No Negotiation Skills Needed For Dinner With The Cohens

Recently, I had the opportunity to have dinner with, “The World’s Best Negotiator”, Herb Cohen.  He is the subject matter expert in Negotiation Skills, brought in by both the Carter and Reagan administrations to help advise on some of the most tension-fraught negotiations both nationally and intentionally over the past 30 years. Some of those include the skyjacking of TWA Flight 847, and the seizure of the Achille Lauro.

 

More recently, his input and advice has been sought by the White House on a myriad of problems such as The Gulf Crisis, the seizure of the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru and, the Camp David Mideast peace talks.

 

 Cohen is also credited with coining the terms most of us use in our everyday lives; “Win-Win, “Win- Lose”, and “Lose- Lose”.

 

While having dinner with Herb, I felt as if I was having dinner with a dear Uncle.  Cohen, mild-mannered and very funny, told his stories with such color that he left me feeling as if I wanted to ask him to tell his stories over and over again.

 

Cohen’s latest book, Negotiate This, By Caring, But Not T-H-A-T Much reads the same way he tells his stories, which makes the book easily understood with a lot of invaluable information when it comes to negotiating skills. 

 

Cohen will be appearing in New Jersey on Thursday, September 18^th, as the keynote speaker for

Move Ahead 1, which produces sales, marketing, leadership and professional business development seminars. I highly recommend sales managers looking for employee training development or anyone looking for business management skills training, get tickets for this event. It’s sure to be “Win-Win” for anyone from top-level executives to sales and management not to mention anyone who needs to work on their negotiation skills with their children.  Cohen says they are actually the world’s best negotiators!

 

Take a listen to his Podcast.  You’ll be sure to enjoy it.

Business Networking Stinks

How many times have you attended a networking event only to be asking yourself the question, “Why am I here wasting my time?”  Believe me. You aren’t the only one!  Networking stinks.  Sounds pretty bad coming from someone who has been networking since the early 1990’s and is a representative of an organization that produces business networking events doesn’t it?

Does networking truly stink or are we just not thinking when attending these events?

Here are a few suggestions to avoid having a networking event become a waste of your time.

Before attending, do your homework and find out who is going to be there. What organizations are sponsoring or exhibiting at the event?  How long has the networking group that is hosting the event been on the scene?  Make sure the networking group is the right audience for your particular product or service.  If you know someone who is a member of the networking group, don’t be afraid to ask, ahead of time, what business they have gotten out of being a member.

Next, be prepared. Have your business cards readily available, and have your mind ready to learn from other networkers as to what their businesses are about and how you can help them.  “Wait. What? Help them? I thought I was here to grow my business through networking!”And you are.  Use these events to build up your arsenal of good, trusted contacts that you can share with other organizations to help grow their business.  The more you help their business grow, the more they are going to help you grow yours. It’s only natural.  Using this technique will allow you to become a valued networker as you are offering help, not shoving what your company does down their throats at a time that they may or may not need your product or service.

When you are asked the age old question which I can guarantee you will receive, “What do you do?”, take the advice of Mark Green, President of Performance Dynamics Group, LLC by providing a well thought out response. He says: 

 “Start with the realization that saying what you “are” is not the answer to the question “What do you do?” To figure this out, simply ask your customers why they do business with you. You might discover that the value you provide to them extends far beyond what you thought! In fact, I would wager that any one of the points of value you provide would sound a lot more impressive than “I’m a [put your profession here].”

In giving these alternative answers, you are providing information that is more emotionally oriented and value driven. They speak precisely to the results of your work. This is the type of information that does not just go into the “bin;” rather it’s usually processed into a follow-up question. And follow-up questions lead to dialogues, dialogues to relationships, and relationships to business transactions.”

Have patience.  As we all know, it takes time to develop a relationship when doing business and, provided you did your homework and selected the right event for your product or service, still don’t  be under the misconception that if you attend a networking event, you will walk away with new business at that moment.  It takes time.

Networking doesn’t stink. It’s just misunderstood. If you do you research the event prior to attending, and think before you attend, you should never run into an event that becomes a waste of your time.  Use these suggestions to help you before your next networking event.  See you there!