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Speed Dial: 60-Second Marketing Insight Newsletter
Attack of the Swedish Negotiator: Negotiating Conflict the Wrong WayHe cleared his throat and shifted in his chair.
I don't know if it was weeks of frustration from our torn-up
basement, irritation at spending money we didn't have, or just a bad burrito at lunch, but I let 'er
rip with the subtlety of a chainsaw:
"I'D SAY I sure wouldn't want to do business with a company that'd
try to UPSELL me just to get me BACK to their original price!"
Hmmm. Amazingly enough, that brought our meeting to a
close.
I later asked my husband (who didn't get to say much more than
"bye" as Bob bolted for the door), what he thought. Fully aware that I was still
too upset to acknowledge the win-win importance of negotiation in everyday affairs, Ward began to show me the error of my ways with a light-hearted riff on my Swedish
heritage:
"Hon, might want to lay off a little on the whole Viking
school of negotiating conflict. Tough is one thing, but 'Silly man! Ve are see how you
negotiate now, vis NO HEAD!!!?' Maybe finesse that a bit..."
Effective Negotiating Skills Require a Cool Head and Flexibility- - Or Else!
Ja, ja, not much wiggle room in the whole take-no-prisoners
approach to negotiating. I always play fair, and when I suspect someone's taking advantage of
me it can bring out my inner Helga. But here's the thing: after further research, I determined that
Bob was playing it straight and that he really was our best option. So NOW what was I to
do?
I swallowed hard, called Bob, and re-opened our negotiations. The
deal closed at 7:30 last
night.
Lesson Learned: The Win-Win Importance of Negotiation
This negotiating story ends with a win for both me and
Bob, but it certainly could have come about more smoothly, and I learned a great deal about the
importance of negotiation with a win-win outcome. By making a snap call when I didn't need to, I
cheated myself of time- - time to gather more information, weigh my options, and decide upon the best
negotiating strategy. It probably wasn't a smorgasbord of joy for Bob,
either.
Effective negotiating skills require that we manage our
negotiating weaknesses in critical moments in order to give everyone at the table the opportunity
to experience the win-win importance of negotiation.
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