The key factor on which tactics depend is self-esteem. If it is stable and sustainable, then the person will try to negotiate constructively and mutually beneficial. If a person feels insecure, he will “get on the defensive” and be afraid of losing. If she is unreasonably tall, she will try to compete and “pull the blanket” over herself. In these two cases, the person himself behaves destructively. But in both cases, he believes that the problem lies with the negotiating partner. A kind of “blind spot” principle occurs when a person is able to understand and notice everything, except for the reason that creates problems in negotiations.
Adequate self-esteem is developed by surrounding yourself with a large number of people who can and want to tell you the truth about yourself. They are not employees of your company, not managers or colleagues, but your friends and comrades with whom you are on good terms. If you are adequate in your self-esteem, then you are adequate both in negotiations with partners and in personal communication.
Negotiation styles can be roughly divided into two types: emotional and rational. When going to a meeting, think about how your partner prefers to behave.
If his communication style can be called rational, one should focus on measurable indicators of negotiations and, at the beginning, rely on what is easier to calculate. And only then move on to what is more difficult to measure.
If he uses an emotional communication style, then you should focus on the emotional background of the negotiations. What arguments are needed to convince someone who is close to you that you are right? Almost none. What if he hates you? Also none - it’s unlikely that anything will help here. It is important to take small steps to make negotiations simple and enjoyable for your partner.
It is necessary to prepare in advance for different options for the behavior of a negotiating partner. If he uses attack tactics, then it is necessary to think about how to respond to aggressive and not always adequate reproaches, claims and restrictions. If he defends himself, we need to think about what arguments can be used to “pull” the partner out of the state of waiting for action only on our part.
It is always better to negotiate alone. There is no one to rely on, you count on
you're only preparing for yourself
to the maximum
Here it is important to act “by the method of gradual approximation”: to record minimal joint actions as an approach to the common result. This could be an agreement on the duration of negotiations, a list of issues to be discussed, and their order.
The more information you collect about your partner in advance, the better. But it is important not to show your interest before negotiations have begun. Moreover, try to hide your awareness as much as possible.
If you have gathered information (yes, speculative information) about your partner's interests and negotiating style, then you can probably determine which aspects of the deal the partner would like to initially hide from you. Or perhaps he is generally deceiving or being deceived regarding some facts and processes.
Under no circumstances should you catch your partner making inaccuracies or “show off” your knowledge. After all, if he wants to hide something, and you “bring it out into the light of day,” then you will not only complicate this negotiation process for yourself, but will also ruin the relationship for a long time. People are able to forgive many mistakes, but never the fact that someone is smarter, more competent or more informed than them.
At the beginning of negotiations, it is necessary to decide on the rules, topic and time. Most people try to determine the time first. And then it turns out that they didn’t have time to discuss “both this and that” issues. The rush begins. And behind it is inattention to the words, position and proposals of the partner. Therefore, it is important to maintain consistency.
The duration of negotiations may vary depending on how many issues are discussed: from one question for forty minutes to one and a half hours for 3–5 questions. There is no point in spending more time on one round. At the end of the agreed period, you must be ready to record some result.
It is better to schedule the next appointment for another day. People get tired of each other too, even if they are friends. And in negotiations, people work together to overcome differences and conflict areas. The exception is negotiations on business trips. Then you have to conduct several rounds with breaks. Then I advise you to physically change the location of the negotiations.
It is always better to negotiate alone: there is no one to rely on, you rely only on yourself and prepare to the maximum. At the same time, there are a large number of people who try to negotiate, as they say, “as a team.”
But teams of negotiators need to work hard to ensure that their work is coordinated and effective. Whereas negotiations are usually conducted by a group of employees whose interests often contradict each other. Only chance helps such pseudo-teams avoid causing major losses through their actions. All their contradictions, mutual interference, and inconsistency are visible to a specialist in the first minute. They lose by simply sitting down at the negotiating table. But at first they don't think so.
laugh with laughter, but when planning negotiations with a woman,
I'm trying to collect information - is she married, how is her family life?
Sometimes negotiations require the participation of a specialized specialist. Then you need to agree with him in advance what questions may arise for him. Only the one conducting the negotiations on our side gives him the floor. He does not have the right to directly answer his partner’s questions.
It's best when you are alone, and there are several people opposite you - you can notice contradictions in their positions. In this case, you yourself can always refer to the fact that it may take time to work through the issue under discussion (after all, there are several of them, and you also need to consult), and not make any decision until the next round of negotiations. This excuse is especially useful when you “have nothing to cover.”
The main thing to remember is: if you are one against everyone, you have time, which means you need to plan several rounds of negotiations at once. To do this, it is better to immediately warn that first you would like to study mutual needs and approaches to the problem being solved, and in the next negotiation round you will be ready to discuss possible options for cooperation.
Women are intuitively more sensitive to where the truth is and where the lies are. But when faced with unreliable information, they are not in a hurry to “attack” or “leave”, as men would do. They are interested in checking their guess. In such a situation, women are more prone to manipulation than men. But if you enter into an open dialogue with them, there will be no manipulation on their part either.
Sometimes there are exceptions to this rule, but rarely. This concerns the fact that women negotiate based on their emotional state. Something is bothering the woman; she may begin to behave emotionally unstable, “bitchy” and even manipulative.
Therefore, laugh with laughter, but when planning negotiations with a woman, try to collect information: is she married, how is her family life going.
It is imperative to take into account that in negotiations with a man, a woman will definitely note her partner’s status. And if he is at the same level or higher, then his positive assessment will be important to her. These can be signs of attention, and basic tact and politeness. Moreover, this applies to both married and single ladies equally.
If a man’s status is lower, then women conduct open negotiations, trying to finish them faster.
Illustration: Natalya Osipova
Briefing is a beautiful word. In Russian there are analogues that are clearer and more familiar: briefing, interview, introductory.
Typically, the briefing follows immediately after the conclusion of the contract under which you will work on the project. And it precedes the first stage of development of packaging, advertising campaign or communication strategy - research.
This is a very important stage of any project. And not just because this is the first time you've demonstrated what you're capable of. But also because the final result of the entire team’s work depends on the amount of primary information received.
First, to conduct a successful briefing, you and the client's team leader need to be well prepared.
Be sure to make a list of questions that need to be discussed before the briefing. You need to agree on the following:
It is important to worry about who will be present at the meeting in advance. The meeting must necessarily include persons making key decisions on the project. This could be the director of the company or some vice president. A marketing director is quite enough. If this specialist is competent and the manager trusts him in making key decisions regarding design, texts, strategy and vision for promotion as a whole. It would be wise to identify in advance the questions that the first manager must answer directly. This way, it will be possible to discuss the most important things first, without delaying the boss. And then, in a more relaxed manner, continue communication on other topics.
The ideal client team is the people who will make the final decision on the project, both in terms of ideas and strategy, and in terms of budget.
If there are no such people at the meeting, this is a serious reason, at a minimum, to ask a question about their continued presence on the project, or, at maximum, to refuse the meeting.
Situations often arise when the brand team briefs the agency, and the brief is not agreed upon with senior management - this leads to stupid situations at the final presentation, when the marketing director does not buy ideas and strategy because he sees the brief own company for the first time.
This does not have to be the owner of the company; much depends on the internal structure of the client. If the brand team has enough internal authority to choose an agency or ideas and strategies, then none of the top is needed.
It would be a good idea to send a list of questions to the client in advance for review. And ask to prepare the materials you will need for work. These can be tables with indicators, graphs, illustrations, and the like.
Why is this important? It very often happens that a client does not prepare for a meeting and, during the discussion of issues, begins to remember some numbers, often gets distracted, turning to materials lying in different folders or even offices. And as a result, you spend almost the entire meeting just writing down what you will expect from the client by email “during the day.”
Don't try to standardize your briefs. Each brief should have a special selection that matches the theme and objectives of the project. And not a list of 40-50 items common for all cases. If the client is construction company, and you are developing a brand and advertising campaign, this will be one list of questions. If the client is a cafe and he only needs corporate identity, then this will be a different list of questions.
Remember, never ask a client to fill out any formalized brief for a project, especially alone. In principle, at the project launch stage, communication via the Internet or telephone should be kept to a minimum. Maximize face-to-face meetings and live communication. The client will never be able to find the time to carefully fill out your questionnaires. And even if you are working with an advanced marketing director, you should know that only you have a good understanding of the questions you are asking for answers to. It is important that key experts are present at meetings on your part. If this does not happen, you may not even once in practice encounter a dead phone call or not ask the right questions on time.
You can record the meeting using a voice recorder. This is convenient if during the briefing you develop live communication and discuss a lot of details. In such a situation, it will be difficult for you to take notes. It would be more productive to record the conversation on a voice recorder and then take notes. Just warn the client about this in advance and ensure that the recording will not fall into third hands and will be used only for the purposes of the current project.
Ideally, the client has prepared a special presentation for you for the meeting. And he accompanied it with additional materials.
What should the client tell?Typically, a briefing, oral or written, includes several general points:
You can add to the proposed list:
In general, try to get the most out of the client. Even the most insignificant, at first glance, little things can become the key to solutions. And as much information as possible will help you find support in defending your ideas.
The briefing can take place in one or two meetings. And even more. At proper organization for the first time, the client is guaranteed to provide you with a lot of information that you will not be able to quickly master and analyze.
Most likely, after the meeting you will need to communicate within your company. And you will probably have your own vision of the task. With this, you can visit the client a second time to better understand the issues that have arisen.
Here is a case from practice. At the first meeting on a new project in the field of suburban real estate, one of the largest regional development companies considered general questions: vision of the promotion strategy for the residential complex, schedule and budget of the communication strategy project, style of a long-term advertising campaign.
The client identified a unique trade offer of your project as follows: comfort-class real estate in an environmentally friendly area. We took this information into account, requested and received a number of clarifications and a large amount of additional information.
During the discussion within the working group, we had a number of questions about the validity of such a message as “comfort-class real estate in an eco-friendly area” in relation to our product: what is comfort-class in our case, what attributes of the product confirm it; how appropriate is positioning as a comfort-class project in the visual concept of the brand.
There were blind spots in our project picture. Big ones. Namely, a number of inconsistencies did not allow us to call the project, modest in almost all respects, a comfort class.
And we formulated a series of new questions to identify gaps in the original brief. And they asked for a second meeting with the client to clarify the tasks and correct the introductory information.
The client responded very positively to this proposal and the meeting took place. As a result, quite quickly we slightly adjusted the positioning and finalized the content of the product.
Of course, we discussed all the issues that we would like to discuss remotely in advance, even before the meeting. And it turned out that by the time the second briefing was held, the customer’s marketers’ understanding of the product had also changed somewhat. And the questions we posed influenced the content of the project and the inconsistencies were eliminated.
And what is important here is not what exactly was discussed or what the problems of the product were. It is important to understand that any preparatory work, and even more so the formation of an information base for the project is the most important stage, requiring active interaction.
That's exactly how it should be. After the first briefing, you carefully consider the problem and make suggestions for adjustments.
This procedure will save you from the risk of working on a project with initially insufficient or incorrect input data or with a obviously untenable hypothesis. And this omission can be called a completely classic mistake of many inexperienced managers and marketers.
What girl wouldn't want to have the perfect first date with a guy? The time and place of the meeting are set, and a lot of questions immediately arise: how to prepare, what to wear, should I allow him a kiss on the first date? Anxiety is natural, because the future relationship with the chosen one will largely depend on how the meeting goes.
As a rule, the first date helps a man decide whether he likes the woman, whether he wants events to develop, or whether the romance will end before it even begins. Every woman has many tricks in her arsenal. With the right approach and a wise life position, any young lady can transform into a sexy and irresistible beauty with a bright inner light and a charming smile. It is important not to overdo it with “special effects”, so as not to alienate your gentleman and create the wrong impression about yourself.
Leave it to the man to decide where to go on the first date, and you yourself will choose a wardrobe that suits the situation, put on beautiful makeup, and pay attention to your hair. A woman should look gentle and natural. Let her appearance highlight her natural beauty and disguise minor imperfections.
The ideal place for a first date, whether it be a restaurant or a cinema, will make a woman feel comfortable and relaxed. Only when a girl is confident in herself can she open up and look her best.
Here are some tips for young ladies going on a first date with a guy:
Look natural and harmonious in accordance with the place and time of the meeting - that’s main task a girl about to go on a first date. A wise woman will definitely think through all the details so as not to miss her chance and win the heart of her chosen one.
Looking great when meeting a guy is very important, but that won't even be the deciding factor. If a girl wants a relationship to work out and a meeting with a man to happen again, she must watch how she behaves and what she does.
Focus on his interests
If you show sincere interest in his hobbies, a man will definitely appreciate it. He will choose as a life partner someone who will share his values and aspirations, with whom it will be interesting to communicate on topics that interest him.
Sincerity is the key to success
Young people can quite easily recognize lies and insincerity coming from a woman. No matter how hard the girl tries to disguise her true motives, the truth will come out one way or another. But sincerity will be rewarded, because every man wants to trust and be understood, to forget about masks and intrigues.
Expressing your opinion is the right thing to do
Some narrow-minded young ladies are sure that if you want a kiss to happen on the first date, you need to agree with the young man on everything. But that's not true! How can a companion be interesting who does not express her own opinion? The conversation becomes cloying, and the woman comes across as stupid.
Make jokes for your health
A cheerful, carefree companion will delight your gentleman and will definitely lift his spirits. Banter and jokes bordering on mockery should be avoided. Men react painfully to criticism, so if they hear barbs, they are unlikely to want to continue the relationship.
Be yourself
Who a man will love, you or a far-fetched image, is up to you to decide. It is better to appear before your chosen one from the very first meeting in your usual, comfortable appearance and state of mind. This way you will not deceive the young man and will not be disappointed in the future.
When meeting a man, it is important not to make stupid mistakes that can scare him off and ruin further acquaintance:
A tool for those who have difficulty negotiating
Jim Kemp's book, First Say No, is included in all employee training plans. It helps to immerse yourself in the world of your interlocutor and help him make the right decision.
But theory alone is not enough, practice is needed. When I see that an employee is unable to prepare for a meeting, I suggest that for several weeks he fill out a meeting card before each meeting with a client or call with a colleague.
I first learned about the negotiation card from Nikolai Toverovsky’s blog. This is a tool that helps you prepare for negotiations and practice your skills. You can fill out the card in any convenient form: with a pen in a notepad, in notes on a computer, or in a Google form. The main thing is to do it thoughtfully.
The card can be used to prepare for a meeting with a client, personal planning meetings, meetings with colleagues and any other negotiations. In preparation, a person formulates a mission, determines a budget and baggage, draws up a conversation plan and writes down the desired outcome of the negotiations. As a result, negotiations are clearer and more effective for all participants.
Over time, the need for a negotiation card disappears. This happens when a person develops the habit of preparing for meetings and they go according to plan.
The mission is a guideline in negotiations. It helps convince your interlocutor that with your help his life will become better. During difficult negotiations, a mission helps to remove fears and stay on the right course.
If I see that the discussion suddenly dies down, but the meeting itself seems to continue sluggishly, this is a bell that the participants do not have a mission or they do not fully understand it. Because of this, they do not fully understand why they are here, what they want to convey to each other and what decisions to make.
To define a mission, you need to understand your benefit to the interlocutor, and then help him see this benefit. For example, “to help my interlocutor see how useful I am to him” is quite a mission, albeit an abstract one. But it is better, of course, to formulate the mission as specifically as possible.
Talk about the importance of an operational plan in the work of a contact center
Help you see the risks if no one controls the implementation of the operational plan
It is important that the mission is not just for show, but is perceived as a necessary tool. Otherwise, the negotiator will not follow it.
Baggage is any circumstances that may prevent you from fulfilling what you agree on. For example, you agree with a colleague about the timing of a project. You know that in the middle of the project a key specialist goes on vacation and there is a risk of not delivering the project on time. At the very beginning of negotiations, you need to inform your interlocutor about this so that there is no misunderstanding.
To find luggage, consider what conditions seem questionable and where difficulties might arise. For example: “There is a fear that we will not cope with the task, because we have not done this before.” Write it down on a card and don’t forget to discuss it.
I'll squeeze a new project into my schedule somehow.
I can only devote five hours a week to a new project. Is this enough? If not, let's figure something out.
It's important to keep your baggage honest. Your task is to convey to the participant possible risks and minimize misunderstandings when discussing projects and tasks.
A negotiation budget is how much time, energy, money and emotion you can spend on it. Until the budget is spent, you can soberly assess the situation and control the negotiations.
How much will it take
20 minutes time for meeting
Think about how many resources you are willing to spend and agree on this with your team. If the budget is running out, you need to raise this issue and decide whether it is possible to make a final decision now or whether more time is needed. If you need more time, is it possible to allocate it now or is it better to schedule an additional meeting.
In negotiations with colleagues, it is easy to deviate from the main topic and waste your budget on empty talk. To prevent negotiations from draining your budget, politely ask your colleagues to return to the topic if they have strayed from it.
Continue useless conversations
Friends, we have deviated from the topic, and we only have 20 minutes
A written decision will help you remember why you came to these negotiations. It happens that interlocutors are distracted by other problems that seem more important to them. Because of this, they easily lose their thoughts and switch to another topic. As a result, they do not have time to solve half of the questions.
To achieve results, formulate in advance the decision you want to make at the end of the negotiations and write it down on a card.
Figure it out on the spot
Agree with the manager on a specific action plan for the development of the contact center: who is doing what and by when
What you can't talk about, you won't think through properly.
This aphorism from the works of Johann W. Goethe best demonstrates the importance of the stage of preparing a sales manager, together with his colleagues and manager, to communicate with a client.
Our article is devoted to how to properly prepare for the first meeting with a potential client.
At the first meeting, the client determines for himself the circle of suppliers with whom he will continue to interact. If you “lose” the first meeting, then, most likely, the chances of further development there will be no more relationships. But if you do it well, the chances increase greatly.
For high-quality and complete preparation for business meeting It is necessary to allocate at least one hour of working time for one employee and 20 minutes for all other participants.
Based on the results of preparing for a meeting with a potential client, all participants on your side should have the same understanding at key points:
Must act as a leader and mentor for his employees - sales managers. The manager’s task before a meeting with a client is to prepare the sales manager, for example, using the following practice: train, show, motivate.
Train. Having analyzed previous meetings with clients, you can discuss with the manager what strengths and weaknesses in negotiations and transactions. As a result, a constructive analysis of existing experience will help the sales manager not to step on the same “rake” or, on the contrary, to consolidate successes in proven ways.
Show. Vivid images and examples always work better than conversations. Use all available tools to prepare for the meeting - draw diagrams, demonstrate the key stages of the meeting in action.
Motivate. Explain the significance of these negotiations and the result itself, not only for the company as a whole, but also for him personally. Involve the sales manager in the process of preparing for the meeting with your participation.
The checklist we offer will allow you to control the most pressing issues of a manager’s self-preparation for a business meeting.
1. Discuss the meeting agenda with the client. This will require a short phone call, or email client to discuss the following topics:
2. Resolve organizational issues with the client
3. Update the goals of the meeting. Think and discuss with your manager the goals you want to achieve at the end of the meeting. Have a main goal, and 2-3 additional goals that would also be nice to achieve. Write down these goals, then you will check their achievement.
4. Think about compliments to the client. They will help, as well as defuse the “heated” situation during the conversation, if the situation requires it.
5. Think over questions for the client. Prepare and write down 5-7 questions in advance about possible client problems. It is worth mentioning that experienced sales managers have an established arsenal of favorite questions. Here are some of my examples of such questions:
6. Prepare a list of possible difficulties on our side. Formulate and write down 3-5 possible obstacles to working with this client. Examples of problems on our side:
As you probably guessed, if you understand the possible obstacles in advance, then you can think of a solution to them. By the time you meet with your client, you should have answers to all of these objections.
7. Prepare presentation materials
8. Prepare all necessary accessories and documents. Business cards, a document for access to the client’s territory, a notepad, a laptop with charger, directions, printed materials, branded booklets and gifts for the client.
The purpose of the first meeting with the client is to ensure the progress of the transaction, that is, to ensure that the client takes the next step towards us.
We do not recommend neglecting preparation for the first meeting with a potential client - the risks of spending are too great priceless time wasted meetings. To do this, all meeting participants need to agree on key points in advance.
Andrey Barsukov, leading consultant at Clientbridge
