Preparing For Negotiation When You’re A Senior Professional

I sold three companies before I turned 36, and they were all VERY intense negotiations. These are the 6 rules of negotiation that I wish I had known from day 1: 1/ Establish a Mission & Purpose This is your guiding light throughout the entire negotiation process. Do this by establishing a mutual goal with the other party that you can both return to again and again. Remind each other why you’re pursuing the negotiation in THEIR world. This is key because it helps the other party understand that everything you negotiate after that helps them achieve *their* goal. 2/ Understand Motivations Before you even begin an engagement, you need to understand the other party’s motivations. This is NOT the time to make assumptions because that will fast-track you to a loss. Listen intently as you get to know them, and really seek an understanding of their motivations. 3/ Drive to a Decision My negotiation motto is that every engagement should drive to a decision. Don’t bother with needless check-ins and updates. Instead... Stay focused on one decision at a time. That single clear objective cuts through the noise and narrows your attention. When your eyes are on the prize, nothing can distract you. 4/ Be Prepared Come to the table as prepared as you can with scripts, key points, and stakeholder motivations to guide you. Yes, scripts are actually amazingly helpful. Being prepared gives you direction, confidence, and the ability to anticipate and adjust.. fast. 5/ Don’t Bluff. It’s tempting! I get it. Especially when the other party is dragging their feet. But the moment you give a false deadline or ultimatum, and the other party calls your bluff… you’ve lost all credibility. There are ways to push action with bluffing: “It’s important you know if we don’t do ___ by ___ date, our mutual goal will be put at risk." This doesn’t have any hard bluff, but does give directional accuracy. 6/ No Isn’t the End I love hearing ‘no’ during a negotiation because I know that the negotiation isn’t over yet. Far from it: It means there’s an opportunity for further understanding. If you hear “no,” ask this: “What led you to come to this answer? What parts made sense and what didn’t?" Same goes for you - if you say “no” it doesn’t mean the negotiation is over. Say no, keep standing at the table, and ask “How would you like to proceed?” These rules aren’t just relevant to M&A negotiations, but they’re also effective tactics for most negotiation scenarios and even B2B sales. ––– I've shared my best negotiation tactics; now it's your turn – what are some tactics you use?

I led negotiations for industry-changing partnerships for 20 years. Steal these 5 tricks from negotiating experience: 𝟭. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲, 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲. Seem obvious? Maybe. But most people skip this step. Go into the deal knowing: • Who has the most leverage. • What alternatives you have. • What your walk-away point is. 𝟮. 𝗔𝘀𝗸: "𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁?" And ask it almost immediately. When you understand what the other party wants, you can structure the rest of the negotiation accordingly. Frame your solutions in a way that meets their needs. 𝟯. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. People expect negotiations to be serious affairs — so disarm them. Crack a joke. Make someone laugh. Relaxation leads to compromise. 𝟰. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. Create a sense of urgency. Expert tip: Set a hard "can't go past this date" deadline. Deals that go at their own speed often don't get done. 𝟱. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀. Yes, you really can have a win-win in negotiations. You have to be creative, but the best way to do this is by bringing other issues into the negotiation that were not core considerations at the start. -- 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀? Let me know in the comments below.

Closing a nine-month deal in one week came down to a single interaction.    I had the opportunity to coach a country General Manager on a big negotiation recently. We were strategizing an agreement she’d been struggling with for the better part of a year. The other side would yell one day and ignore her the next – classic poker-playing techniques for senior executives.     After learning what she was facing, I offered some suggestions on how to approach the negotiation in another way. Instead of continuing to beat the drum about how her value was superior to her competition, she instead addressed the way she was being treated by the executive.    The tone of the conversations turned in a single moment.     She reminded him of how he had tried to belittle her and her product with his negotiation tactics. She then asked, “What would you do if you were in my position?”     The other executive thought for a moment and said, “I guess I would have walked away a long time ago. I get it now, let’s talk.”     Inside of a week, she was able to close the deal, on her terms, and earn an extra $10M in revenue for her company.      When dealing with a high-stakes negotiation:    1.    Take the time to plan out your approach. You’d be surprised how often this doesn’t happen! It can make or break your next conversation – and it always saves time in the long run.    2.    Remember that every buyer is different. You will always need to adjust your value positioning and tactics to address their specific needs, organizational priorities and style. Think how your offering will: increase revenues, decrease costs, or mitigate some kind of risk for them.    3.    Learn poker playing tactics. These behaviors can slow down negotiations and are often just a bluff to get you to drop your price. When you know they’re playing poker, you can deploy a number of different tactics to level the playing field.