Naturally, as adherents to the philosophy of Positive Persuasion; i.e., Winning Without Intimidation, we believe that negotiation should always be win/win in nature and result in a similar outcome. But, let’s face it; there are those who don’t feel the same way.
It’s important that we are aware of this. Remember, it’s not called “Losing” without Intimidation, but “Winning,” meaning that everyone should either get what they want, or at least feel good about the transaction and everyone involved. We must be aware that others may have a different mindset so that, not only are we are not taken advantage of, but instead can redirect the negotiation for the results we want.
The following is an excellent example, used with the permission of Dr. Loren Ekroth, from his ezine, “Conversation Pieces”:
In an Inc. Magazine article by Rob Walker, he related the story of entrepreneur, Mark Comiso.
After winning a bid to develop a website for a very big company, the client thought better of it and, according to, Comiso “Made us negotiate with the purchasing department for the privilege to work with them.”
Comiso relates that the negotiations were tense and that they pulled the dreaded “everyone wants to work with us” and “you have to do better if you want to do work for us” tactics so often used in traditional negotiation.
“Then” reported Comiso, “they said, ‘This is just the beginning {of a lot of future work for us}, so give us a great deal on this one and then we’ll pay full price on the future stuff’.”
Now, listen to how Mr. Comiso responded to this. It’s “textbook” Winning Without Intimidation.
“I responded, ‘Boy, multiple opportunities sound wonderful, and we’d be very excited about that – so excited that, if you pay full price for the first one, I’ll give you increasing discounts on the following projects’.
“This actually worked in that it forced them to say, ‘Well, how about we just figure out what a fair deal is for every project’.”
In Part Two, we’ll look at two specific reasons why what Mr. Comiso did worked so well.
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Bob,
Your point is nicely illustrated with a ‘polite’ turnaround “…and we’d be very excited about that – so excited that, if you pay full price for the first one, I’ll give you increasing discounts on the following projects’. I’m curious about how often this occurs in negotiations. I suspect if a greater number of negotiations would yield in more amicable results if this skill is utilized.
All the Best,
Drew
Hi Drew, thank you. While I’m not sure how often it is used as literally as in the above example (though there is not reason why it shouldn’t be. I certainly have since first learning that and it’s very effective), I’d imagine the basic principle involved is used often. And, I definitely agree with your conclusion.