The Must, Should and Could of Negotiation As a negotiation skills keynote speaker who speaks on negotiation skills throughout the country, I have noticed a common point of confusion among many negotiators. Whether you are negotiating a deal in Denver, Colorado, Orlando, Florida or Boston, Massachusetts, you need to know the difference between “Must,” “Should,” and “Could.” Confusing those issues could turn the negotiation into a losing proposition for...
When I speak on the topic of negotiation skills, I like to recall a couple of famous quotes that are surefire ways to lose in almost any negotiation. As a negotiation skills speaker and negotiation skills consultant and book author, I never like to see anyone “get hurt” in a negotiation because of an easily avoidable attitude. The two quotes Who knows how far back the quote, “A friend...
As a negotiation skills speaker and negotiation skills consultant, I have noticed a troublesome trend in the modern-day hiring process. This trend should be reversed as a matter of priority especially in the current labor market which is anything but predictable. It goes to the matter of the hiring and interviewing process. What is your image? In my keynote talks on negotiation and the hiring process, I like to...
As a negotiation skills speaker and negotiation skills consultant, a frequent question that comes up in the Q&A sessions on negotiation is if the act of negotiation is just to reach agreement on contracts or the dialog between a sales organization and client. The question was far more meaningful than we might imagine especially in the present day where it is difficult to hire and retain exceptional people. The...
My specialty, as a negotiation skills speaker and negotiation skills consultant often involve asking groups the following question: “Do you think you’re the good guy or the bad guy?” The usual answer from audience members in my negotiation skills speeches is, “I try to be the good guy. I guess it depends.” Bad guys are not necessarily bad Many executives, business and tradespeople believe that negotiation needs to be...
As a virtual negotiation skills speaker, when presenting to groups I stress that many virtual negotiations are often “over” before you even have the chance to talk. In the “olden days” of about eight months ago, when we negotiated in-person, we had many visual cues, voice inflections and other intangibles to judge what the other side was thinking. Now, we have big and little squares on our computer screens....