Can you afford to walk away; can you afford not to?
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| Mike Freedman |
As consultants we regularly talk to
people on either side of the same negotiation and we often notice
that both sides view their position as uniquely
negative or disadvantaged. The conclusion being that generally
there is scope in most negotiations for us to feel more positive
than we currently do and more hopeful than we have previously been;
perhaps we have more power than we have to date assumed.
I was checking the prices of video
cameras on "EBay", the internet auction site, and I watched with
interest an individual who actually paid more for a second hand
video camera than he would have paid for a new one at the store (I
know, I checked the same camera retail). Curious behaviour, but not
particularly uncommon. Why does this happen? For some people the
need to do the deal becomes more important than the deal itself. At
Scotwork we describe this as "deal focus". But that's not the only
reason. Paying more than market value, accepting less than we need,
signing up to an unworkable deal, can all happen if we are
insufficiently prepared.
Before the meeting, before the
negotiation or in this case before the auction, negotiators define
a "walk away", or limit point or position, a "must get" or "must
avoid" in which they must both believe and upon which they must be
prepared to act. If you don't do this you will potentially agree to
something you really can't do, or miss a deal you could make
work.
Preparation means many things to
many people but without doubt the most difficult element of
preparation is for us to be clear in our minds, the conditions
under which we would leave the room, at what point should we say
"thanks" to the other side but decline the "opportunity", beyond
what price should we keep our hand in our pocket at the
auction?
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"As a result of not being "prepared" to walk away, they
become a victim."
|
Not infrequently Scotwork clients
will describe a situation where a large percentage of their
business, sometimes even a majority of their turnover sources from
one particular client relationship. They say things like, "this
client is so important to us that I cannot imagine losing them" in
which case we say that this is not a client to service
provider/supplier relationship actually, because without having
defined a walk away point, unfortunately they will give their
client whatever they ask for. In truth as a result of not being
"prepared" to walk away, they become a victim.
When we work with these clients to
clearly define their walk away positions and we observe them in
subsequent negotiations, their behaviour changes. When under
pressure, where the situation is at or below their limit, their
body language instead of being uncertain or reflecting nervousness
under pressure, becomes determined; they become resolute in their
position. If you do not have that point or position clearly in your
mind then that message (through whatever means) will not be
transmitted by you during the negotiation.
If you don't usually define a "must
get" or "must avoid" point or position, we urge you to adopt the
habit from today. You definitely have nothing to lose by doing so,
and have great deal to gain. But a warning, avoid complicating your
objectives with too many "must gets", check the main subjects of
the discussion and ask yourself if there is a limit position on
each major discussion point. Most of the time there won't be, there
are almost always situations that you can imagine in which under
certain more positive conditions you could possibly accept a change
in your intentions or adopt alterations to your proposal, but
invariably maybe one or perhaps two issues per discussion will be a
prerequisite for co‐operation, perhaps a deal breaker if not
achieved or if you are dealing in variables such as time, numbers,
percentages or money, (elements of most negotiations) maybe these
could have an upper or lower limit which if exceeded or not
achieved would render the discussion unsuccessful.
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"You should eventually come to view your walk away limit
as a point of strength."
|
Given due consideration, walking
away need no longer be a subject to avoid or to fear. You should
eventually come to view your walk away limit as a point of
strength. If you have the wisdom to define, and the courage and
conviction to act upon your "must gets" and as a result it becomes
necessary to wish the other party the best of luck (unfortunately
without your co‐operation), then walking away has been a good
thing, it has protected you from loss, and/or saved you from a poor
or expensive deal and probably damaged relationships through an
unworkable business co‐operation.
It's a fact, but sometimes walking
away is just good business, "be prepared" to do it.
Mike Freedman
Scotwork Consultant, Turkey
Copyright Scotwork 2011, All rights reserved.
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