“Here’s the problem,” this consulting client in procurement told me years ago. “We’ve worked with this software company for a long time and our internal clients are pretty satisfied. But its fee just skyrocketed and it’s being really stubborn – no concessions at all....
“I don’t like it when procurement gets involved and takes over from our client in the General Counsel’s office,” this large law firm partner told me recently. “They don’t recognize our true value and just focus incessantly on price, like we’re a commodity. We’re...
“Hi – how are you?” my friend said to his teen daughter years ago after coming home from work. She erupted, yelled at him, stormed to her room and slammed the door. He turned to his wife and said “what did I do?” She replied “you talked.” This example, shared by...
My 14-year-old daughter has excellent negotiation skills. And that’s a problem, at least now. Of course, I shouldn’t complain. She’s a great kid and very responsible, etc. But she can also be really frustrating. My friends with older daughters tell me this is a...
I sold children’s shoes in high school at Dayton’s Department Store, and we took everything back – no questions asked. The shoes could have been worn for a day or a year. Dayton’s policy was clear: the customer is always right on returns Of course, some took advantage...
I have coached and trained over 50,000 sales professionals in negotiation since I started in this business 25 years ago. Many have achieved great success, including some with seven-figure incomes. The most effective have excellent negotiation skills (since sales and...
My Dad knew a ton of things. But how to fix stuff around the house was not in his “toolkit.” 😊As a result, I knew very little about home repair issues when I bought my first house. But over the years I’ve asked questions, listened carefully, and I now recognize many...
I’m not much of a handyman. In fact, my father-in-law warns me all the time to stop overtightening everything. And he watches me with an eagle eye whenever I use any of his tools (and he has a veritable hardware store in his garage). It’s just not my skillset....
I recently led a negotiation ethics seminar with an expert panel that included: the Dallas Mavericks’ General Manager and President of Basketball Operations, a U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge, and a large law firm partner. Since they collectively have over 150...
