The Many Benefits of Negotiating
A short while ago I wrote about wasted time and suggested that there are five ways to avoid this. Learning to say “No!” was one but another way is via negotiation.
Negotiation is a funny one because it's almost always an option, often a very good option, yet most people most of the time don't do it. I don't know why. I negotiate on loads of things. And definitely on almost everything that has a monetary value!
Tug Of War
We ordered a new bedroom carpet for daughter #1 this week (spilled nail varnish and uncapped highlighter pens can take their toll) and the negotiation sounded like this.
Sales Person: "That comes to £X in total."
Me: "Ooh, that's more than I wanted to pay. How can you help me with that?"
Sales Person: "Well Mr Smith, I've already applied a lot of discount."
Me: "I'd really appreciate it if you could get the price a lot lower."
In the space of about thirty seconds they found another 10% discount they could apply to the carpet. Result!
"That was quick," I thought. "I wonder if there's any further discount to be had."
Me: "Thank you. What further discounts are you able to apply?"
Sales Person: "I don't think there's anything else I can do to be honest . . . "
Me: "I'd appreciate it if you could take a look."
Cheeky Negotiation
Then the sales person started mentally wandering through the calculations and spoke aloud while they did so. I could hear their thought process and this was useful.
Sales Person: "You've got grippers . . . The underlay is already discounted . . . There's nothing more that we can take off there. . . You're removing the carpet yourself so I can't do anything there. . . "
Bingo! My negotiating light just switched on.
That sounded like an 'in' for me! Hold the front page! Did you spot it?
She'd indicated that there was no more money to be knocked off but inadvertently told me about a possible cost reduction. The carpet removal!
I'd originally kept the cost down by saying I'd remove the old carpet but now that seemed to be a service cost that could be removed. In my head we had moved from 'money off' on to 'tradeables'.
I think that's what they're called. If you can't get the price down, then you might be able to increase the value.
I queried that if I'd originally asked for them to dispose of the carpet would that have been a cost that they could knock off?
There was a pause before she spoke.
Carpet Lady: "I see what you're asking for. You're quite cheeky aren't you? Yes, we'll remove the carpet for free."
Me: "Thank you so much. That's a very kind offer! I really appreciate your help."
She actually called me cheeky!
Anyway that was a second result. I'd already saved a percentage of the original total price and now I'd saved myself the hassle of taking the old carpet to the tip. All in the space of about 90 seconds.
Result! Again!
Negotiation For Discount
I always ask for a discount and often get one, but I'm certainly not a master negotiator. I've lived in Istanbul and learned to barter hard for pretty much anything to get a better deal but I'm not an expert at this sort of stuff.
My brother in law on the other hand is unbelievably good. He will negotiate over anything and I've seen him succeed at reducing price or increasing value many many times.
He's made his fortune in Dubai yet still loves the thrill of negotiation over anything that's for sale, wherever he is.
I've stood back and watched while he drove the price down on a necklace I wanted to buy for my wife in Dubai's gold souk.
I've seen him barter with a street vendor at the Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona for twenty minutes over $2 earrings showcased on an opened brolly.
But the best time was when I watched him ask for a discount in Clarks. That's right, he practiced negotiation technique in Clarks the shoe shop, a fixed price chain store in England.
On a busy weekend there was a sizeable queue behind us and the wait had already been fairly substantial. The Saturday assistant looked dumbfounded at his request. This was at Bluewater Shopping Centre, Kent, not Istanbul's Grand Bazaar in Asia Minor.
After some confusion the assistant called for his boss. She arrived, listened to the request, looked surprised, assessed the queue and then quietly said my brother in law could have the 10% discount they normally just offer to staff. My brother in law said this was perfectly acceptable, thanked her and bought the shoes at the new lower price.
Ask Me, Ask Me, Ask Me
It dawned on me at that moment that all bets are off and there really is no such thing as a fixed price. Wherever you might be.
I'd also learned that as long as you're willing and happy to hear the word "no" then you can ask for anything.
Usually people think there is just a yes or a no option. Instead of a reluctant yes, or a definite no, there's always the third option, to negotiate.
Negotiating is better than a reluctant yes and can also be much better than saying a simple no. For example, suppose I'm being asked to deliver a training course I don't really want to do.
Maybe because it's somewhere a long way away, or on a day that clashes with a lovely social event I'd prefer to be attending. Instead of saying "Yes, I'll do it" or "No, I'm not doing it" I've got the option of negotiating.
Perhaps there's a price I can command that will make it worth doing. So that's an option I could offer. "This is the (high) price." And then it's up to them to say either, "Yes, okay" which is great, or "No, that's too much" which is fine by me as well.
That way it's them saying no, not me. Similarly, you might have difficult customers or difficult jobs that you don't charge enough for.
Using the 80/20 rule I bet that 80% of your tricky time is spent on just 20% of your customers. If that's the case then you could charge them more - negotiate your price upwards to reflect the hassle they give you!
Meeting Across The River
It's the same with time rather than money. Again it's not obvious that negotiating over your time is an option. In fact, it is, and it's a great option.
It doesn't just have to be over things with a monetary value. You can negotiate on lots of things in order to avoid losing time.
I'm quite selfish and precious about my time so I do this a fair bit. Suppose I'm being asked by my wife to drive 100 miles to visit her parents for the weekend and let's say, purely hypothetically, that I don't really want to go.
I can't outright refuse and say no, that would just be mean of me. But at the same time I don't want to completely acquiesce and say an outright yes either. So how about negotiating to go in the afternoon rather than the morning? That's a start.
And then adding in that I need to do a bit of shopping while I'm there. That would be acceptable. And perhaps, that I'll come if I can take my laptop as there's a bit of work I need to do at the weekend. Surely that's reasonable?
Perhaps it sounds like I'm asking for quite a lot of concessions but the carpet sales lady did say I was cheeky!
Negotiation For A Family Concession
These concessions hugely reduce what I've heard called my ILCT, my in-law contact time. Plus I get a whole lot of things done, so it makes it quite good for me.
Of course it's still much better for my wife than if I had just said no, or perhaps, had just said yes and then been miserable and bored for the whole weekend. Hypothetically of course.
It's always an option to negotiate. If you find yourself wanting to say no, or not really wanting to say yes, then your negotiating light should switch on and start flashing wildly.
Can you think of a situation, either at work or at home, either involving money or time, where you tend to reluctantly say yes, or tend to just shut up shop and say no?
Those situations are where you actually might be able to try negotiating instead! Have fun playing with them.
Stay connected with news and updates!
Join Iain's mailing list to receive the latest Top Tips every Friday. As a subscriber you'll always be the first to read it, BEFORE it makes it to the blog. Plus you'll get the latest news and offers.
Iain hates SPAM. He will never sell your information, for any reason.