Why negotiate on value?

I recently ran a four-day negotiating skills conference in Australia for a group of senior marketing managers and representatives; the group were highly motivated. They were working in an interesting market, and they were keen to find creative ways to negotiate. The conference was as stimulating for me as it was for them.

During a break, one of the participants approached me “What you say is interesting,” he said, “but I have to ask something. Why do you bother to go on with a negotiation if the other side is stuck on price and won’t move?”

Negotiation, Stephen KozickiStephen Kozicki1 November 2019Negotiation, Creativity, ValueComment

Don't solve, Increase Sales OR Lower Costs, solve both.

Imagine in your last meeting your sales manager says, “What do you want to do, increase sales or lower costs?” Well, when you put it like that , you must choose? But do you need to choose? Not always! In general, when asked, do you want me to do X or Y we automatically make a choice. Why?

Business Problems, Gary PeacockGary Peacock26 March 2019Reduce Costs, Increase Sales, Creativity, Problem SolvingComment

How Good Are You at Creative Thinking?

When faced with challenges that call for new thinking, how can you come up with fresh ideas, providing breakthrough thinking and innovative solutions?

Business Problems, Gary PeacockGary Peacock28 September 2018Creativity, Problem Solving, InnovationComment

Creativity in Negotiations Means Thinking Differently

As negotiations become ever more complex, it is necessary to find more creative solutions to make sure both parties gain value. To be creative in a negotiation you need to think differently, using your imagination to find original ideas. Here are three ways you can open your mind to be creative:

Negotiation, Stephen KozickiStephen Kozicki19 January 2018Negotiation, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Questions, PerspectiveComment

Is Your Company Creative Enough to Survive Disruption?

The issue of creativity will determine whether or not your company will survive or become a statistic. Trying to create an environment that is conducive to creativity, both for yourself and your teams will ultimately become a top priority for your company. How can your team become more creative?

Why do we never have any fresh ideas? [Innovation]

Many managers say their meetings don't work, and get frustrated with wasting hours trying to solve problems and choose solutions, without generating any fresh ideas.

What if there was a process that could you help you with this?

Why Can't We Find A Solution? [Problem-Solving]

Does this sound familiar?

This morning, three hours discussing the poor results from the employee survey and getting nowhere. We tried to agree some actions to improve satisfaction. But we went round and round in circles. Helen from HR wanted to find ways to get staff more involved. Mike in Manufacturing thought that was a waste of time and we should just rewrite role descriptions so everyone was clear what they should do. Sam from Sales thought getting more involvement from staff and new role descriptions were both a waste of time and that we needed to make our salaries more competitive in the marketplace. We spent 9 minutes just arguing why each of the three solutions were wrong.

No wonder many managers say their meetings don't work. So, what can you do?

Involve your audience

When Persuading for Results, involving your audience throughout your presentation helps maintain their attention. Indeed, self-discovery and practical application is often the most effective way of learning and the most effective way of persuading. There are many ways to involve people, depending on the size of your audience. You may like to give people an opportunity to test your product, or to have them work with your ideas actively. Make sure the activity you use is linked back to your message. The activity should reinforce your message, not distract from it.

Read the full blog for some ideas on involving your audience.

Gary Peacock, PersuasionGary Peacock14 July 2017Audience, Audience involvement, Imagery, Questions, Quotations, Gifts, CreativityComment

Should innovation be left to your creative teams?

Innovation is not just about ‘out of the box’, ‘blue-sky’ solutions. Sure, we need to use some right-brain thinking to free our imaginations and find creative answers. But, you need to match this with a left-brain process and hard work. Organisations can do a great job and spend lots of time solving the wrong problem. So, it’s important to take the time to understand the real problem that needs to be solved and to make sure the real problem is well defined.

How do you define your problems?

Business Problems, Gary PeacockGary Peacock12 May 2017Innovation, Creativity, Problem Solving, Right Brain, Left BrainComment

What's your strategy for 2017?

We ended 2016 with a real wake-up call for everybody in a leadership, executive or management role – the status quo of business was disrupted.

Over the holiday break I would take a book down to the beach to read which inevitably attracted conversation from other beach goers, firstly on me being the only person reading a book with everybody else on some device.

I liked the book because it challenged some of my concepts around leadership and self-motivation and that is always a sign of a great book.

What is in your negotiation tool kit?

Managers in today's complex business environment require negotiation skills for business success. They need to develop a tool kit of negotiation strategies and understand how these influence and are influenced by their surroundings. Being successful in leading groups and shaping group decision making is vital, both internally and with key customers and suppliers.

In your tool kit you need tools to manage:

Relationships
Substantive Issues
Value

Negotiation, Stephen KozickiStephen Kozicki25 November 2016Negotiation, Value, Business Relationships, Substantive Issues, Creativity, B2BComment

What's in your negotiation toolkit?

Managers in today’s complex business environment require negotiation skills for business success. They need to develop a toolkit of negotiation strategies and understand how these influence and are influenced by their surroundings. Being successful in leading groups and shaping group decision making is vital, both internally and with key customers and suppliers.

Negotiation, Stephen KozickiStephen Kozicki18 August 2016Negotiation, Value, Business Relationships, Substantive Issues, Creativity, B2BComment

Be a more creative negotiator – focus on joint gains!

Like in many parts of the world, we are seeing some very good companies go out of business or need major injections of cash just to keep their doors open. There are many reasons for their demise, but one disturbing trend is ...

Negotiation, Stephen KozickiStephen Kozicki5 June 2014Creativity, Joint Gains, Negotiation, ConsultingComment