| Your heart is racing,
your palms are moist, and you are having trouble forming complete
sentences. You must be sitting outside your boss’s office,
awaiting the annual ordeal commonly know as salary negotiation.
You wouldn’t be feeling this way right now if you had
taken one of our powerful Negotiation
Training seminars, where you would have learned how to prepare,
what to ask for, what to settle for, and how to avoid getting
locked into a power struggle over minor details. Yes, you would
have had a plan for finding out his bottom line before you ever
put a figure on the table. And you would be smiling in anticipation
of a fair and honest salary increase right now, instead of fantasizing
about selling pencils on the street corner. Before next year,
call us. The negotiation skills you learn from us will more
than cover the cost of the course when next year rolls around.
Deals Unplugged
Don't know when to cut your losses and leave the negotiating
table? Look for these telltale signs.
There are obvious reasons to break off negotiations: For example,
the other side's last best offer doesn't cut it, you find
a better alternative, or you uncover something seriously unsavory
about your opponent. Businesspeople favor and understand these
sorts of objective analyses.
There are also subtler, more subjective reasons to pull the
plug. If you're the type of negotiator who takes pride in
making the unworkable work, take special heed of the following
pitfalls to avoid:
Your opponent is just too difficult. You learn a lot about
how smart, decent and aggressive someone is by how he or she
negotiates. If you don't like what you see and hear when you're
bargaining, chances are it'll only get worse once you're in
business together. After all, if negotiation is the courtship,
then closing is the marriage. You don't have to love, like
or even respect everyone you deal with-especially if it's
a one-shot deal. But if you find this person an insufferable,
time-wasting nuisance at the bargaining table, remember: It's
only a preview of coming attractions.
Transactional costs are too high. You make what you think
is a simple deal. Then the "professionals" get involved
. . . and nothing is simple anymore. There are legions of
lawyers, accountants, bankers, brokers, appraisers, consultants
and the like who peddle all kinds of services to would-be
deal-makers. At their best, they can be critical to your success.
They can also bleed your deal dry with contingencies, complications,
fees and commissions if you're not careful. Choosing wisely
when you hire helps. So does getting a second opinion. Above
all, ride herd. If these expenses become disproportionate
to the size of your deal, you'll end up hating yourself in
the morning.
You need to teach someone a lesson. Frankly, I don't see
this very often, but I wish I did. There are certain deal-makers
who are a blight on your business community. You know who
they are. The next time they get cute, make yourself understood,
if you can. Denying them the deal they want is exactly the
kind of operant conditioning that even psychologist B.F. Skinner
would applaud. So rejoice: You're doing a public service.
Your gut tells you to walk away. I like the following definition
of intuition: knowing without knowing why you know. I was
once waiting to be interviewed by a potential employer. As
we shook hands for the very first time, I heard this little
voice in my head: "You will learn to hate this man."
As I left his office, I had no doubt that he was twisted.
Later, I learned that he was a screamer who had chewed through
16 assistants in less than a year. Some potential business
associates carry a dark cloud around them. If your gut says
get out, listen to it and be grateful. After all, everyone
knows things they don't know why they know.
By Marc Diener
Salary Negotiation - Avoid Getting Locked Into a Power Struggle
Negotiation Training Quote
"Success is to be measured not so much by the position
that one
has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome."
Booker T. Washington
Suggested Reading:
Negotiating Your Salary:
How to Make $1000 a Minute
by Jack Chapman; Paperback
Get Paid What You're Worth: The Expert
Negotiators' Guide to Salary and Compensation
by Robin L. Pinkley, Gregory B. Northcraft
101 Salary Secrets
: How to Negotiate Like a Pro
by Daniel Porot, Frances Bolles Haynes
The Smart Woman's Guide to Interviewing and Salary
Negotiation, Third Edition
by Julie Adair King
Salary Negotiation
Tips For Professionals: Compensation That Reflects Your
Value
by Ron, Ph.D. Krannich, Caryl, Ph.D. Krannich
Interviewing and Salary
Negotiation (Five O'Clock Club)
by Kate Wendleton
Dynamite Salary Negotiations
by Ronald L. Krannich
The Quick Interview and Salary
Negotiation Book (Jist's Quick Guides)
by J. Michael Farr
The use of economic data in collective
bargaining: A manual for salary negotiations
by Marvin Friedman
Winning the Salary
Game: Salary Negotiation for Women
by Sherry Chastain
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