Image via WikipediaBuzzwordy's Reservoir of Marketing Tips
Negotiation Re-visit
The following tip was introduced as the third one from my September 14, 2010 negotiation post,
Always ask for one-on-one during negotiation. If the other side insists on a panel negotiation style, then ask to meet them in a noisy location. Use the noise as an excuse to identify and home into just one representative on the other side to drive the message across. This Divide and Conquer method works well in many cases.
Lets use Buzzwordy in this example.
The Location: customer's sprawling meeting room
The Parties: Buzzwordy and the customer negotiation team
The Topic: extended product warranty request
"Mr. Customer, this is a really pleasant surprise to me. I did not anticipate being greeted by your entire team. Wow! By the way, since we are cutting it pretty close to the lunch hour, if you and your team don't mind, I know a great restaurant that is not too far from here. They have great Mexican food and the service is excellent!" suggested Buzzwordy as he entered into the oversized meeting room.
The customer and his team looked at one another. Some of the members nodded and Buzzwordy didn't sense a huge objection from the customer side.
"I guess it will be OK. In the interest of time, lets get going now!" responded the customer.
Buzzwordy managed to get a big enough table to accommodate the customer, his team and him. Little did the customer and his team knew, this Mexican restaurant was a bit on the noisy side. People really need to raise their voices to get heard.
"Pardon me, I couldn't quite catch what your team member was asking!" apologized Buzzwordy.
Another team member made a terse comment and Buzzwordy implemented the same tactic when responding to her.
"Mr. Customer, I'm terribly sorry for not catching what your team is saying. This is a great restaurant and it attracts so many people. I think it is a little challenging to have our extended product warranty discussion with everyone at the table. If you don't mind, why don't you and I discuss first and we can update your team later. Is this acceptable to you?" proposed Buzzwordy.
Since the customer was no longer in his office, he lost his home town advantage. In addition, he was thrown into a more relaxed and neutral location that caused him to drop his guard.
"I guess I can go along with your suggestion for the time being" responded the customer.
"Thanks very much for being so accommodating." smiled Buzzwordy.
As we can see from this example, Buzzwordy was able to strategize a smart little plan by getting the customer to change the negotiation location from his home base to a neutral one. By leveraging the noisy environment inside the restaurant, he was able to further alienate the customer from his team and have an one-on-one discussion despite the presence of the customer's team. This divide-and-conquer method gave Buzzwordy an edge over the customer in negotiating the extended product warranty deal.
A three gun salute to Buzzwordy for a job well done.
Buzzwordy
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