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CEO's message: Use your skills...so you never lose them
Once you learn to ride a bike, you're then always able to get back on that seat and start peddling. But negotiating skills need to be continually honed. The good news is that every week you face trading opportunities, ranging from giving colleagues key data so they complete projects sooner to getting your teenage son to clean his room in exchange for use of the car (see survey).
One way to refresh these skills is to celebrate negotiating wins (e.g. lucrative long-term contract) with coworkers. Plus you can help them plan for their next negotiations.
Always recognize situations when you can practice your negotiations. And if you want to take these skills to another level, talk to us about our Strategic Negotiation Skills-Scotwork the Next Steps course (see below).
Marty Finkle, CEO, Scotwork (NA) Inc.
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Hone your strategic negotiation skills
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Take a more strategic approach to your negotiations with Strategic Negotiation Skills-Scotwork the Next Steps course. You'll get to analyze your prior negotiations and see how this process fits into the organization's broader business objectives.
Enroll 4, get consulting at no additional charge
If you register four people from your firm for one of the Next Steps courses in 2012 (dates in right column) and pay by Dec. 15, then you will earn up to four hours of consulting on a live deal for no additional charge. This is a $5,000 value for investing time in building your strategic negotiating skills! Classes are open to those who took the Advanced Negotiation Skills course. Email us.
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Don't be too happy with the deal--you may offend the other party
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 When you're presented with a proposal that's ideal, acceptable in every respect, don't reach across the table to grab their hands. You may insult them by agreeing too quickly and making them look foolish that they were too generous.
Avoid what's called "snapping their hand off" by asking for one small, non-contentious concession in return for your agreement. This allows you to enhance the deal while not making it appear that you were over-anxious to settle.
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NBA dispute a lesson in preventing negotiation breakdowns
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by Sandy Sbarra, lead tutor
The long NBA lockout, finally resolved Nov. 26, should be a lesson to all negotiators to cooperate and resist the temptation to "lock horns." One early sign of trouble was the expiring labor agreement, giving owners just 43% of revenues, probably beyond their limit position.
More bad signs were evident during the negotiations, when both parties were ultra-competitive, setting short deadlines, withdrawing earlier proposals and concessions, and casting emotionally laden accusations at each other.
Owners may have been stuck on a principle: at least 50% of league revenue. The union made a significant concession at one point, a 50-50 revenue split, prompting some owners to petition for a deal. Instead, the NBA commissioner demanded further capitulation from the union with a take-it-or-leave it proposal under a strict deadline, and made it worse by delivering this message through the press. Predictably, union negotiators lost face, became more competitive, and disbanded the union to file an anti-trust lawsuit.
So how did the lost season turn into a deal?
-A 15-hour private negotiation behind closed doors (away from the press)
-Final negotiations held at a neutral site, a law firm with a partner as the intermediary
-High costs of deadlock forced both sides to realize that making certain concessions was cheaper than continuing to lock horns
Congratulations to both sides for putting their differences aside, creating a cooperative process and allowing their fan base a big win, pending further ratification.
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Meet John Leehman, associate tutor
|  John is a seasoned entrepreneur who has built nationally recognized firms in the construction, fashion and consumer products industries. His success is largely credited to an ability to build lasting relationships with clients and employees, which earned John recognition by INC. Magazine as the leader of "one of the best small companies in America to work for" (Bread Loaf Construction). As a negotiating skills instructor, John uses strategic thinking to identify special qualities in each participant's style and suggest alternative negotiation techniques to help the person achieve critical goals while still feeling totally natural. He earned his Bachelors from Hobart College and completed the Owner/President/Management Program at Harvard Business School. John also served as the Vermont Governor's Delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business. From John's perspective: "I love working with the top professionals at Scotwork's courses who are looking for tweaks to propel their negotiations to the next level. We learn together, creating a powerful impact." Email John. |
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$100,000+ rewards from Scotwork course, say 43% of those surveyed
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Negotiation skills courses pay off. More than 43% of survey respondents said their firm reaped $100,000 or more of financial rewards thanks to Scotwork's course. And more than 68% have enjoyed at least $25,000 of financial benefits.
Plus, all respondents rated shortening negotiating cycles, maintaining margins, getting the best deal from suppliers, and moving from price to value as "relevant" to their needs.
Congrats to Jeffrey Anderson of General Dynamics, whose name was selected from all entrants to win a bottle of wine. Enter the survey below and you could win!
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What do you negotiate for? Take survey and win a bottle of wine!
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 Scotwork wants to know more about how you negotiate in your professional and personal life. Complete our brief survey (should take about three minutes), and you could win a bottle of fine wine! Complete survey now.
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Lead tutors
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Marty Finkle
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Sandy Sbarra
Bio Email
 | Rich Waldrop
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Simon Letchford
Bio Email
-David Boucher
-Jill Campen
-Al Green
-Jerry Langlois
-John Leehman
(see profile)
-Gaëtan Pellerin
-Johnna Wellesley
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| Open courses | |
Register for Advanced Negotiating Skills on Jan. 23-26 or any date below.
Parsippany, NJ
-Jan. 23-26
-March 26-29
-April 10-12: Next Steps
-May 21-24
-July 9-12
-Aug. 21-23: Next Steps -Sept. 10-13
-Oct. 8-11
-Nov. 6-8: Next Steps
-Nov. 12-15
-Dec. 10-13
Canada (city TBD)
Apr. 2-5
Chicago
-March 12-15
-June 11-14
-Sept. 24-27
San Francisco
-Feb. 13-16
-Aug. 9-12
-Oct. 15-18
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About Scotwork
North America
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Scotwork (NA) Inc. is the North American division of Scotwork Negotiating Skills, the world's largest independent provider of negotiation skills training and consulting with offices in 35 countries.
Its seasoned negotiators offer consulting and training in 22 languages to more than 9,000 executives and managers worldwide. Scotwork's clients receive an average return of 10 times the course fee within three months.
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