Negotiations enhance client and vendor relations

We'd all like to better understand our buyers or vendors. It could help our companies increase revenues and secure better value. That's where Scotwork's negotiation process comes in. By following our series of eight strategically designed steps, you come out with a richer appreciation for the other side and a greater likelihood of fostering a productive long-term relationship.

As a supplier, you learn more about what motivates your client and how to satisfy its most critical needs. And as a buyer, you get to understand the value that each vendor offers you and the influence of seller economics (including how suppliers view RFPs, see article below).

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Remember that honing your negotiating skills goes way beyond achieving the best deal. It supports your effort to build relationships that will pay off for years to come.

Marty Finkle,

CEO & Lead Tutor 

Tutorial: Behind every proposal

lies a need       

When the other party makes a proposal, don't immediately begin negotiating. Figure out what need lies behind it. Because you may be able to satisfy that need with a much less costly proposal.

For example, if your supplier offers to keep raw materials costs flat for the next six months before raising them, it may reflect a need to boost profit margins. That seller may be planning a hefty price hike starting in the seventh month, which would cost you too much in the long run. You may be better off with an agreement that locks in a modest price increase over the next two years.

A plea for reasonable RFPs    

by Stephen White

Scotwork International   

Excerpted from Scotwork blog 

Read entire blog post.   

If I had my way, an Act of Parliament (or Congress) would ban RFPs for anything more complicated than the purchase of paper clips. Some tips to improve RFPs, from a vendor's perspective:

1. Tell us more about the problem and less about how you want us to solve it. Leave the creative solution to us.
2. Meet us face to face much earlier in the process. Meetings help us identify your corporate style and personality so we can direct our attention to those ideas most useful for you.
3. If you ask us how we'll approach the research process to ensure that our solution meets your needs, don't ask us how much it will cost. We won't know until we've completed the research, analyzed the information and developed the solution.
4. Don't use spreadsheet answer papers. Though they make it easier for you to compare responses, they kill our ability to show our style and personality.
5. Don't turn the RFP into an obstacle course. If you ask us to agree to complex and highly contentious terms and conditions as a precondition before submitting our proposal, don't be surprised if we decide not to submit.

Read more. 

Get more from negotiations: Take "The Next Steps" Oct. in Houston       

All alumni of Advanced Negotiating Skills are invited to find out more about our The Next Steps course, to be scheduled for October in Houston.

You'll learn to use a more strategic approach and analyze your prior negotiations. Then you'll see how this process fits into your organization's broader business objectives--and pays off with bottom-line results.

To find out more, contact us.

Register for first-ever Canadian open course Aug. 27-30 in Montreal  

Scotwork NA's first-ever open Advanced Negotiating Skills course north of the border will be held Aug. 27-30 in Montreal, to be taught in English by Gaëtan Pellerin, director of Scotwork Canada, Inc.  

Gaëtan, a bilingual Montreal-based negotiating specialist, will also teach the course in French early next year.

Seats are limited to the first 12 participants. Register here or contact usa@scotwork.com.  

Scotwork mobile app: more great features   

Advanced Negotiating Skills alumni can access all tutorial information through our free mobile app, available on most smart phones. Last month we featured the preparation checklist and memory joggers.  

Here are two more valuable features:

Move the process forward: Remember your child-like curiosity and use this list of constructive questions during your negotiations.

Most common mistakes: Refer to this list of errors that many negotiators make while learning the eight-step process. See if you make any of these mistakes in your meetings!

To download, type "Scotwork" in your app store search bar. Then contact us for your alumni password so you can access blog posts, handouts, tutorials and more.    

Sandy Sbarra

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Rich Waldrop Bio    Email

Simon Letchford

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Jill Campen Bio   Email

Gaëtan Pellerin Bio   Email

     

Associate tutors

-David Boucher

-Al Green  

-Jerry Langlois

-John Leehman   

Register for Advanced Negotiating Skills on July 9-12 or on these dates:

Parsippany, NJ  

-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   

San Francisco    

-Aug. 9-12  

-Oct. 15-18  

Montreal

Aug. 27-30

Houston

Oct. (dates TBD): Next Steps  

Chicago 

Toronto

Nov. 19-22  

About Scotwork

North America

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.