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Negotiating for Success 
December 2013  
In this issue...
David, stand up to Goliath with a solid proposal!
Cathy Rafferty, committed to your satisfaction
Tutor answers question/win bottle of wine
Meet Ananda Laberge, associate tutor

Meet our other
lead tutors

Sandy Sbarra
Rich Waldrop
Simon Letchford
Jill Campen
Gaetan Pellerin

Associate tutors

Al Green

Ananda Laberge 

Ross LaGumina 

Jerry Langlois

John Leehman 

Julie Shen   

 

Open courses Gaetan Pellerin presenting  

All courses are
Advancing Negotiation Skills (ANS) unless
Scotwork Strategic Negotiating (SSN) is indicated.

Parsippany
-Jan. 27-30
-Feb. 3-5 (SSN)
-Feb. 24-27
-March 24-27
-Apr. 28-May 1
-May 19-22
-June 2-4 (SSN)
-June 16-19

Vancouver 
Jan. 27-30
San Francisco 
-Feb. 10-13 
-May 5-8

Toronto 
Apr. 7-10

Houston 
Apr. 14-17

Montreal
Apr. 28-May 1

Raleigh
May 12-15

Chicago
June 9-12
  
 
Register here.















Inc. 5000
CEO's message: Celebrate--and make a difference next year                     
 

 

I hope you've had a fulfilling year, commercially and personally. At Scotwork NA, we've had an incredible 12 months with significant growth from new and existing customers, many of whom have shared their exceptional results. More to come in 2014.

 

We've also grown our team, welcoming Ross, Julie and Ananda (profile below) on the west coast and Jess to our Parsippany office. And we've celebrated the retirement of one of our associate tutors, David Boucher, who has been a tremendous asset to us for many years. We wish him and his family all the best.

 

As we negotiate our way to the end of 2013, my team, our families and I wish you a very Merry Christmas (if you celebrate), and a happy, prosperous new year. This is a time to gather around friends and family and reflect back on 2013, including:

  • What went well that you want to keep in 2014
  • What didn't go so well that you want to change in 2014
  • Strategies for implementing changes and sharpening skills 

 Thanks to you, our company and our lives are so much better. 

 

Good negotiating. Celebrate well. Go make a difference. May our paths cross once again in 2014.   

Marty Finkle

Marty Finkle,  
CEO & Lead Tutor 
Tutorial: David, stand up to Goliath with a solid proposal!                       

 

If you're a smaller company negotiating with a corporate Goliath, don't be intimidated when asked to do something unreasonable. Just make a proposal.  

 

 

Say the big company wants to be able to pay you in 90 days.  Before you start arguing, propose these two options:

 

90-day payment terms

-We'll add a 5% upcharge to our fee.

-If you pay after 90 days, finance charges (equivalent to prevailing credit card rates) will be retroactive to the first day.

 

30-day payment terms

-Payment will be due 30 days after receipt of invoice instead of immediately upon receipt of invoice.  

-All upcharges and finance charges will be waived.  

 

When the company selects the 30-day option, both parties win. David gets the business, and Goliath gets more favorable terms. 

Cathy Rafferty: committed to your satisfaction        

If you need help with contractual matters when working with Scotwork NA, Cathy Rafferty is here for you.  

 

Since 2011, Cathy has been a key member of our management team in Parsippany, leading customer-service specialists and fostering relationships with clients worldwide. She also works closely with our parent company in Scotland.  

 

In her role, Cathy monitors clients' projects, including milestones, deliverables and invoicing. She strives to "shorten the approval process and work closely with each customer to control costs and ensure compliance with both companies' guidelines."  

 

What's the best part of her job? "I enjoy working with people all around the world, and I'm fascinated by how Scotwork enhances and empowers their organizations."

 

Prior to joining Scotwork, Cathy worked in management capacities at Fortune 500 companies including Johnson & Johnson, TRW and Tandem Computers and at several venture capital firms.  

Tutor answers tough question: "Use suppliers' event to get value information"

Congrats to this month's winner of a bottle of fine wine, who submitted the most intriguing negotiation question, below. 
 


Question

I'm throwing a low-budget ($3,500) holiday gathering for our 140 suppliers--which my boss has called giving away "elk steaks" if all we get in return is good will.

 

But I "expect" several things to happen: we'll learn what kind of contracts our competitors are offering, enable suppliers to meet our key people, and demonstrate our commitment to suppliers, recognizing how much they value relationships. How do I quantify all of this?

 

Answer by Rich Waldrop, lead tutor
Transform the things you "expect" to happen" into "will happen." In return for your suppliers' participation in this event, structure their expectations so your people will proactively engage them to get the desired information such as the type of competitors' contracts. This needs to be done in a forthright manner or the event will become an "elk steak." Also, get your managers involved and assign them specific customers to connect with so everyone is approached. 
 

Ask question, win bottle of wine
Submit your negotiation question by Jan. 10. Email us with "Scotwork question" in the subject line. 
Meet Ananda Laberge, associate tutor
Email me.

 

Ananda Laberge, who brings an impressive career that has spanned sales leadership, team management and negotiation, has joined Scotwork NA as an associate tutor for the expanding West Coast group.

 

A healthcare industry specialist, Ananda understands the keys to effective negotiation from the standpoint of pharmaceuticals (Pfizer), healthcare IT (Eclipsys), diagnostics (Abbott Laboratories), and supply chain (GHX).

 

Her negotiation expertise also comes from a deep understanding of cultural sensitivity. Plus, Ananda is fluent in Spanish, her native language. A San Francisco area resident, she was an All-American high school swimmer and earned her Bachelor in Spanish Literature and History from the University of California at San Diego.

 

One of Ananda's goals as a negotiator is "to encourage participants to share challenging experiences and show them how the Scotwork method can open doors to innovative strategies that can lead to success."

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