Here’s a puzzle where the answer come first. “Help me.” Over the years I have heard many stories from entrepreneurs, students, news reporters, even my children, all telling me that they could not get someone’s attention they wanted or needed until they used the words, “Help me.” The simple request is disarming, enlarging the object of the request […]
Negotiating
Why Cash is Only One Measure of Employee Happiness
In 1981, Herb Cohen wrote and published “You Can Negotiate Anything”, an excellent guide to great negotiating. I’ve read and reread the book a number of times and find myself using the techniques often in many areas of my life. One of his lessons remains clearly on my mind and is a variant of the […]
You Name the Price; I’ll Name the Terms
I admit that my dad taught me this when I was just a fifteen-year old kid starting a business and negotiating with suppliers for the first time. But I learned it again and again in my various business lives. The most striking example was the one hundred-million-dollar purchase of one of my companies by a […]
3 Ways to Reduce Cost of Goods Sold
The cost of the materials used to make the product or service you sell directly impacts your profit. This is easy to see, because the less you have to spend to get the product, the more money you get to keep when you sell it. It would seem to many then, that the cheaper the […]
“We Can’t Justify Your Price…”
We were debriefing a closing call. Bill’s solution had been selected. Bill had done a great job in competing and in justifying the value of his solution. There was a strong business case demonstrating tremendous improvements in productivity. In this case, the customer was growing faster than their ability to bring people on board supporting the […]
Negotiate Properly to Secure a Beneficial Agreement
When your company or startup doesn’t make a good profit and you barely have any negotiating leverage, conventional negotiation rules don’t apply.
Learn to Negotiate in 7 Easy Steps
Avoiding negotiations is not a very smart way of conducting a successful business. In fact, in today’s competitive business environment it’s almost impossible to avoid negotiation.
3 Ways to Successfully Bootstrap a Product-Based Business
Bootstrapping any business is tough, but establishing a consumer product-based business versus a service-based or tech-based startup creates some very specific challenges.
5 Ways to Make Your Negotiations Less Painful and More Successful
Negotiations can be extremely painful for the inexperienced. Feelings of anxiety, nervousness, and concern usually lead to bad deals. Believe it or not, there are smart techniques you can use to make negotiations less nerve-wracking.
The Common Habits of Negotiators
Negotiations begin with the interchange of information, and many see this process like a challenging poker game—why should I reveal what I have in my hand before I can see what you have in yours?
