Columns

05/06/2013
I recently sat in on a lecture from Rob Galford, co-author of “The Trusted Advisor”, which explains how to achieve professional success by earning clients’ trust and confidence. Since all negotiations involve trust, and a broad view of negotiation includes dealing with clients, I was particularly interested in his five stages of building trust.

Each stage includes elements critical to most negotiations, especially those involving clients and future relationships between the parties.

1.
04/16/2013
In a perfect world, nobody would completely lose control or say or e-mail things they regret, and all major decisions would be based on the experts’ research. Of course, we don’t live in a perfect world.

So what should we do when our counterparts’ know exactly when and where to push our buttons and we know we can’t easily control our responses?
03/13/2013
“She has the power to make or break us. It would be great if we get the patent. But if we don’t, it will be a serious problem for the defensibility of our product. How do we increase our likelihood of success?”

A critical issue here – how to negotiate with government entities – requires specialized negotiation tactics. Here are three.

Focus on your long-term goal

Years ago I asked a panel of expert negotiators to identify their most successful negotiation strategy.