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In your negotiations, what plans do you make pertaining to altering the perspective of the truth? You may alter the truth when you make offers and counteroffers, but to what degree do you plan for such tactics, while considering how much of the truth you’ll bend? More importantly, do you consider how much of the truth the other negotiator may disclose?
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The following are thoughts to consider and implement, when it comes to the perspective of the truth in your negotiations.
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Negotiation Tactic:
A friend told me about an experience her mother had in purchasing a cap. The cap was marked at $10. My friend’s mother told the vender she’d been there the day prior and he told her she could make the purchase for $8. My friend’s mother added that she planned to purchase two caps at the $8 price. Initially, the seller said no and my friend’s mother began to walk away. After being summoned to return and a moment of bickering, the seller lowered the price to $8 per cap and he and my friend’s mother were happy with the outcome.
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Negotiation Tip: If you are the buyer, attempt to entice the seller to lower his price by suggesting you’ll purchase multiple units of an item at the reduced price. If you’re the seller, suggest the buyer make a multiple unit purchase, if your per unit cost suits you to do so. In either case, this is the positioning for the perception of the truth. Most negotiators know this.
Here’s the twist. You can observe the other negotiator’s body language to glimpse her perception of such an offer when it’s made. If you observe that she appears too eager to accept the deal, retract it. Alter the perspective of what was the truth a moment ago, and create a reason that you have to alter the deal just offered. If she begins to walk away or display signs of dismay, you can always fall back to your previous position. To enhance the perspective of your position, project the appearance of not really needing the deal. The point is, by altering the perspective of what the truth is, you test the other negotiator to determine how much better you can make the deal for yourself.
Command Attention:
In order to get anyone to give you what you want, you have to command their attention. This can be accomplished in several ways.
• Position yourself as being impressive.
• Increase the desire for what you have as a ‘must have’ for the other negotiator. In essence, pique their curiosity and desire to possess what you have. In the case of my friend’s mother, she created curiosity in the seller by stating that she’d been there the day prior. He attempted to recall if she was bending the truth, which also created a bit of fun for him. Nevertheless, the seller made an extra sell and he was happy.
• Make the other negotiator turn his desire into action. Generate a sense of loss, if he doesn’t act quickly.
If executed expertly, you can alter the perspective of the truth and have it perceived to be beneficial to the other negotiator. Once you perfect this technique, you’ll come out ahead in more of your negotiations …and everything will be right with the world.
Remember, you’re always negotiating!