Category: Adapt, Innovate, Win

Negotiations: Why do Americans struggle to negotiate?

Negotiation is a skill.  You can learn it.  A few negotiation skills can help us in all aspects of our lives.

In some countries, people regularly negotiate retail prices.  Yet in America, many people are frightened of the idea of asking for people to negotiate with them over a price.

If you have been a tourist in Mexico, you have probably had firsthand experience in negotiating prices.  Shop owners will gladly to let you pay the marked retail-price.  However, many merchants in Mexico are open and apparently expecting to negotiate a price.

In the United States, our prosperity and our retail culture diminish our negotiation skills.  Most shoppers are not going to negotiate pennies, nickels, and dimes for individual products.  It’s just not worth their time.  Most retailers are not going to negotiate pennies, nickels, and dimes for individual products either.  It is, in most cases, not necessary based on their business model.

The result is that in our culture, consumer skills of presentation and negotiation atrophy.

Sometimes, all you have to do is ask.

However, shrewd shoppers operate counter to our culture.  They often negotiate the price of mismarked advertised prices.  They also negotiate with retailers to match the prices of other retailers offer.

Retailers want your business.  They especially want your business if you are a local regular customer.

I am one of those rare Tab Cola drinkers.  Coca Cola makes Tab Cola.  The product is such a slow seller that most retailers carry it only on customer request.

The local Coca Cola bottling company sold twelve packs of Coca Cola product in every brand except for Tab Cola.  They shipped Tab Cola in six packs only.  Because of the packaging, the Tab Cola cost almost twice what other colas cost.

Since I regularly bought Tab Colas, I worked out a deal with the local Coca Cola bottling company and a local supermarket chain that enabled me to buy two six packs of Tab Cola for the same price of a twelve pack of the other Coca Cola products.

I got what I thought was a fair deal.  By solving a customer problem, the bottling company generated goodwill with the local retailer.  The retailer won, because Coca Cola worked with them to compensate for the cost difference.

The negotiation took a little bit of time, but I buy the product regularly.  It was worth the time to work out the deal.

Words that motivate employees are words that create inclusiveness and extend recognition for the contribution of other people make.  They are also words that create a recognition of boundaries that each person feels about receiving help.

I read an article on HBR.org about the power in the word “we” and a second article on HBR.org about the power in the word “together.”  I have also read on several occasions that the word most people want to hear is their own name.

The attraction of all three of these words is that they create inclusiveness.  Picture a discussion about a team’s effort in front of the team members and other people in the company.  The discussion goes like this: “Bill and Sue are on our team.  Together we successfully create projects that exceed company expectations.  Without the great job that Bill and Sue have done, we would never have succeeded on any of these projects.  Together, we are a team of winners.”

“Thank you” is a phrase with two words that people appreciate in response to the things they say or do for someone.

“How might we?” are the three words that the company IDEO states as the basis for the beginning every one of their innovation projects.

“You did a good job” come up frequently as the five best words a person can say to another person.

Again, the phrases “Thank you,” “How might we,” “I regret my mistake,” and “You did a good job” all create inclusiveness by giving recognition for the work of other people and by presenting a willingness of to admit your mistakes.

“May I help you?” is another four-word phrase that helps to motivate people through inclusiveness and by recognizing the boundaries other people may be feeling at the time.

In closing, using words to motivate employees will create inclusiveness, extend recognition for the contribution that other people make, a allow people to relax and focus on the job without co-workers or supervisors intruding on their boundaries.

How important is your college major?

Graduating from college did two things for my career.  I got a key to let me in the door that said, “Degree required” on the job description.  I gained acceptance into business circles and social circles where having a college degree meant credibility.

With a liberal arts degree, I was eligible to do many things and qualified to none.  I developed the skills for my career once my career began.

There are many articles emphasizing that it is not important to pick a major that leads to a career.  One excellent article from the NY Times is, “Your College Major May Not Be as Important as You Think.”

However, I recommend that you pick a major that lays a base of knowledge that relates as directly as possible to the career field of your choice.  The more time you invest in developing a specialty will determine how long it takes you to master that specialty.

“In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.”
― Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

An example of focusing on studies that directly apply to your career is the early computer studies of Paul Allen and Bill Gates.  They both had thousands of hours of computer times as teenagers.  When they attended Lakeside School in Seattle, WA, they both had access to a Teletype Model 33 ASR terminal and a block of computer time on a General Electric (GE).  They also had computer time on a computer belonging to Computer Center Corporation (CCC).

On the other hand, if you have graduated from college, don’t let your major slow you down from picking a career that is different from your college major.  I majored in English.  I went to Naval Officer Candidate School.  I had classmates who included lawyers, MIT grads, PhDs, Accountants, and a Rhode Scholar.  Some of my classmates had never been in a rowboat.  Some could barely swim.  However, most of us learned the tactics, navigation, and seamanship we needed to become Navy officers in a variety of capacities.

My experience in the Navy helped me to mature.  The fact that I was a junior military officer helped me get jobs in sales with Procter & Gamble and Polaroid Corporation.