Reflection - Negotiations

It has been quite a challenge to sell Fabulyzer to some people and then negotiate with them, but at least I have learned a few things while doing so. Firstly, I've learned active listening makes a big difference when negotiating. I say this because on my first interviews I was constantly thinking of which question I was going to ask next, instead of paying attention to my "potential customer". Because I was so worried about the questions, there was complete detachment between the customer's feelings (emotions) and myself. Finally, it got to a point that even my interviewee was asking what the next questions were going to be. It was obvious that something needed to change. This is when I changed my strategy and decided to reiterate to my customer what he/she had said in order to listen closely to what was being said. So if my customer said something like, "I exercise because I want to feel more active", I would now reply, "wanting to be more active is a great motivation, how do you keep track of how active you are?". By repeating what they said, I was placing myself on their shoes and that creates empathy. In terms of my negotiating style, I am more of an accommodating style because instead of being more assertive, I tend to be more timid during the negotiation process. Being calm and patient was useful when talking to people who had time in their hands, but not practical when people were in a hurry. So I need to be more assertive in order to reach a Negotiator style. Any ideas?

Another Cool Report on Buyer Types

Hi All
Another really great report on Buyer Types, their motivations , etc in the general Consumer Market Space...
Your team's challenge is to focus on developing and presenting archetypes for Fabulyzer's Health & Wellbeing Consumer Market Space!

Wolf Of Wall Street: Ideas for Your Sales Negotiation (not Customer Discovery) Meeting

Hi All
As you prepare for your actual sales negotiation (not customer discovery) meeting with real-world buyers, who you are asking to sign a contract agreement, pay attention to the hints regarding negation sales style from the Wolf Of All Street. 
Please be critical and discerning about which aspects you like and will use and those that you are not comfortable with. e.g. some of the Wolf's pressure tactics are not consistent with Fabulyzer's values. Yet, some tips in the pressure sections, that are not necessary part of pressurising your target, might be valuable to your sale. Good luck and enjoy
Ed

Interview Questions. Done by Anna, Georgina, Christopher and Ekaterina

Interview Questions

Short Feedback: NEGOTIATE DON'T BARGAIN

Good morning All

This week I've had the pleasure of observing Groups 1 & 2 in action with the G-Technica simulation. A quick reflection from me for all the teams that took part in the exercise: very few of you were able to NEGOTIATE through the exercise. In the main you are still operating in bargaining mode. 
So these 2 satirical videos give you examples of BARGAINING (which is what you do not want to do).
1. The first demonstrates situations where you or your customer might find yourselves 'pushing the envelope' by bargaining and
2. The second the concept of 'be a man' in sales bargaining. Neither comedian is looking at negotiation- both are speaking about bargaining.
As I say, you want to develop yourselves and test out your abilities as negotiators, against your tendency to bargain, even in your customer discovery interviews. Looking forward to Group 3 demonstrating their NEGOTIATION abilities next week

Negotiations task reflection: The Observer

Our second negotiations task was similar to the first where two pairs are given individual case studies regarding the same negotiation and they need to come to an agreement of who buys what for what price.

Previously I was a buyer and there were many complications in the process.Therefore as the observer it was very interesting to examine the behaviours of the pair I was assigned to in order to detect any disruption to the original negotiation tactics.
Firstly I noted down the discussion my pair were having after have read the case. They were talking about what they want out of the negotiation and the way in which they would go about it. I also took down how they thought the other pair would react in order to be prepared for any style. Both the individuals wanted a win-win situation if it could be possible and didn't talk about using sneaky tactics.

Throughout the duration of the real negotiation I found it difficult not to intervene or contribute as of course I was on my pair's side and wanted them to win. It was interesting to see the negotiation start off with a calm introduction and a small conversation before prices were being discussed which definitely set the tone of the whole session.

The pair's predictions of the opponent's tactics were entirely wrong (they thought they would be sneaky, instead, the opponents behaved the same way they did) therefore making the operation easier for everyone. As said in the private discussion they mad clear that they would stick to their aim and to their ideal price per unit as close as possible and this goal was achieved.
Without aggression or hard negotiation tactics the end result benefited both sides.

Overall as the role of the observer I found it most interesting to see if there were any differences between the private talk to when everything was on the table in the negotiation. For many the real thing can be flipped upside down and be a completely unexpected conversation however in this instance it was very close to the original plan.