Today’s Negotiating Tip

Empathy is a powerful building block for your strategy. You will be able to best negotiate if you can put yourself in the other person's shoes. When you approach a negotiation, ask yourself:

• What does this person want from the deal?
• Can they afford not to win?
• Are they in a hurry to sell?
• Do they need to make a commission today?
• Do they like their job?
• Are they in a good mood?

Pretend you are the salesperson for a brief minute. You see her standing there in the appliances section. Put yourself in her shoes for a minute. Pretend that you are selling ovens and freezers. What day is it? Is it Friday? Maybe she is tired. Maybe she just started her shift at the store. How would knowing this affect her negotiating methods? Maybe she has not had a sale all week and needs to move something today or not get a paycheck. Maybe she has had the best week of her career and is looking at icing the cake with a big, fat commission from you. What clues does she give to tell you how she is thinking and feeling? Does her body language give you any tips?

Empathy is one of the first steps toward a win/win which we’ll discuss further as we go along. Start learning to watch for signals that the salesperson gives you. As we progress we’ll learn to interpret them.