Something we focus very little on in negotiations is how to make the other party look and feel successful out of the deal. All of our focus is on how to make ourselves look, feel, and actually be successful in negotiations – and letting our management chain know.
But the other party has a management chain too. And do you know what happens when they look and feel cleaned out in negotiations? The other negotiator may get demoted. They may get a bad performance review.
Additionally, their management chain may deprioritize your account. They won’t pick up the phone. And every single time you ask for something small, you’ll get an invoice for it. They’ll get their money back.
You have to have a CONSCIOUS STRATEGY to ensure that the other party looks and feels successful out of the deal. It’s good for them. It’s good for you. They’ll treat your account better, and they’ll service you better. They’ll want you to be successful.
Probably the best example of this you’re going to find is in the National Football League. Even if you’re not into sports, you will learn endlessly by watching sports negotiations play out. If you want to be a world class negotiator, this has to be part of your ongoing training regimen.
I just saw an announcement from a football team that they signed a much better than average football player to the richest deal for his position in NFL history – 5 years, USD $100 million. It’s a mind blowing deal for someone who is very good but not the best at his position.
But the details have not yet been made available. This is intentional, to let the player and his agent both bask in the limelight.
The player gets to say that nobody in the history of the NFL has ever gotten more at that position, and the agent gets to say that they were the one who brokered such a deal – enticing other players to sign up with him.
And the NFL team gets to bask in the limelight too. The message is “We pay our players above market value. Come play for our team. We pay more than anyone else.”
Now what will the details of the deal look like? I can tell you without them ever having been announced.
It’s probably in reality a 3 or 4 year deal that has been structured as a 5 year deal. The last 1 or 2 years will have a ridiculous salary that the team will never pay, because they will have put a termination for convenience clause just before those years kick in.
The team knows it, the player knows it, and the player’s agent knows it. They all know that it’s really, say, just a 3 year deal for $52M – fair market value for the player.
All 3 parties agree to add artificial years and compensation the backend that all 3 parties know will never happen. It’s all about writing each other’s victory speech.
And when the actual details go out, nobody will talk about them, because it’s not to anyone’s benefit to do so.
And when year 3 or 4 rolls around and they release the player or renegotiate a new and more reasonable salary, nobody in the public will remember what was announced when the deal was first struck. Nothing lost.
This is just one of many strategies that can be employed to write the other party’s victory speech. We go through this in detail in the CPSCM™ Certification Program. Contingency agreements can be put in place. The way in which concessions are captured and communicated can be modified.
There are many ways to go. But this has to be part of your arsenal. It’s good for all parties involved, and you’ll get better results as well.
Now go off and do something wonderful. Be your best!
Omid G.
“THE Godfather of Negotiation Planning” ~ Intel Corp
P.S. We are constantly making CPSCM™ even better. Two new game changing modules (Module XIII & XIV) have been added to the CPSCM™ Certification Program. Have you seen them? Check it out! https://pscminstitute.com/cpscm-for-individuals/
