The Hindu Business Line : ‘The best word’

‘The best word in the English language’ is not ‘yes’ but you-know-what. “In negotiation, ‘yes’ is the worst word,” declares the author. “It just betrays a fear of failure and a fear of losing this deal, and it primes you to please the other side, to rush ahead, to compromise early and often, to come to a deal, any deal.”

No, please don’t, advises Camp. “No will liberate and protect you,” he assures. Yes is the ‘easygoing or oblivious attitude, or so it seems,’ he chides.

“Sometimes we don’t even know we are in a negotiation, let alone prepare for it – until it’s too late. How many times have you experienced the panic that sets in after some rash decision or agreement you really didn’t think about, or whose consequences you didn’t realise?”

The ‘no’ principle is about openness and honesty, argues Camp.

“No allows everyone involved to put away the need to be right, to be the smartest, to be the strongest, or to be the toughest. It prevents you from making weak – and worse, bad – decisions because of your need to feel safe and secure and liked by the other side.”

Control the commotion of emotion, the author urges. One particular emotion that dominates all the rest in negotiations is neediness, he says. “Many business negotiators are expert in creating neediness by feeding the hopes and expectations of the other side… When you slip and allow yourself to appear needy you are in danger and your negotiation is in big trouble.”

In negotiations, talking is often an overt showing of need, counsels Camp. “Therefore this rule: No talking.”

Talk less than you normally would, and instead listen more and better, he instructs. “Listen, listen, listen to what people are telling you. Then let it become a habit.”

How about ‘maybe’? With ‘maybe’, neither party has any idea where things stand, kindly understand.

“In negotiation, ‘maybe’ will bury you with wasted time, energy, money, and the real killer, emotion. Did he really mean yes? Are we almost there? Or is he just trying a last-minute ploy for concessions?”

A book you can surely say ‘yes’ to!

D. Murali

http://BookPeek.blogspot.com