Start Your Own Business (37 page)

1.
Know your bargaining position
. In every negotiation, someone is in a stronger position and someone is in a weaker position. Where are you?

Let’s say you’re looking to lease 1,000 square feet of retail space in a shopping center. The landlord is a large commercial real estate developer with 2 million square feet of space in five major shopping malls in your town. How flexible do you think this landlord will be in the negotiation? Not very. One thousand square feet is a drop in the bucket to this landlord, so you’ll be the one making all the concessions.

NEVER LET ’EM SEE YOU SWEAT

 

A
re you serious about wanting to be a better negotiator? Then learn to play poker. A good poker player is almost always a good negotiator. Consider the lessons poker teaches you:

• Use a “poker face” to conceal your emotions from the other side.

• It isn’t so much the hand you’re dealt, as what the other players think you’ve got. If you get a great hand and show too much enthusiasm, the other players will fold early and leave you with a small pot, but if the other players think you have only a mediocre hand, they’ll stay in the game and leave a lot more money on the table.

• Likewise, if you truly have a mediocre hand, by making the other players think you’ve got something better, they’ll yield to their insecurity and fold early. This leaves you with money you wouldn’t have gotten if you’d shown your cards too soon.

Bluffing and posturing are part of the game of negotiation. If you master these techniques early, you stand a much better chance of winning negotiations on a regular basis.

 

Now, let’s say you’re looking to lease 1,000 square feet of retail space in a strip mall. The landlord is a local widow whose husband died several years ago. The strip mall is the only property she owns, the 1,000 square feet is the largest tenant space in the mall, and it’s been vacant for the last six months. Who’s in the stronger position now?

You—and you’re crazy if you don’t take advantage of it. (See “The Golden Rule” on page 243.)

2.
Know how the other side perceives its position
. It isn’t enough to know what your real bargaining position is. You also have to consider how each side perceives its position. As any poker player knows, sometimes a mediocre hand can be a winning hand if it’s played properly. If the person with the mediocre hand can convince the other players that he or she has a much better hand than he or she actually has, and the other players (with better hands) buy into that, they’re likely to fold early to cut their losses, leaving the pot to the bluffer.

If your negotiating position isn’t great but you see the other side is worried about losing the deal, you can’t go wrong by coming on strong and playing to the other side’s fears.

 

TIP

 

Sometimes silence is the best weapon. By quietly pondering for several moments what the other side has just said, you raise their anxiety about your willingness to do the deal. Your body language should send the signal that you have all the time in the world and don’t need the deal. Just don’t do this too often; you’ll appear indecisive.

3.
Assess your bargaining style
. Are you aggressive or passive by nature? I hate to say it, but in 25 years of studying lawyers, I’ve found that those who are naturally aggressive, fearless and downright ornery tend to make the best negotiators. People are afraid of them, want to avoid their nasty behaviors and give them what they want. To truly succeed at negotiating, it helps if you can find your inner Rottweiler. Remember, it’s a game.

I’m not saying you should yell, scream or threaten violence during a negotiation (although some negotiators use these techniques to great effect). You can be pleasant and communicate your willingness to get the deal done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Just make sure the other side doesn’t misinterpret your nice behavior as a sign of weakness, or you’ll lose the negotiation.