Negotiating your way to success

When Dr. Chester Karrass first began his negotiating seminars in the late 1960s, most business executives and professionals did not realise how much negotiation was a part of their daily business lives. Today, more than a million professionals – salespeople, buyers, managers, engineers, financial officers and CEOs – have attended Dr. Karrass’ ‘Effective Negotiating®’ seminar. Many have attended the seminar at their own offices, with more than half of the Fortune 500 corporations currently using the programme.

When it was launched, Effective Negotiating® was a pioneering seminar, designed to help business people master the strategies, tactics, and psychological elements of negotiating. Dr Karrass’ research showed that negotiating wasn’t just a question of being able to speak well; it was a skill that could be learned, honed, sharpened and improved, and which could also result in real financial benefits.

Karrass says its negotiation seminars are the most successful in the world, presented regularly in over 65 US cities, Canada, Mexico, and another 17 cities worldwide in countries from Europe to Asia. “They are successful because they are valid, practical, and presented in an enjoyable and interactive way,” said a spokesman for the company. “There’s no point to a seminar if it doesn’t reap quantifiable rewards. Many delegates have used the skills they learned to save at least the cost of the seminar in their next negotiation – whether it’s in their private or business dealings.”

Success has also been a result of Karrass’ flexibility, with the company able to change dates, times, locations and customise the content to suit the customer. “Different companies have different training needs. It’s not always possible or fair to ask delegates to travel long distances to attend. That’s why we always make it clear that we are flexible,” the spokesman said.

This built-in flexibility is part of a promotional and marketing initiative from Karrass that has won awards for its results. “The Karrass business has grown thanks to continual promotion and marketing – hopefully the Karrass name is the one most thought of when it comes to negotiating,” the spokesman said. “Our advice would be to not forget past/current clients and to target those areas most appropriate for your business for promotion.”

The Karrass seminars are not restricted to particular industries or business sectors. “Everyone negotiates at home, at work, with colleagues, with bosses, with customers and with suppliers,” the spokesman said. “Any business and any job function can benefit from better negotiation skills. To those who are not sure whether or not this will work for them, I would say, ‘Try us because we are not expensive.’ Over a million delegates over the past 40 years cannot be wrong.”

Unmatched negotiating experience
Dr. Karrass spent three years conducting advanced research and experimentation in negotiation techniques before earning his Doctorate from the University of Southern California. It was this research that convinced him there was a potentially enormous market for the right kind of seminars.

Dr. Karrass designed the seminar programme to strengthen skills that are the keys to success in business and life. Karrass seminars give clients the ability to handle deals and clients with confidence and strength. “Most people dislike negotiation,” says Dr Karrass. “Perhaps it is because they do not like confrontation or because they lack the necessary negotiation skills. The solution is negotiation training at Karrass seminars. “Many deals are lost through poor negotiating skills. What may seem like an impasse can actually be turned into a deal – but only if your employees have the best negotiating skills.”

The training options the company offers are run by course leaders who are carefully selected for their experience and skill; and specially trained for leading, teaching, discussing, motivating, and making the seminars as enjoyable as they are educational. Karrass has more than 30 seminar leaders around the world, all of whom are supported by their own solid, high-level business backgrounds. The seminars are packed with strategies, tips and skills that have been practised and tested over more than three decades. In short, they work. The skills Karrass imparts are practical and immediately useable. In business as in life, you don’t get what you deserve – you get what you negotiate.

Producing real financial dividends
The company’s most popular seminar – and the most popular seminar of its kind in the world – is Karrass Effective Negotiating®, which is designed to be practical, hard-hitting and to produce real financial dividends. More than a million executives have already attended the seminar. Effective Negotiating® is also running in over half of the Fortune 500 corporations, including GM, DuPont, Bechtel, IBM and the US Department of Defense. Each of these organisations has successfully trained thousands of salespeople, purchasing agents, contracts personnel, and management through the Karrass system.

The Karrass Internal Negotiating Programme, Effective Negotiating® In Your Own Organisation, is the newest skill set on offer. The purpose of this programme is to demonstrate a new approach to working with people in today’s fast-changing, increasingly complex economy – an economy where no matter how smart or technically competent you are, you need good relationships and an open exchange of ideas with others to get the job done successfully. To achieve this purpose the seminar will focus on three crucial skills: the negotiation of differences, the exchange of viewpoints and ideas, and the building of relationships.

Delegates receive extensive take-home materials to allow them to revise what they have been taught and also assist in their planning and preparation of future negotiations.

Karrass also offers different solutions for clients who need to plan their training needs in advance: Karrass organises and presents Public Seminars in over 80 cities around the World – just select the one that is most convenient for you and your organisation. The web site at www.karrass.co.uk details all the dates and locations.

The Karrass Reserved Seat Programme offers the flexibility a company needs to plan ahead. You can schedule the Effective Negotiating® training on pre∞paid basis with 12 months to decide which of the many Karrass Public Seminars your staff should attend. This allows staff to train near their home base or at a location near to where they are travelling on business, cutting down on travel and hotels. Karrass will help you administer your ‘Block’ by providing updates indicating who has attended and in which city they attended.

Karrass In-House Seminars are customised training programmes available for a minimum of 12 delegates for an entire company or specific departments. Karrass consultants conduct interviews with key personnel, then customise the programme to address specific needs. This helps attendees zero in on the specific issues confronting them. Clients can determine who will attend, and where the workshop will take place.

Karrass Train Your Own Trainer is an effective way to train the most people at the most efficient cost, and has allowed large organisations in every industry to make the Effective Negotiating® programme an ongoing part of their training through a licensing arrangement with Karrass. With this option, the Karrass consulting staff work closely with a client company to adapt the workshop to fit specific needs. Then Karrass trains your personnel to present the seminar themselves.

The Karrass Speakers’ Bureau is perfect for sales events or organisational meetings. It provides entertaining and informative speakers – as well as short workshops – designed to enhance business and personal lives.

Tactics, techniques and strategies
A typical negotiating seminar focuses on the tactics, techniques and strategies of negotiation presented through debate, video, and interactive case studies. Delegates learn to identify and use such things as “The Krunch”, “The Flinch”, “The Considered Response” as well as dealing with cultural differences and “Dead-Locks”. There’s a crucial psychological element to negotiating and this is something people often overlook or didn’t understand in the first place.

One of the most important parts of the seminar is learning how to master this psychological element – equipping a delegate with the skill to make a suggestion or ask a question that will elicit a predicted response to gain information or an advantage.

Dr. Karrass himself says negotiating with integrity gives you much more chance of success. “Negotiating is more than a discussion of issues or a signed agreement,” he said. “Negotiating is an unwritten judgment on the quality and character of the participants. In reaching that judgment, integrity is the key element. Integrity makes the deal work. There is no substitute for it.”

The absence in integrity cannot be offset by intelligence, competence, or tight legal documents. Without integrity, no deal, however carefully written, is worth much. The transaction must have built into it a high sense of values, the generosity to resolve subsequent difficulties equitably, and a commitment to meet the intent of the agreement. Dr. Karrass said: “Integrity is always a big part of the price. Wherever it is lacking, you’ll find yourself short-changed.”

Many people stumble at the opening of their negotiation, but there are a few points to keep in mind when starting a negotiation.

1. Don’t set your initial offer too near your final objective. Give yourself room to negotiate. It doesn’t matter what you are negotiating – hours on a project, scope-of-work, specifications, price, who’s going to do what, etc. When you start any negotiation you must assume the other party will always put their maximum positions on the table first. Equally important is the fact that they probably will not disclose to you the minimum they are willing to accept. Don’t be shy about asking for everything you might want and more during a negotiation.

2. Give yourself enough time to negotiate. Before you start make sure you have allowed a realistic amount of time for the negotiation process to take place. Hours, weeks or months – it will frequently take longer than you expect. Rushing through the negotiation almost always works against you.

3. Don’t assume you know what the other party wants. It is far more prudent to assume that you do not know and then proceed to discover the realities of the situation by patient testing and questioning. If you proceed to negotiate a deal on the basis of your own untested estimate, you are making a serious mistake.

4. Do not assume that your aspiration level is high enough. It is possible that your demands are too modest, or too easy to achieve. The other party may not know what they want or may have a set of values quite different from your own.

5. Finally, never accept the first offer. Many people do if the offer is as good as they expected or hoped to get. There are two good reasons not to accept: First, the other party is probably willing to make some concessions. Second, if you take the first offer, the other party is often left with the feeling that they were foolish for starting too low. The negotiator who takes the first offer too fast makes a mistake.

Learning from your mistakes
Of course negotiating isn’t just about what you do right. It can also turn out to be what you do wrong. Seemingly small mistakes can cost you dear in negotiations, so there’s no excuse not to be prepared. “Strong negotiating skills are the keys to success in business and life,” says Dr Karrass. “The strength of your agreements, understandings and relationships mean the difference between success and failure. Weak agreements with companies and individuals always break down. Strong agreements help you reach and exceed your own objectives, and leave the other party gaining more satisfaction at the same time.”

Everyone makes mistakes and Dr Karrass is no exception. The important thing is to learn from them. “I keep a file of dumb negotiating mistakes I’ve made,” says Dr Karrass. “These are real mistakes. I’ve made them myself more than once. But these examples will help you negotiate more effectively.”

1. Do not underestimate your power. Most people tend to have more power than they think and only by making a systematic analysis of power can you understand your strengths.

2. Do not assume that the other party knows your weaknesses. Assume that they do not and test that assumption. You may be better off than you think.

3. Don’t be intimidated by status. We are so accustomed to showing deference to titles and positions that we carry our attitudes to the negotiating table. There is as much danger from having a “little-shot” complex as a “big-shot” complex.

4. Don’t be intimidated by statistics, precedents, principles, or regulations. Some decisions are made on the basis of premises and principles long dead or irrelevant. Be skeptical. Challenge them.

5. Do not forget that the other party is negotiating with you because they believe there is something to gain by being there. You may discover that this negotiation, no matter how small it is, is part of a larger framework in the other party’s objectives. This alone may provide you greater bargaining power than is apparent from the situation. Be positive in your approach. Assume that the other party wants agreement as much as you do. If they don’t, learn why.

6. Don’t emphasise your own problems or the possible losses to yourself if deadlock occurs. In all likelihood, there are constraints on the other party’s action as severe as your own. Concentrate on their problems and issues. These are your opportunities to find routes to agreement.

7. Never give a concession without obtaining one in return.

Karrass has grown into a global company, but in a global environment as competitive as today’s, no one can stand still. Karrass is now planning to expand in both the Indian and Chinese markets, where huge populations and a thirst for usable business skills make for potentially very lucrative markets. Karrass currently only presents in English and Spanish, but can see a day coming soon when it might have to add more languages to its list.