The Negotiators Paralysis: Fear of Losing a Client!
This week we discuss the paralysis negotiators feel when faced with the fear of losing a client and the risk of that fear changing their behaviours, resulting in the erosion of the company's margins!
The Weekly Walkaway highlights negotiation in its ‘good’, ‘bad’ and sometimes ‘downright ugly’ forms. Issue No. 62 (9th February 2024).
This Week in your Weekly Walkaway
Conclusion of The Thought of the Week: The Negotiators Paralysis
Tactic of The Week: The Stress
Thought of the Week: The Negotiators Paralysis: Fear of Losing a Client!
Remember: You are a negotiator!
You are always managing some form of conflict, a difference of opinion or interest.
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Conclusion of The Thought of The Week
What can Managers do? Managers and Directors must stop going to the negotiations!
YOU ARE EMPOWERED! = You can say yes.. And so you do.
DIS-EMPOWER yourselves = Send your negotiators. They need your permission to say yes so they say ‘no’, which is where negotiation begins…
Mix the fear of losing a client with a Directors ego and their authority to say ‘yes’ and its not rocket science mate but the company is gonna lose a hell of a lot of money!
Trust your negotiators to do their job. Take the pressure of them. Take the fear of losing a client away from them. Take the time pressure off them and you will have protected your company’s bottom line.
What can negotiators do? To effectively manage the fear of losing a client, negotiators must;
never go alone - bring together more people - form a negotiation team with as many wise heads from different departments and from differing levels - get out of their head and start to get into the head of their counterpart. You are much more equal than you think. Buy yourself time and brainstorm the issues;
cultivate resilience and emotional intelligence. They must learn to recognise, acknowledge and discuss their fears with trusted people. Don’t allow their fears to dictate their behaviour. Remember: if the other party was so powerful why are they using tactics.. If they were powerful they wouldn't need to resort to games, they would just tell you. This means they are trying to change the perception of power.. This means they perceive YOU, as powerful;
adopt a proactive mindset to a. strategic and b. tactical planning.
Develop BATNA’s. And focus on all of the risks, their fears, and create contingent ‘what-if’ scenarios. If they plan for failure they will be much less likely to fail;
They must brainstorm the issues and understand what the takes and gives are, linking these will ensure they never give anything away for free and always get something of equal or greater in return.
Follow these easy steps to managing the paralysis negotiators feel when they fear losing a client and how to then negotiate stronger, more mutually beneficial relationships with their clients while safeguarding their company's margins and profitability.
READ ON to read the full article. But first….
Tactic of The Week: The Stress
Negotiations are stressful enough without ‘them’ using stress against you. Beware of the following;
Risk: If the outcome of the negotiation has significant risks for you or your business, you may feel a lot of pressure to achieve a favourable outcome. If they know this then they will more than likely use it against you.
Uncertainty: If you're negotiating in a new or unfamiliar situation, or if you're not sure what they want or are willing to accept, then this can be used against you.
Time: If there's a deadline or time constraint on the negotiation, you may feel rushed and stressed about making a decision quickly. If they know your time pressures then they will use it against you.
Historical: If you have personal or emotional baggage that you bring into the negotiation, such as a history of conflict with the other party or a fear of failing again, or past unresolved issues that weaken your position. Then the other party will more than likely use these against you.
Complexity: If the negotiation involves complex issues you don't understand then they may use this against you. They may use this level of detail to overwhelm and stress you.
It's important to recognise when you're being exploited. When ‘they’ are purposely stressing you out. And they will be doing it for a reason. It is a tactic.
As soon as you feel overly stressed in a negotiation, immediately take steps to manage that stress;
Take a 6 second pause. Count it. Or if needed take a timeout, take a break, for as long as you need, minutes, hours or even days, you're in charge;
Breath. Accept what has stressed you out and then name the emotion you are feeling. Then consider if a change is required or if you should stick to your plan;
Seek support from a colleague or Coach. By sharing your stress you will better manage it and improve your ability to make clear and rational decisions.
And RELAX…
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
The Negotiators Paralysis: Fear of Losing a Client!
This week we got the chance to spend a day with an awesome client of ours; coaching they’re negotiators and meeting key stakeholders. Thank you for having us.
I love these days. It fills me with energy and the connections you develop are far deeper than those we foster online.
There is so much value in coaching.
helping unblock what was once blocked;
tossing in a few hand grenades to expand someone's thought process;
giving an injection of confidence.
I’m glad to say that we will be doing a lot more this year. I know, we rage against the Covid period for all the sadness and loss but I reflect and have come to embrace this time for all the forced innovation, the opportunities for co-creation and winning through mutual partner cooperation.
But what will remain though is the power of face to face interaction and how important this is for us and for you.
Some recurring topics were;
In uncertain economic times - Fear of losing clients;
Margin erosion. How to create value without using price;
Hunting Queens. The Directors parachuting in to ‘save the day’ but who are in fact giving away value.
Quote of The Week: Thank you JFK: Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
The fear of losing a client is a paralysing emotion for negotiators.
It impacts their perception of power, their confidence and ultimately the margins of their company.
The fear of losing a client significantly undermines a negotiator's confidence; they doubt their abilities, their position and their plan.
This lack of confidence means negotiators feel they are unable to push back against demands or don't assert their position.
During these times TIME is also a factor involved in weakening the negotiator.
Usually there is a sense of urgency from either internal or external stakeholders and this impacts the negotiators judgement. It impairs their tactical and strategic decision-making.
This has a knock on effect of making negotiators even more susceptible to tactics which are used to distort a negotiator's perception of power, weakening them further.
Instead of approaching the negotiation from a position of strength, or at least equality, this sense of power imbalance leads negotiators to make concessions, sometimes without getting anything of equal or greater in return.
When faced with a power imbalance negotiators can be forced to adopt a defensive posture. They start selling (arguing, explaining, justifying) thereby weakening their position even more.
This of course leads to tangible consequences, losses, for the negotiator's company's margins. Negotiators;
become overly focused on preserving the client relationship at any cost, prioritising the short-term over long-term profitability;
hastily agree to client demands in a desperate attempt to salvage the relationship, even if it means sacrificing their own interests or those of their company;
miss opportunities for value creation.
This all results in a negotiator conceding on price, terms and conditions that all erode the company's bottom line, ultimately diminishing its profitability and sustainability.
No manager or director wants to see the erosion of their company's bottom line.
Their own jobs are on the line. They report up and the ‘up’ are all shouting down - “don't lose that client!”
So what do they do… They go to the negotiation… (doh)
And what does that mean.. More authority to ‘give’ to the client… (doh)
Which means… more erosion of the company's bottom line, dummy! (doh)
Just what the counterpart was wanting all along… like a fly to the spiders web!
So What Can You Do
What can Managers do? Managers and Directors must stop going to the negotiations!
Simples….
YOU ARE EMPOWERED! = You can say yes.. And so you do.
DIS-EMPOWER yourselves = Send your negotiators. They need your permission to say yes so they say no…
Mix the fear of losing a client with a Directors ego and their authority to say ‘yes’ and its not rocket science mate but the company is gonna lose a hell of a lot of money!
Trust your negotiators to do their job. Take the pressure of them. Take the fear of losing a client away from them. Take the time pressure off them and you will have protected your company’s bottom line.
What can negotiators do? To effectively manage the fear of losing a client, negotiators must;
never go alone - bring together more people - form a negotiation team with as many wise heads from different departments and from differing levels - get out of your head and start to get into the head of your counterpart. You are much more equal than you think. Buy yourself time and brainstorm the issues;
cultivate resilience and emotional intelligence. They must learn to recognise, acknowledge and discuss your fears with trusted people. Don’t allow your fears to dictate your behaviour.
Remember: if the other party was so powerful why are they using tactics.. If they were powerful they wouldn't need to resort to games, they would just tell you. This means they are trying to change the perception of power.. This means they perceive YOU, as powerful;
adopt a proactive mindset to a. strategic and b. tactical planning.
develop BATNA’s, alternatives. Focus on all of the risks, your fears, and create contingent ‘what-if’ scenarios. If you plan for failure you will be much less likely to fail;
brainstorm the issues and understand what the takes and gives are, linking these will ensure you never give anything away for free and always get something of equal or greater in return.
Follow these easy steps to managing the paralysis you feel when you fear losing a client and how to then negotiate stronger, more mutually beneficial relationships with your clients while safeguarding your company's margins and profitability.
#NavigatingBetterNegotiatedOutcomes
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