Your Weekly Walkaway - No Power? What Are Your Choices?
Newsletter Issue No. 2 (23rd September 2022)
The Weekly Walkway is published weekly and highlights negotiation in its ‘good’, ‘bad’ and sometimes ‘downright ugly’ forms. What to expect?
Tactic of the Week - Good Cop Bad Cop
Thought of the Week - No Power? What Are Your Choices?
Your Week - Their opening offer was extreme, so I played hard to get!
Their Week - a couple of select global news stories for your entertainment and information, including commentary;
Quote of the Week - yup, exactly what it says.
Remember: You are a negotiator!
You are always managing some form of conflict, a difference in opinion or interest.
TACTIC OF THE WEEK
Good Cop Bad Cop
Just like all classic crime TV shows there is always a good cop and a bad cop working in partnership against the criminal. It won't come as any surprise but this tactic is used far too often in negotiations.
Similar to The Angry Gorilla tactic it plays on emotions and looks to trigger your "Lucy" (the chimp in your head). The bad cop makes the good cop look more reasonable. The good cop plays the bad cop down and looks to work in partnership with you.
Manage your Lucy. Call this tactic out. Stick to your plan. If they continue ask them to consider if they would feel it appropriate for you to use this tactic on them the next time, suggest a time out for them to reconsider their behaviour. If they continue warn them of the consequences and leave telling them a rescheduled time.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
No Power? What Are Your Choices?
Last week we stated that ‘Power gives ‘you’ the ability to control people and events. So he or she who has power has options.’
But what happens if you find you have little or no power? What are your Choices? Does this mean; he or she who has no power has no options?
No. You have options. You have choices. You have to ‘enable’ power.
Here we discuss one choice where you can choose to use one of the five power laws to enable your power. It’s even called ‘The Law of Choice’!
Enabling 'Power' using The Law Of Choice
Enabling your power starts early. But even if you find yourself ‘in’ negotiation and need to enable power, do not hide from the big question. What happens if I can’t agree to this deal? What are my choices, my alternatives? What are my BATNAs? (Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton in their book Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In.).
Your BATNA’s are what we define as “not falling in love once”.
Simply put, who would you be happy to dance with if your first choice says no? Your best alternative, not worst, your best alternative to ‘this’ deal?
While you are about it, you should also be analysing who your competition is. What are your counterpart’s BATNAs?
Enabling power requires action. Yup, you remember those school dances. You’ll have to get up and talk with other possible dance partners. And yes, just being seen talking with others can be enough to make you seem more desirable to your first choice.
The act of getting up means preparation, planning and hard work. Constantly analyse the market and be open to fostering new relationships.
When it comes to the dance hall, well, it could be any of the following and more; you can get quite creative;
Procurement uses multi-supplier tendering and the RFX process to show their relationships with the supplier’s competitors. They may also host innovation days and conferences where they bring multiple suppliers together to show them they are not alone in the relationship;
Suppliers ensure they have relationships with their clients' competitors or with other organisations with similar needs. They use golf days, product launches and partner events to show their clients they are not alone;
You browse through the market stalls showing the vendors you have a choice. You interview multiple builders and maybe have them crossing each other at the doorstep to show they are not alone. You analyse the mobile phone market and then inform your current provider that you’re looking for.
Even the use of the sacrificial lamb can be very powerful, where the most desirable partner, the biggest and best in the market, is invited and then rejected in front of preferred dance partners as a way of signalling who has the power.
Anything where your first love can be brought to feel that they have competition and where you can pre-condition them that you have options. You don't need them. You will still have a great night if they don’t dance with you.
Develop your BATNAs. Use the BATNA philosophy to strengthen your position.
Whether you have power or not, we strongly recommend always focusing on your BATNAs. There will be a time when you will need them.
For more choices, follow Kahvay, ask for coaching or book yourself into our action-based skills development programmes.
YOUR WEEK
Their opening offer was extreme so I played hard to get!
We needed them and were under tight deadlines. They proposed extreme so I played hard to get and said clearly and firmly “No, this is not appropriate”.
They tried to start negotiating, but I refused and warned them it would not be a positive result.
After two days (just three days before my deadline) they asked me to re-open the conversation. I replied with my extreme counter proposal.
After 2 days they made a second offer. I showed disappointment and said “No” and repeated my proposal.
I waited.
On the last day they offered again. I countered with a small increase on my initial proposal.
They agreed.
I had thought they had the power. It turns out I had it!
THEIR WEEK
The US now urges not to use outside help while negotiating for Griner, Whelan's release from Russia.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-now-urges-negotiating-griner-whelans-release-russia/story?id=89890415
As a onetime ambassador to the U.N. and an international hostage negotiator, Bill Richardson has often been on the front lines of American diplomacy. But after his high-profile trip to Russia amid efforts to secure the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, members of the Biden administration are now urging Richardson to take a back seat.
Zoom out
Richardson has gone from the inner to the outer circle. Although he is an expert, respected and clearly has a track record in this arena, he is no longer the US government’s mouthpiece. Therefore, he is not empowered and does not have the authority to be involved in Griner and Whelan’s release.
So what?
To be successful as an external negotiator being brought in, you have to have access to all of the information; you have to understand the objectives of the parties you represent and be empowered before you can make meaningful proposals to reach a negotiated agreement. Richardson will need to rely on his reputation and experience, but that will only get him so far as he does not have access to all of the information.
Netflix’s ad-supported tier is on the fast track, but advertisers are baulking at the platform’s asking price
https://www.tubefilter.com/2022/09/14/netflix-ad-supported-tier-cpms-asking-price-release-date/
If Netflix is trying to roll out its ads on November 1, then it needs to work quickly to win over potential ad partners, but many buyers remain skeptical. One sticking point is the proposed price of Netflix inventory. The streamer has reported thrown out a $65 CPM (Cost per thousand impressions) as its asking price. According to Digiday, that would make Netflix ads more expensive than commercials at the 2021 Super Bowl.
There’s a good chance that the price of 1,000 Netflix impressions will go down during negotiations, but potential buyers have plenty of other questions about Netflix’s new service.
https://digiday.com/media/finally-some-details-on-netflixs-ad-supported-offering-but-buyers-are-stunned-at-what-theyre-hearing/
Netflix’s move to hire a dynamic duo to oversee its global ad sales ambitions couldn’t come at a better — or worse — time. At last, media buyers are finally getting the information they need to start making plans to spend clients’ ad dollars on what’s been a highly anticipated launch.
But the buyers Digiday reached, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely, were shocked at some of what Netflix is asking for — namely a $65 CPM that’s higher than last year’s Super Bowl, along with a lack of third-party measurement and very humble growth expectations.
Zoom out
Netflix is entering a new stage in their development and uncharted waters for them. Rightly so, they have led with the pricing, anchoring the market to their price. Where they may come unstuck is that they have a new master, the advertisers, they want to measure the success of their ads; Netflix will have to concede on providing trackable viewing figures if they want to get anywhere their opening $65 CPM.
Netflix has a lot of work to do before its expected 1st November launch to meet the advertisers’ transparency, targeting and tracking needs. But they have set the scene, especially with other streaming media companies like Disney and Discovery quickly joining the ad-supported fray. This move will likely redefine the ad market for years to come.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Carroll Quigley
“The basis of social relationships is reciprocity: if you cooperate with others, others will cooperate with you. ”
Got any questions or comments you’d like us to cover in next week’s Weekly Walkaway?
Thanks for reading ‘Your Weekly Walkaway’. Subscribe for free to receive new posts.