Learning from Sales Professionals
He had been in the pool deck and resurfacing industry for about 40 years – and he was a talker. He was also the fourth sales professional I met that day. But I was all ears. Why? Because my wife and I weren’t yet firm on what we wanted for our pool decking and patio....
Negotiating with Teens (Part Two)
“Hi – how are you?” my friend said to his teen daughter years ago after coming home from work. She erupted, yelled at him, stormed to her room and slammed the door. He turned to his wife and said “what did I do?” She replied “you talked.” This example, shared by...
Negotiating with Teens (Part One)
My 14-year-old daughter has excellent negotiation skills. And that’s a problem, at least now. Of course, I shouldn’t complain. She’s a great kid and very responsible, etc. But she can also be really frustrating. My friends with older daughters tell me this is a...
Negotiation Strategies for Divorcing Parties (Part Two)
I’m told there’s almost nothing more personal and emotionally challenging than a divorce. Even divorces without kids, where the spouses have just grown apart but still want a future relationship, can present significant challenges. So how can parties effectively...
Negotiation Strategies for Divorcing Parties (Part One)
I’m often asked to identify my most challenging negotiation, and my answer for the last 21 years has always been the same – with my wife! The second most challenging one? With my kids. Most family negotiations have all the elements of extremely tough negotiations....
Advice for Negotiators at Thanksgiving
Four years ago, I wrote a Negotiators Guide to Thanksgiving Conversations and eight years ago I wrote a column thanking negotiators for exhibiting certain effective traits that make all our negotiations better. Here are three more effective negotiator traits to be...
3 Tips for Negotiating With Medical Professionals
My Dad was recovering from emergency surgery to his abdominal area about 8 years ago when one of the hospital’s physicians told us that a blood clot had formed in his arm just below his shoulder. The doctor told us we had two options, neither of them good. She said he...