Easy Negotiation Techniques

I have to admit that this article was a struggle for me; that’s why it took me so long to post. I apologize for that. I was going off on so many different tangents and losing my focus. I had so many comments going on in my head and wanted to write about them all. In the end, I finally streamlined my focus and stayed on track. I hope you agree. This segment of ABC’s of Haggling leads me to the letter “C” for which I had a hard time choosing the word I felt most important for haggling success. I finally chose the word COMMON.

COMMON is the perfect word. For successful and pleasurable haggling you will need: COMMON courtesy; COMMON sense; and COMMON ground.

COMMON courtesy is simple. For most people, anyway. Bottom line is just treat your opponent, aka merchant, the way that you would like to be treated. Keep that in mind and you should have no problem. Remember that being nice and courteous will actually aid you in your haggle endeavor. It’s much harder for the merchant to refuse someone who is being courteous and nice. In fact, sometimes just being courteous can help to soften an otherwise prickly merchant and maybe put you on the receiving end of a good deal. I love when I encounter a stiff, unsmiling store merchant and then work on trying to get them to crack a smile and softening them up a bit. But, that’s another post for another time. I’ll file that for later.

COMMON sense refers to the that little voice we all have in the back of our head that tells us when something is reasonable or not so reasonable. Most of us can tune in to that little voice which we can call the “voice of common sense”. When you are in the middle of a haggle, you need to listen to that voice and respond accordingly. Common sense must dictate here. It will not steer you wrong. For instance, if you find that the merchant is being unreasonable and not resp Read more »

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Is A Long-Term Relationship The Right Thing For You?

Man, what a hassle negotiating is. If you have to negotiate every single vendor relationship each time you need to have something done, it sure seems like you’re going to end up spending your time negotiating and won’t have any time left over to do everything else. There has got to be a better way!

Maybe the right thing to do is to pick a vendor and enter into a long-term relationship with them. That could be the answer that you’ve been looking for: do the heavy negotiating once and then you can move on and feel comfortable that at least this relationship is in the bag. Or is it?

The Advantages Of A Long-Term Relationship

On the surface it sure seems like a good idea. Constantly having to create a list of suppliers, evaluate them based on where they stand in the market, financial stability (especially these days!), reputation, etc. takes a lot of your time. If you can find a vendor who does a good job, then you’ve solved this problem.

Maintaining a relationship with one firm over time can be very beneficial. You will come to know who you are dealing with, you’ll understand what they can and cannot do, and you’ll be able to build up a two-way trusting relationship. If nothing else, a long-term relationship can simplify your life because you’ll have one less thing to worry about.

If you are a buyer, then an additional advantage of being in a long-term relationship with a supplier is that you may get preferential treatment if supplies of a particular part become scarce some day. If you are a seller, then the beauty of a long-term relationship is that it takes a great deal less effort to maintain an existing relationship instead of trying to grow a new one.

The Disadvantage Of A Long-Term RelationshipRead more »