Just how do you make a deal, anyway? The ability to negotiate should be part of our nature. After all, deal making is as old as humanity itself. But the rules for a successful negotiation are anything but innate, especially in the age of globalization and...
reMy client was preparing to make a counteroffer to a vendor asking them to reduce their price, when an announcement to close a division of my client’s organization was made public. The closure impacts the vendor’s relationship with the organization, but doesn’t...
Asking your suppliers for innovation—or transformation—is a tall order and few suppliers accept the challenge. I think I know why. Innovation transforms something, whether a process or a machine. It is more than an incremental improvement—saving “fingers and toes”...
A stakeholder said in front of the supplier during negotiations, “What the hell does ‘G.S.’ (V.P. of Sourcing) have to do with my deal!?” My coaching client and I had to regain control of the conversation immediately. In this article I’ll explain what we did and ask...
Getting to We is a process. After partners assess the levels of trust and compatibility between two partners, and agree that there is enough trust and compatibility, they are ready to move on to the next step in the process: developing a shared vision for the...
