Lessons We’ve Learned From Years of Managing Contracts

1. You must actively manage your deals and relationships. Keep in touch with your contacts; make sure contracts are up-to-date. You never want a client to bring it to your attention that a contract has expired.

2. Share the lessons you learned with each deal. Remember why deals went sour or why they succeeded, then share the love with others … perhaps they’ve learned lessons that you’ve yet to stumble upon.

3. Use a process. This way you’ll never miss anything you need to cover. Whether you want it laid out in a mind map or a thorough checklist, a process is the framework of a successful negotiation.

4. Know the essence of what you want when you do your deals. Understand the essence of your goals. For example, we might have a goal of not wanting to have exclusivity in the agreement. The essence of this goal is flexibility. Understanding this creates bigger boundaries for creativity for both parties. Understanding that you might be okay with a very narrow and limited exclusivity (if it gives the other side more incentive to market your service) still gives you flexibility.

5. The value of your business is the sum total of its deals. Make good deals, have a good business. Enough said.

What have you learned from your time managing contracts? Are there any learned lessons we should add onto our list?

[Photo from this website]

The Brilliant Negotiator Within

I saw this young kid at the bike shop trying to convince his parents to get him a bike. He was a brilliant negotiator. His dad finally agreed to his complex proposal for a new set of wheels. This made me think that negotiation is an innate skill that we all possess but, with time, lose touch with. We supposedly “grow up” and in the process become negotiation wimps. Think back to when you were a child and tried to convince your parents to let you do things. You probably had a good success ratio.

It’s a common misconception that either you’re born to negotiate or you’re not, but I think that negotiation is a mindset and skill we all possess and need to reconnect with. When we were kids, we were authentic, we knew what we wanted and we knew what buttons to push so our parents would cave. As an adult, we struggle to be authentic, are often confused about what we want and treat everyone the same.

Brilliant negotiators are born inside us all, they just tend to die through the process of growing up. If you can overcome this irony and reconnect with the mindset and skills in your mental storage locker, you will be well on your way to becoming a great negotiator … AGAIN.

The mindset and skill children have are the same as the framework that Stuart Diamond, author of Getting More, says should be used for each and every negotiation.

• Be authentic and know the desired goal(s)
• Understand the other side and act accordingly (each person is different we must figure out how to connect with them versus overpowering them – focus on them versus yourself).
• Figure out what it will take to persuade the others in this deal.

We all negotiate 20 to 40 hours a week. In fact, the value of your life is the sum total of the deals you negotiate. Why not reconnect to your brilliant negotiator within and kick some ass. Connecting to your natural brilliance comes from focus, practice, desire and persistence or, in simpler terms, from acting like you did when you were a kid.

(Photo from lovingyourchild.com)

Getting to "No" You

I have recently learned getting to "yes" is often proceeded by saying "no." A couple months back I was offered what I considered to be a dream job: great pay, international travel, the ability to work from home. Naturally, I jumped on the opportunity. I told my boss, my friends, my family – everyone – about my new gig. I purchased fancy clothes so I could be more businesslike. I spent all the money I knew I’d be getting before I saw a dime of it. After days of indecisiveness and tiring debates with myself, it hit me like a brick in the face: this job wasn’t right for me. I couldn’t quite voice why not, but I knew I had to say “no” to this seemingly unbeatable offer.

Saying "no" to that opportunity lead me to something that felt right: WieseLaw Contract Studio. Here I am surrounded by business-igniters and thought leaders, jokesters and geniuses. Though I bid adieu to the prospect of designer clothes and trips around the world, I said hello to something even better. And look: after just a few weeks’ time, they taught me how magical it can be to say “no.”

This concept may seem a bit strange at first, but it’s something we should all try to embrace and find comfort in. Nobody gets ahead by being a pushover, and they shouldn’t. What gets people far in life is having opinions and making definitive decisions. Here are a couple pointers to help you say “no:”

- Get over it: saying “no” doesn’t make you a bad person. It makes you a decision-maker.

- If you go into a negotiation and are slightly uncomfortable with it, get it out on the table. Let the person know right away that you’re leaning towards no.

- Remember what “no” often times leads to: an opportunity to say “yes.”

So next time something does not feel right, have the courage to say "no." And remember, when someone says "no" to you, don't sweat it -- they may be trying to open a different door down the road.

Bringing Your Team To The Negotiation Table

 Image Credit: Michael Sohn/The Associated Press

I admit it, I've got World Cup fever. I have done my best to watch as much as I can to see soccer/football at its best. One of the amazing lessons of the World Cup is how much pure talent can be negated by teamwork. Take for example Italy, France and Greece for example. They are ranked 5th, 9th and 13th in FIFA World Rankings, yet they were unable to advance within their groups at the World Cup. These teams had many players on some of the World's top club teams and were unquestionable favorites coming into their matches. And yet, teams like South Korea and Japan were able to overcome huge gaps and talent to advance within their groups. It might be tempting to say it was the result of poor refereeing or even pure luck, but taking into account that each match lasts 90+ minutes there is plenty of time for teams to put into play a carefully thought out and well executed game plan that plays upon the strengths of its individual team members.

See the segway in action there? This same thinking can apply to your negotiation teams. However, much like anything in life, you can't just show up with a crack team of professionals and expect things to work out just because you have "all the right pieces" at the table. 

In order to get the most out of your team in negotiation situations, it's important to think about how to properly use your team.  Allow me to offer a 3-phase suggestion:

1. Discuss the situation with the group, capture data/knowledge about the other side, brainstorm outcomes and discuss the negotiation timetable and process. This is where you discern the lay of the land, nail down a manageable timeline and BE CREATIVE! This is a great time to air out different ideas from the group - you've gathered them together to draw upon their collective knowledge, so be sure to let ideas be heard!
2. Evaluate team strengths and weaknesses and assign roles accordingly. Despite the fact that we all have to do things we don't enjoy doing almost every day, there are facets of nearly every job in which your team members shine. Make sure they are spending time doing things they do well instead of wasting time trying to become better at things in which they're weaker.
3. Convene after the negotiation to capture lessons learned and to discuss what went right/wrong and how things could be done better in the future. This is probably the most important step. Moving forward, it's important to catch and keep all the information possible to help out in the future. Often times one team member may catch an essential piece of data missed by other team members. If this information isn't shared and learned going forward, the same mistakes will keep happening!

The team approach is not always an easy one and certainly not always necessary. However taking the right approach can lead to amazing results! 

Good luck to all the teams and nations in the World Cup and Go USA!

When Better Becomes Perfect.

One of the thoughts we recently put up on our "Ideas" page (Better is Perfect) got me thinking about how to explain this succinct, yet possibly complex idea. When people are confronted with a new contract they are often a little apprehensive about what kind of work it is going to take to get a deal they can live with. You may be unsure what protections you need, how the ownership of the work product will affect your future business and what "gotchas" may exist to act as stumbling blocks in the future. Additionally, it may be difficult for people to feel like they can push back on their deals because they fear losing the business. 

So how do you get Better deals? Whenever we start working with a new client that will be executing multiple contracts which require the same basic format (e.g., master services agreements or independent contractor agreements), we forge a master template for doing those types of deals which takes into account your specific needs and problems. This has two primary benefits: (1) If you are able to get the deal signed as is, you can be sure you have a great deal in place; and (2) If you are in a situation where you have to negotiate a deal, you have a metric for measuring whatever deal is presented. Through use of your master template and negotiating from that template you'll have a concrete way of knowing when your deals get better.

Now the logical leap comes in: Better is Perfect. That might seem like a stretch, but if you are able to take a proposed deal that, in the past, you would have signed without any changes and compare it to a deal where you were able to get some of your Master Template changes incorporated, you have a deal that is not only better, it's perfect! Now, I'm sure it's not perfect in the sense that you got everything you could have ever wanted in any deal. But one of the key principles of doing any deal is that both sides should be able to walk away from the bargain ready and willing to do another deal together. If you are able to put all these steps together, you'll realize that Better is Perfect.

Tapping The Power of Relationships Through Negotiation

I imagine that you all have heard and read - to the point of cliché - that we all negotiate, to a greater or lesser degree, each day. What may fall by the wayside is the importance of relationships and the ways in which we leverage those relationships in our every day negotiations.

Thinking back to when I was a lot younger and a bit less responsible with my choices, my parents often leveraged our relationship to help me "see" that what I wanted to do and what I should do were two different things. While I don't recommend guilt-tripping your vendors or telling them that "you aren't upset, just disappointed" there are plenty of ways to leverage your relationships within the context of negotiation.

We are all going to have varying viewpoints with respect to what constitutes a "good" relationship with our negotiation counterparts.  In their book Getting Together - Building Relationships As We Negotiate, Roger Fisher & Scott Brown suggest that a good working relationship is one that can deal well with differences. We don't have to see eye-to-eye on every issue that crops up between us. In fact, if we did, there would be little need to negotiate in the first place. The important facet of the relationship is that we can work together to come up with creative solutions without wanting to gouge out the other person's eyes. Avoid sweeping disagreements under the rug, but at the same time be willing to use trade-offs to balance your competing substantive interests.

When someone says that they are "leveraging a relationship" this often has a negative connotation - something like a nice way of saying "I'm going to use them to achieve my ends." However, you can leverage relationships without damaging them.  Try some of these ideas from the Getting Together book:

1. Be unconditionally constructive.  If your negotiation counterpart sees that you are consistently seeking to build rather than tear down, they will be encouraged in their efforts to help reach mutually beneficial solutions to do the same.
2. Be wholly trustworthy, but not wholly trusting. Follow through is probably the most important way to establish and maintain a good working relationship. If you don't do what you say you will do, the other side looses incentive to perform. 
3. Persuasion, Not Coercion. It is easy to feel hijacked when one side begins making demands on you in a "my way or the highway" manner. Seek to bring your counterpart around to your point of view rather than cramming it down their throats.

By utilizing these tips you will be able to maximize the value of your good working relationship!

Negotiation Strategies - Let The Mind Games Begin!

You made it! You're here! Negotiation time baby! You put in the time to prepare, you've examined the situation from different perspectives and now it's time to meet with the other side and have all that hard work blown out of the water. Ok, not really, but another key point to keep in mind as you engage in negotiations is that there will be surprises and sometimes you may have to change your approach despite the hard work you put into preparing. With that, let's get down to the nitty gritty!

Of the many great things I've learned since I became a member of the WieseLaw Contract Studio, the most important thing is that taking some time to evaluate your strengths and then playing towards those strengths will net you exponential gains vs. incremental gains when you focus on "fixing" your weaknesses. The same holds true in negotiation and especially negotiation styles and strategies. Take some time evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. When it comes to negotiation styles most people will settle into one of two camps: soft or hard. Within these two camps there are numerous strategies that can be used effectively regardless of where you stand.

A true "soft" negotiator isn't a meek, passive pushover. A soft negotiator is concerned with relationships and maintaining the peace throughout the negotiation process. A soft negotiator would rather persuade you to agree with them than to push a solution without consensus. Managing conflict is not exactly the forte of a soft negotiator, but collaboration is where they will shine.

A true "hard" negotiator isn't irrational or unwilling to examine different points of view. A hard negotiator views negotiation as a competition. This drives them to discover as much as they can about the situation and their negotiation partners. A hard negotiator drives a hard bargain, but they are well informed and expect to be rewarded for their hard work.

Negotiation strategies tend to revolve around these two basic polarities (and their many, many variants). It can be very tempting for a hard negotiator to stick to a positional bargaining strategy where they assume limited or fixed resources exist ensuring a "win-lose" outcome. Similarly, a soft negotiator may adopt an accommodating strategy in order to strengthen a relationship causing them to give in where they really aren't achieving their goals.

The key here is to work with your strengths to develop negotiation strategies that will lead to better agreements that will be more likely to be honored by all parties to the agreement.  William Hernandez Requejo and John L. Graham in their book,  Global Negotiation: The New Rules, have some great suggestions for doing this:

1. Establish common goals of what this "collaboration" would create. A more workable deal? Some common long term goals? A closer partnership?
2. Establish the rules of engagement. The purpose of the exercise is to resolve differences in creative ways that work better for both parties. All ideas are possibilities, and research shows that combining ideas from different cultures can result in better outcomes than those from a single culture.
3. Trust is key, and difficult to establish in many cultures. Certain techniques might speed that process a little. Being offsite, for example. Establishing physical proximity that unconsciously signals intimacy.
4. Add diversity (gender, culture, extroverts, different work specialties, experts, outsiders) to the group. Indeed, the diversity associated with international teams and alliances is the real goldmine of creativity in negotiations.
5. Use storytelling. This both helps establish who you are and what point of view you are bringing to this collaboration.
6. Work in small groups. Add physical movement. Tell the participants to relax, play, sing, have fun, and silence is ok.
7. Work holistically and using visuals. If, for example, there are three sticking points where neither side is happy, agree to work on those points by spending a short time – 10 minutes – on each point where both sides offer "crazy" suggestions. Use techniques of improvisation. Neither side should be offended by the crazy ideas. No one should criticize. Explain that by exploring crazy ideas that better ideas are often generated.
8. Sleep on it. This enables the unconscious to work on the problems, and gives negotiators time to collect opinions before meeting again the next day. Other kinds of breaks, coffee, etc. are also helpful. The overnight part is particularly important. 
9. Doing this process over several sessions allows both sides to feel that progress is being made, and actually generates better and more polished ideas that both sides can invest in.
10. It is the process of creating something together, rather than the specific proposals, which creates bonding around a shared task and establishes new ways of working together. Each side feels honored and all can feel that something is being accomplished.

We hope that taking time to evaluate your negotiation strengths and then playing to those strengths in a creative and thoughtful manner will help you achieve amazing results from your next negotiation. Keep at it and please feel free to share any experiences and stories you have with us.

Fun With Seesaws, Or In Other Words: Leverage!

All right, we've got you all prepped for your negotiation and we've got you thinking about the importance of where you're going to hold your negotiations. Now, we need to spend some time thinking about how LEVERAGE will affect your negotiations and how you can affect the leverage in any deal.

Begin by evaluating the Leverage situation as early as possible into the Negotiation. Time is a huge factor in determining Leverage and many times, the seconds ticking off the clock alone can change the balance of power in a negotiation. If you know that deadlines and time pressures will only become greater for yourself or the other party based on the timing of negotiations, this can be a powerful tool for you to affect the outcome.

Next, take some time to think about the surrounding environment and circumstances in which you are negotiating. Sometimes things are great, everyone is amicable and life is good.  Sometimes it's not quite like that. If you can identify the points of friction and understand how the underlying circumstances within the organizations at the table could affect the outcome of the negotiation, you'll be prepared for stormy weather if you encounter it.

Your actions and those of your negotiation partner can also be indicators of Leverage. Some things to watch for:

• Neediness - Are you eager, willing, bending over backwards to get things done? 
• Emotions - People blowing their tops and becoming emotional can signal important crossroads in your negotiation that might have otherwise seemed unimportant.
• Drafting Control - Often times, the initial draft becomes an anchor for the negotiations. If drafting the agreement is taken up by the other party, don't be sucked into using their paper as your anchor.
• Individuals Involved - The number of people involved and their prestige within the organization is a great barometer as to how important this negotiation will be. 

During the course of your negotiation, there are several actions you can take that will either help you to boost your own Leverage or to reduce the strength of your opponent's Leverage.

Boosting Your Leverage:

• Create alternatives
• Match your offerings to their needs
• Discount their alternatives
• Create a deeper relationship

Reducing Their Leverage:

• Be disinterested
• Identify deficiencies
• Expand the scope of your project
• Establish an exit strategy

Finally, remember that when dealing with Leverage, PERCEPTION IS REALITY.  So when you are prepared to serve up your Leverage, remember that this can be done in a variety of ways:

• Present it - Just let the other side see the strength of your position
• Leak it - Drop hints, provide strategic leaks, don't give it all away, but show enough to bolster your position.
• Feign it - Fake it until you make it! (We don't really follow or like this strategy, but it is often employed and you should be aware that it could be used against you!)

Have fun on the Seesaw! We hope you have the tools to stay ahead of the leverage game and keep yourself in as strong a position of Leverage, from beginning to end, as possible.

Next week: Negotiation Strategies - Let The Mind Games Begin! 

You Want Me To Meet WHERE?

Last week, we talked about preparing for your negotiation. More and more we're seeing negotiations occurring over the phone or Skype or via some other technological gateway. However, when your plans include a face to face meeting you might want to take some time to consider where you want to meet to conduct your negotiations and what effects could come about as a result of this choice.

One of the truths that we believe strongly in here at the WieseLaw Contract Studio is that its never too early to start thinking about leverage (check out our Leverage Canvas). WHERE you decide to hold contract negotiations can play into the idea of leverage. If you are able to set the terms of where and when you will be meeting for the negotiation, this can signal perceived or actual leverage to the other party.

Home Turf - This sounds great, right? Make them come to you. You're already familiar with the surroundings and won't suffer from any disorientation factor. While this may be true, there are some possible downsides. You may be subject to distractions from those within your organization (i.e., you are on-site and can be hunted down even with your cellphone off). Also, there is always the possibility that your comfort could turn into a false sense of security or complacency. Be sure to stay alert!

Away Game - This can be a bit more difficult. You need to be prepared beforehand with directions to the negotiation site (Google Maps for the win!). Try to arrive early so you are not feeling stressed and time compressed. But being the visiting team can provide some valuable information. Just by being in their offices, you'll inevitably pick up some nonverbal cues about the organization (e.g., are they neat and organized, is their office furniture pricey and ostentatious, do people have pictures of their families/friends in their offices/cubes or are they sterile?).

Neutral Site - Due to the added cost and travel time to both parties, going to a neutral site, while offering some kind of level playing field, is often passed over as a possible choice. Depending on the parties involved and the availability/cost associated with the neutral site, this may be your best alternative. This is especially true if you are stuck in a stalemate with respect to meeting places. Keep it in your back pocket as an alternative.

Next Week - Fun with Seesaws or in other words: Leverage!

Negotiating In Difficult Situations

Well, it's no news flash. The economy isn't exactly rip-roaring. Getting deals done isn't the easiest thing in the world. More and more, having a negotiation strategy and following through on that strategy are becoming linchpins to success. In this first of a series of posts to follow, we'll roll out a plan for approaching your most difficult and most important negotiations.

 

Preparation - Begin before you Begin

Every negotiation is going to be filled with its own nuances and surprises, but you can minimize these plot twists and turns through preparation.

Sit down (you don't have to sit down, but you know, do what you do when you want to think) and figure out what you need to gain out of this negotiation and what you want to gain out of this negotiation.  Rank your needs first and your wants second.  By ranking your needs against your wants you will be able to identify the areas in which you can make concessions if you have to (your wants) and still get what you need.  Taking this idea one step further, identify the rationale behind your wants and needs.  If you need 120 days prior written notice in order to terminate the deal, be able to explain that you will need at least 120 days to re-tool for alternate production. This will make your needs seem rational and less like demands even though they may be make-or-break deal points.

Next, you need to take a walk on the wild side and put yourself in your negotiation partner's shoes, or high heels or whatever they wear.  Ok, not literally, unless you're into that sort of thing...then, go nuts. Anyway, the idea here is to want, and more importantly need from this deal. Ask questions and listen to what they have to say. Don't assume you know how things work "over there." The better you understand your counterpart and their wants and needs, the better able you will be to offer creative solutions to help you solve negotiation stalemates.

Finally, you need to be prepared to walk away from a negotiation if you aren't able to have your needs met. This is often referred to as your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) or your walk-away point. This is an absolutely crucial value to have nailed down.  The biggest mistake you can make in a negotiation is to accept a deal which puts you in a worse position than if you hadn't done any deal at all. 

Stay tuned for the next step: You want to meet WHERE?

 

Why Do Some Negotiations Fail?

Let's face it, not every negotiation is going to end with resounding success. That sucks, there's no doubt about it, but you can almost always learn something from failure. I would encourage you to do a post-mortem on each of your major negotiations to see if you can learn something from them, but this is especially important in cases where you end up with bad deals or no deal at all.

The following is a short list of areas of concern for most negotiators.  Rate yourself - how well would you say you are performing in each of these areas.  Try and put yourself in the shoes of your counterpart. How would you react if you were hearing the same information?

1. Goal Setting: Good goals allow for negotiators to operate with a Zone Of Possible Agreement (ZOPA).  They don't have to be rigid or set in stone, but they should give you direction in your negotiations.  Without an idea of where you're going, how will you know when you get there?
   
2. Emotions & Body Language: We've talked about some of the "intangibles" of negotiating on this blog before.  Don't underestimate the impact of emotions or ignore the information you may be able to receive via body language. Don't forget to examine your own emotions.  Are you letting emotions cloud your thinking or negotiation tactics? Taking these intangibles into account can only help you!
   
3. Communication: This is critical to the success of any negotiation. Ensure that everyone understands how the negotiations are progressing and put it in writing! Any complex negotiation will inevitably have milestones of agreement that will need to be reached before the group can progress. If these milestones are captures accurately and communicated to all interested parties you will significantly reduce the risk that a further milestone will be compromised by a failure to adequately understand what has gone before to prepare the way. 
4. Listen: This is practically a sub-point of communication, but it's so important that it deserves its own place on the list. Don't be afraid to shut up. Maybe you know everything there is to know about this negotiation. Maybe you are the world's foremost expert on this subject. Maybe you are certain you know exactly what the other side is going to say.  Then again, maybe you don't. You can learn a lot just by letting someone else do the talking. 
5. Stay on target...stay on target: Ok, I worked really hard to fit a Star Wars reference in here so stay with me. Agendas are worth their weight in gold. Send one out to the interested parties some time in advance to allow for changes and suggestions. Once you have a solid agenda this helps everyone prepare for the areas of interest that will be discussed in your negotiations that day.  This will help you avoid a free-for-all style negotiation where everyone with a stake in the outcome tries to assert their goals at the same time.
   

Hopefully this will help you with your next negotiation review. Remember, making mistakes isn't what can make you a poor negotiator, but failing to learn from your mistakes will!

What Are You Saying That You Aren't Saying?

Ok, that's a bit cryptic, so what do I mean? Body Language. Whether or not you are consciously aware of the signals you are sending and receiving, body language plays an important role in how your message is perceived by your negotiation partner(s).

To be sure, there are many, many ways that we communicate non-verbally. Further, there is no set way in which a particular hand gesture, posture or eye movement will have a definitive meaning. Many of those subtle non-verbal clues will vary from person to person. However there are some steps you can take to help you better understand your own non-verbal cues and those of others.

Be aware what your body language is signaling to the other side. How do you act when you are nervous, angry, happy, confused, agreeable, disagreeable, etc. By taking stock of some of your own non-verbal communication, you may more quickly pick up on those same signals in others. Additionally, if you are working on your "pokerface" when it comes to negotiations, being able to shed some of these non-verbal clues will help you ensure that you don't unintentionally give away information in a negotiation.

The more difficult step is connecting the body language of your counterpart to information that can help you better understand how your communication is being received and perceived by your negotiation counterpart. Much of the time, you may have to rely on time and experience to provide such information, but you may be able to shortcut the process by following up when your counterpart is sending some non-verbal cues such as crossing arms over the chest, looking away, doodling or otherwise fidgeting. For example, if you are discussing payment terms and your counterpart suddenly crosses their arms, you can follow up by saying "Is there anything about the payment terms I've just described that you think we should discuss?"

This important skill of understanding non-verbal communication will not come overnight and takes some work, but it will help you better see how the negotiation process affects the other party and provides clues about problem areas that may require further discussion. Good luck!

Eat Up - You'll Need Your Strength!

No matter how well you prepare for any negotiation, there are always unknowns that you won't have control over. One of these, is the intricacies and complexities of an individual’s personal life and its effect upon the negotiation.

I once negotiated a complex and high-risk deal with a woman on the counter-party’s team who was engaged to be married. We had a series of in-person negotiations that followed a cycle of decent progress and discussion in the morning followed by difficult and unproductive afternoons. As the day progressed, she became withdrawn and sullen, stubborn and uncompromising.

At the recap at the end of each day, our internal team would brainstorm what we could to in order to achieve success and expedite the progress of the negotiations. All of us noticed that this woman ate very little during the day despite the plethora of lunches and snacks available. During the course of idle chatter during one of the breaks, I learned that this lead woman negotiator was on a strict diet to lose weight before the wedding.

Food and the associated acute mental energy it provides is a critical tool in any negotiation. Beginning the next day, we stocked the conference room with fresh cut fruit and many healthy snack alternatives. We managed the flow of negotiations to start earlier in the day, shortly after breakfast when the energy level was the highest. We learned quickly to hit the hard issues in the morning followed by the easier issues in the afternoon.

To be mentally acute, eat right! In-person, day long negotiation sessions take a lot of energy. Food is key to maintaining energy. Don't skip meals! Look into healthy alternatives - this is better for everyone involved so you don't mix the sugar high with the inevitable sugar crash.