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!