Negotiation Insights

A resource of quick tips and analysis of highly effective, real life negotiation strategies.




In Focus: Black Friday Negotiation Strategies

In Focus: Black Friday Negotiation Strategies
Let’s reflect on Black Friday and the shopping extravaganza of the year by focusing on a crucial aspect: Single Issue Negotiations. How do you navigate a negotiation when the other party insists on fixating on just one issue?Unleashing the power of Multi-Issue NegotiationsSkilled negotiators transcend the one-dimensional battleground of price...

In Focus: Winning Together

In Focus: Winning Together
In a world of rapidly changing social norms, Winning Together requires better consultation strategies, better listening and the courage to share when it might involve getting pushback. On 26 July 2022 the National Rugby League celebrated the Women In League round and the progress women are making in rugby.Unfortunately, a lack...

In Focus: Negotiating Roles

In Focus: Negotiating Roles
Have you ever found yourself feeling confused and vulnerable because you failed to understand the negotiating roles of the other party? When this happens, unskilled negotiators lack an awareness of how the other party is using the negotiation process to influence them. To help overcome this, you might like to consider increasing...

Coping Strategies: Managing difficult Negotiators

Coping Strategies: Managing difficult Negotiators
Would you like to change the way others negotiate with you? One of the things I learned when I was negotiating was that until I changed myself, I could not change others.” – Nelson Mandela. If you have ever wished you could change the way that other people negotiate with you, then...

Negotiating Teams & Coalitions

Negotiating Teams & Coalitions
What role will negotiation teams and coalitions have in the World Health Organization (WHO) negotiating a global Pandemic Treaty? On May 3, 2021, the WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "The one recommendation that I believe will do most to strengthen both WHO and global health security is the...

Managing Power Imbalances

Managing Power Imbalances
Who has the power? According to Statcounter, the real-time web analytics service, in the 12 months from January 2020 to January 2021, Google held 94.45% of the search engine market, and Facebook/Instagram combined, 72.36% of the social media market. In response to such market domination, the Australian Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said on...

Measuring Negotiation Costs

Measuring Negotiation Costs
"I’ve had enough of this situation. It’s been eight months, I can’t even count the thousands of hours of meetings, the days, the evenings, the nights, the weekends, without this advancing”. This quote comes from the Belgian Socialist Party Leader Paul Magenette. It would eventually take 653 days of negotiations for Mr...

Elon Musk: When to negotiate

Elon Musk: When to negotiate
How do you know when to enter a negotiation? During the COVID-19 outbreak, the State of California Governor Gavin Newsom, and officials from the Alameda County, made the decision to shut down non-essential businesses, which included suspending production at the Tesla car plant from 23 March 2020.In response, the CEO of...

Managing COVID-19 Renegotiations

Managing COVID-19 Renegotiations
How relevant are your existing agreements? COVID-19 changes to work conditions, supply chains, business models and demand curves, have all contributed to a loss of relevance for many agreements. When this loss of relevance leads to dissatisfaction with how well an existing agreement is creating and distributing value, a renegotiation is often...

Problem Solving: Delivering outcomes

Problem Solving: Delivering outcomes
According to the World Economic Forum’s 2018 ‘The Future of Jobs Report’, negotiation was ranked in the top ten skills needed by 2020. What makes this skill so valuable is the resultant ability to strengthen relationships and unlock value. In this issue of Negotiation Insights, we consider how skilled negotiators...

Taylor Swift: Giving others a voice

Taylor Swift: Giving others a voice
When power imbalances occur in negotiations it has the potential to restrict who is able to be involved. So how can those with more influence achieve their desired outcome, while also strengthening the negotiation positions of those who have less influence? What others can learn from Taylor Swift. With over...

Gun Tragedies: We hear you

Gun Tragedies: We hear you
Can you recall how it felt to be in the company of a good listener? If you can then you probably experienced feelings of being understood and valued. However, if you are like most people this experience will have been the exception and not the norm, and this should not...

Negotiating with Agents

Negotiating with Agents
When Tom Cruise played the role as a sports agent in the movie Jerry Maguire, he made famous the line “Show me the money”. What he also brought into focus was the use of an agent to negotiate on someone else’s behalf. In complex and highly emotional negotiations, the pathway...

Changing Perceptions: Shane Warne recalls advice

Changing Perceptions: Shane Warne recalls advice
People perceive things the way they want them to be. So how can information be communicated to get others to consider and understand the true meaning of what is occurring? A useful example comes from cricket great Shane Warne, who recounted the advice he received from media mogul Kerry Packer. Shane...

Problem Solving: Calm in the cockpit

Problem Solving: Calm in the cockpit
Have you ever been confronted with vast amounts of information that is ambiguous and complex? If you have, then it is also likely that you experienced high stress levels and feelings of being overwhelmed. In this issue of Negotiation Insights we consider what negotiators can learn from Captain Richard de...

Avoiding Buyer's Remorse: Knowing when to close

Avoiding Buyer's Remorse: Knowing when to close
How would you feel if you had just signed a contract only to learn later that you could have achieved a better deal? Typically, frustration, anger and a sense of loss all come to mind. Unfortunately, for less skilled negotiators, buyer’s remorse is a frequent occurrence. Common examples include; buying...

Defining Fairness: US German trade negotiations

Defining Fairness: US German trade negotiations
At a meeting on March 17 2017 the US President Donald Trump advised German Chancellor Angela Merkel “We don’t want victory, we want fairness”. This was because the US President claimed that millions of Americans are “left behind” by “unfair” trade agreements and that “Negotiators for Germany have done far better...

The Authentic Negotiator

The Authentic Negotiator
How would you manage being true to yourself when others ask you to negotiate an outcome you don't agree with?  This was a situation decorated U.S. Airforce officer Harold Sigmoid confronted when he was asked to serve on a military commission. He was put into a situation where he was...

Identity Needs: Tobacco now a nobody

Identity Needs: Tobacco now a nobody
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to lose the ability to promote a brand or make a purchase that reflects your identity needs? For Australian tobacco manufacturers and smokers, this became the reality, when in 2014 the Australian government passed legislation requiring all cigarettes to be sold...

Restoring Relationships: Saying sorry

Restoring Relationships: Saying sorry
Following deaths and injuries from suspected vehicle failures, and a recall that surpassed 9 million cars, in 2010 the Toyota President, Akio Toyoda, said, “I extend the condolences from the deepest part of my heart…. I feel deeply sorry for those people who lost their lives or who were injured...

Archive  

In Focus: Black Friday Negotiation Strategies

In Focus: Winning Together

In Focus: Negotiating Roles

Coping Strategies: Managing difficult Negotiators

Negotiating Teams & Coalitions

Managing Power Imbalances

Measuring Negotiation Costs

Elon Musk: When to negotiate

Managing COVID-19 Renegotiations

Problem Solving: Delivering outcomes

Taylor Swift: Giving others a voice

Gun Tragedies: We hear you

Negotiating with Agents

Changing Perceptions: Shane Warne recalls advice

Problem Solving: Calm in the cockpit

Avoiding Buyer's Remorse: Knowing when to close

Defining Fairness: US German trade negotiations

The Authentic Negotiator

Identity Needs: Tobacco now a nobody

Restoring Relationships: Saying sorry

Price Haggling: Strategies to position value

Negotiation Styles: Managing aggressive behaviours

Traits of Skilled Negotiators: Nelson Mandela

Leadership Without Authority: Reducing domestic violence

Mindsets: It’s a choice!

The Power of Language: A statement or a question?

Managing Uncertainty: New freeway gets a red light

Influencing Timelines: The brave new world of regulators

Hostage Negotiations: A frontline perspective

Creating Alternatives: Flying fresh milk to China

Setting the Scene: Automotive executives fly into a storm

Finding Common Ground: US Firearm reforms

Timing Concessions: Bangladesh factory tragedy

Verifying Trust: World soccer cup and gulf of Mexico oil spill

Shaping Mindsets: AVIS We try harder

Cultural Differences: SONY Walkman designed for harmony

Difficult Conversations: Thalidomide sufferers seek empathy

Engaging the Enemy: US and Taliban peace talks

Creating Points of Influence: Russell Crowe gets his leading lady

Collaborating to Create Value: Power to the people

Breaking Deadlocks: AFL resolves stalemate

Negotiation Preparation: Prime Minster wins election