Negotiation Profits And Losses. Scenario 1: Shut up!
May 2nd, 2008 | By moneyking | Category: Money
For your consideration: Negotiation Profits And Losses. Scenario 1: Shut up!
The Money Kings are starting a new series, because so many people are really bad at negotiating and want to get better. We’re experts, so it’s time to go to school.
First lesson:
Shut Up.
Basically, what we’re saying here is that many times you’ll find the best negotiating strategy is to NOT pour your heart and soul out to your adversary, not to be honest and upfront with all of your intentions, not to “come clean.” Sometimes the best negotiating strategy is to be quiet.
Today, one of our crew was at his favorite Chinese restaurant. While waiting for some egg rolls and noodles, our guy overheard a person picking up his take out order say, “Is the price of rice making your prices go up?”
What?!?!?!?!?!?!
Our guy noticed no change in prices at this restaurant. The lady running the counter seemed to not even know what this rice-price-watcher was talking about. BUT, if prices go up in two weeks, we’ll know why.
Geez!
The Money Kings tip: Just because you’re drinking the Kool-Aid on this rice scare/hoax/shortage/media garbage doesn’t mean 1) It’s true; 2) Other people know what you’re talking about; 3) People won’t take advantage of the hype.
If The Money Kings were running a Chinese restaurant right now, we’d inflate our prices by 15% across the board.
Why Money King?
Easy . . . Expectation is your answer. Adversaries already resigned to losing a battle are easy prey.
Self-fulfilling prophecy is real, and it’s not a good idea to give someone the idea and/or reason to cramp your style by inflating your prices for no economic reason.
This is fundamental. Stay off the media hype, and Shut Up when you’re doing business. Less talk; more action.
Good luck out there.
Keywords: negotiation, money, prices, business, commerce, silence is a virtue
Soooooo true. I was a landlord for 5 years, same argument holds in that space.
Nice style to your writing…I’ll be back.
Jeff McLarty
I hate self fulfilling prophesy. Especially when the media repeats something over, and over, and over … oh and over again. Even the so called higher grocery bills - I really haven’t seem them in everything. I can still find box dinners for the same $1 they were a year or two ago. But I guess they’ll start getting more expensive in anticipation of the people who expect them to be higher.
If you were a landlord for 5 years, then hopefully you’ve been reading our Real Estate Profits And Losses Series.
We’re sharing all sorts of personal landlording stories, as well as stories from other business partners we have who own their own rental property. In a nutshell, I feel landlording is like babysitting adults.