All the fun of the fair

In the 1990s I was in charge of procurement at a Council in the UK. The Council organised a show for the local community and invited tenders from funfair operators to bid for the concession. The RFP invited bidders to state how much they would pay the Council for the right to operate the funfair. The operator made their money from the revenue for the rides and the food outlets. Funfair operators are all members of the Showman's Guild which has 104 pages of rules (really). On page one is stated the purpose of the Showman's Guild "to protect and uphold the rights and interests of its members". Amazingly, we only got one proposal.

We invited the tenderer in for negotiation so that we could validate that the sum that they had offered was fair (pun intended). When I went downstairs to collect the business owner, I was shocked to see Dolph Lundgren in reception. Of course it wasn't Dolph Lundgren, it was his taller, better looking and fitter cousin. Six foot four, blond hair, blue eyes, perfect complexion. You know the type.

I shook his hand and walked him to my office. I tried to negotiate with Dolph but the twinkle in his eye showed me that he knew that I knew that his was the only tender. I think he offered an extra 500 quid out of sympathy, but I accepted it graciously. Value added, we shook hands and then, to my astonishment, he pulled out a cheque book and a pen and proceeded to sign the cheque before pausing. "Call of nature! Can you show me to the bathroom? You can fill in the rest of the details". And with that he left the room. The realisation that Dolph was either dyslexic or illiterate only occurred to me later. I was more concerned about the probity issue raised by a procurement manager accepting a cheque from a supplier! Here's what the perspective of time has taught me about this experience.

We form 90% of our impressions in the first 90 seconds

The first impression Dolph gave everyone was that he was a perfect physical specimen. Only he knew that his itinerant lifestyle had impacted upon his education to the point where he could only write his own name. The transferable learning point is that first impressions are important, but we need to validate whether our assumptions and beliefs are correct by comparing them with subsequent experiences. Our first impression may need to be amended in the light of subsequent experiences.

Don't let perceived weakness define you

Dolph knew he couldn't write but he did not send a colleague to attend the meeting. He didn't suggest posting a cheque after the meeting. He didn't let this vulnerability define him. The transferable learning point is that we all have strengths and weaknesses in our negotiation position. But we shouldn't only focus on our weaknesses, magnify them and let them define our behaviour. What makes us strong, and the other party weak?

Strategy > tactics

One of the rules of the Showman's Guild (which was not written down) was that no operator competed for a job on another operator's patch. Negotiators need to understand structural sources of power in a relationship. There are no tactics that can be deployed at the table that will persuade a de facto monopolist to do something that they don't want to do. Not even uttering the magic phrase, "win/win" will make a difference.

Update

1. Dolph is still the CEO of the funfair company.
2. The UK market regulator investigated the Showman's Guild in 2015 for anti-competitive practices and the Showman's Guild agreed to make changes to their behaviour
3. The annual town show was created to provide entertainment for local people too poor to go on holiday. It was once "the biggest free event of its kind in Europe". Alas it no longer runs.