The Apprentice 18.2: Good and Better... If...

It's hard for me to comment on this week's episode without spoilers, because of the nature of the lesson I want to draw from it.

I had two things I thought about discussing

But the one I want to do most may have an element of spoiler to it. However, it holds an interesting lesson. I shall try not to give anything away. But, if you are planning to watch, and care about spoilers, this is not the article for you... yet.

And don't worry! If you are wondering about what the other was. It turns out Sophia discusses that topic in her commentary.

My take on the teams' performance is that (one or two individuals aside) they both had a good week. Indeed, the losing team scored a good profit. And also a spectacular profit margin, that would have delivered a win in many circumstances.

So, why did they lose?

In this case, I don't think they did lose. The other team won: fair and square, but in an unorthodox way. The reason is...

Anchoring

I wrote last week that I considered discussing negotiation and anchoring. Anchoring is when you introduce an idea that creates a bias in the minds of the people around you.

If I tell you that an Airbus A320neo costs just a sliver under $100 million, would you be surprised? Probably not. Because it's true.

Now, tell me what you think the population of Sudan is

If you think it's around 100 million, you'd be...

Wrong. Because it's around 50 million. But the anchoring effect locked that 100 million number in your mind.

Normally, it's best to let your counterparty start the negotiation. That way, you can see where they are. If their position is more generous to your benefit, then you can take advantage of that.

But, if you know your start point is ideally way off the place they are expecting you must go first. That way, you set an anchor.

Last week, both teams tried it and both failed.

And I nearly discussed how one fell for their counterparty offering their own anchor. That resulted in them accepting a disastrously low price.

Audacity

But what if you have the audacity to set an outrageous anchor? Normally, the other side will see it for what it is. The risk - and we saw this last week - is that your tactic comes across as insulting.

But, not always. Maybe the counter-party's expectations are surprising. Or, maybe they aren't savvy negotiators, and they take the anchor.

Either way, you'll end up with a spectacular result.

So, is this a good thing?

As with many binary questions, the answer is... 'maybe'. In this case, I'll go with 'yes, if...' And the 'if' here is that you deliver the outcome that justifies the spectacular deal you made.

Because, in the real world, buyer's remorse is not just going to result in a need to offer a discount. It can be the trigger to substantial and lasting reputational damage.

So, the real lesson here (and my Project Management followers will love this) is that it's all about delivery. You need to understand what your customer wants, agree on a price, and then deliver the value they expect. The quality must match the price!

So, what did my daughter, Sophia, have to say?

She focuses on the other main theme, and I love her analysis:

The very basics of business are supplying something that a customer needs or wants. Without that, a business cannot sell anything.

With the profit task this week they had a chance to sell direct to consumers as well as pitch to a big client. When pitching to a company that has the potential to make a big order there is so much pressure.

Factors like pricing and presentation are always important. However, the absolute most important thing when making a sale is what the client wants to have from the product in the first place.

I think the lesson we can take from this week's episode is to make sure that you are listening to the customer. And to understand what they are looking for in the product.

The contestants should be able to quickly adapt their pitch based on the reaction to their product.

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And so we said goodbye again and the candidate roster diminishes. Good luck to all the candidates, both in the show, and in your real lives outside of it.

Amina Khan , Dr Asif Munaf , Florence Edwards , Foluso Falade , Jack Davies , Maura Rath , Noor Bouziane, Oliver Medforth , Onyeka Nweze ACG , Paul Bowen , Dr. Paul Midha , Phil Turner , Rachel Woolford , Raj Chohan , Samantha Saadet , Steve Darken , Tre Lowe , Virdavinder Singh G.