GIVE/WIN negotiations

I’ve always been a keen follower of win/win negotiations. Meaning negotiations where both parties are happy and content with the outcome.

No clear losers, everyone’s merry and bright.

Back in 2007 when I set my consultancy business up, I was very clear on weaving the value of doing win/win deals with our clients. Win/win became one of our company values. Such was our steadfast approach on this particular value, that we would walk away from business that moved into a win/lose territory.

We were never into master/slave relationships.

However over the last few years I’ve noticed the increasing value of give/win transactions. Meaning to give value up front without expecting an immediate deal nor sale.

These types of negotiations and ultimate sales take longer, but can result in a bigger win for the ‘giving’ party, than perhaps that of an earlier win/win traditional pitch followed by negotiations, followed by overcoming objections, followed by the close type scenario.

Or put another way, a give/win is a win/win but potentially in bigger proportions, because you gain extra influence in the process (which is what gives these forms of transactions extra weight).

Allow me to explain with a real example.

The whitepaper that led to something far greater

Back in early 2018 when the furore over Cryptocurrencies was raving hot, I was following the whole blockchain and cryptocurrency news with great interest. I had joined a few communities and started following You Tube ‘experts’ and trading charts etc.

One of the Facebook communities I was part of, was very active and led by a sincere chap who was amazing at building engagement and following. He and his team were at ideation stage of launched a socially conscious marketplace as a mobile app. This app was to be built using hybrid technology with blockchain powered payment system. Think of it as a millennial ebay on a skateboard.

The owner of the group put out a call for a Copywriter to assist with putting together their whitepaper. This would in turn be used to help with initial round of funding.

Whilst I’m a qualified Copywriter and have been writing professionally for years, I hadn’t written a research paper since my university dissertation on the ‘Phenomenon of Pokemon’.

And furthermore cryptocurrency was an alien concept, with my understanding ranking lower than mickey-mouse level.

So like any high-achiever, I raised my hand and said I’d do the report for nada.

I took on the job because:

a) I liked the concept of the project and the socially-conscious aspect of it

b) It would be good for my writing to be stretched across a new hot topic such as cryptocurrency c) My own personal development would be elevated by the sheer nature of needing to do extensive research

d) I liked the team behind the project.

Once I took on the project I was immediately initiated into the team. An email was created for me, a slack channel invite followed as well as weekly international zoom calls.

Starry skies

The zoom calls were interesting, as they would be organised around 9pm UK time on a Sunday, which would be around 4am my time in Singapore. These calls would go on for a couple of hours, and often run over.

In Singapore the schooling system starts super early, so my kids are up by 6am, and out the door by around 6.45am. So I’d be getting my kids ready for school, whilst on mute with one earplug in my ear, whilst sheep-herding the kids through an already time-stretched morning routine. Thank f**k for the zoom MUTE button. It’s literally the best thing since the rise of veganism.

Needless to say, It was not sustainable nor fair on the kids nor the team on the Zoom call, since I wasn’t fully present with either party.

Other times, the calls would start at 4am, and despite me thinking I was whispering, one of the kids would wake up at the same ungodly hour. So then I’d be trying to stroke them back to sleep, whilst the team chit chatted away in my right ear about marketplace categories and logo designs.

All working mums understand the switching between family and work mindspace, but this scenario was full on vibrating between the two real time.

The team were super accommodating, and we agreed I could provide my feedback first in line, just in case the kids woke up later. So I’d quickly say my bit hoping the kids stayed asleep, and then move into listening (sigh of relief) mode.

But of course sometimes I still needed to converse and add some input later in the calls, so unknown to them, I’d sometimes take myself outdoors and perch on the outdoor stairs chatting to the team in USA and UK under the Singapore starry skies.

I’d probably have preferred a few extra winks.

Still, I didn’t complain, and just got on with the calls, and played ALL IN with no expectations. I was learning and I was happy with that. I took on additional ad-hoc tasks and fitted it in around my day job and my kids.

After spending a few intense weeks in research mode, I smashed out over 15,000 words on a well-researched whitepaper, and submitted it to the team for comments and edit requests. The document flew back and forth until we got it to a fit for purpose stage.

Not long after submitting the whitepaper, the founder of the project reached out and offered me a % stake in the business. Why? Because they had seen, witnessed and got a good feel for my work, and how I conduct myself in business and life.

They got to try before they buy.

I on the other hand, had gone into the relationships with zero expectations. I took on the job for free just for the learning. I was prepared to give upfront value. In return I was offered a seat at the table and a portion of the shareholder cake.

This was way more than I had anticipated. But it turns out my authority and influence had grown through my interactions without expectations.

After considering my options, I ended up politely declining the offer. In the end I felt my life’s direction was heading down a different pathway. And so I couldn’t promise to stay committed to that project at the expense of my own passion-calling.

The moral of the story is……

Sometimes volunteering and offering up tons of value upfront, puts you in a much better position when it comes to negotiation and closing stage. Plus the decisions tend to be better-informed since both parties had had a chance to work together. So risk is managed in a far more transparent way with a give/win approach.

Jab, jab, jab, right hook

Indeed the give/win approach is nothing new in the online influencer game. It’s quite the strategy to build a following by front-loading value before making a sale. Social media icon Gary Vaynurchuk has made millions through his ‘jab, jab, jab, right hook’ motto. The jab represents giving a follower valuable content designed to engage and trigger, whilst the right hook is content designed to sell something.

So you give, give give before asking for the sale according to Gary V. And he seems to be killing it online, so who are we to argue with the guy.

Does give/win work in all scenarios?

Give/win isn’t suited to all scenarios. It can work really well when offered as a solution during job interviews, building influence offline/online, speaking gigs etc.

The give/win strategy removes the risk for the buyer and allows them a peek or preview at what they are going to get.

It’s like test-driving a car before buying it.

Give/win in a job search scenario

I’ve suggested to candidates and friends to offer to work at interview stage, for a period ranging from 1 day to 1 week. I’ve suggested that job-seekers could offer their value for free, and in return if the hiring company likes them, they can pay for that free time and hire them as per normal after the trial.

And if the hiring company doesn’t like them, then the candidate would have worked for free so there’s no ‘risk’ as such to the company.

Now of course not all companies can accommodate ‘free-trial’ employees, so this can work on a case by case basis. Generally speaking the smaller the company, the more amenable they may be to a volunteering proposal.

The big corporates tend to have all the layers of management to get approval from. Plus the give/win ideology can sometimes be a bit too radical for some people.

However, even if you were to offer to front-load value, and say the recipient rejected the offer, you have planted a very strategic seed in their psyche. Namely:

1. You appear so confident in your ability, you are happy to ‘prove’ it to them at no risk.
2. You back yourself so much that you know you can add value, and thus ultimately you will be compensated for your time in the end (if that’s what you negotiate from the start).
3. You appear creative and proactive. Most people would never make an offer to volunteer first, hence you are instantly memorable even if you aren’t taken up on your offer.
4. You remove the risk for the other party. All objections are off the table, since you are willing to demo your capability. It becomes a no-brainer.

Erm but I don’t want to work for free……

Now you may be thinking ‘But I don’t want to work for free!’ and truthfully speaking, you don’t want to offer ‘free services’ to a multitude of clients. You need a balance and a shift in mindset to make this arrangement work for you. Remember, you call the shots here since you are the one making the suggestion. Thus you can control if a particular company is WORTH doing a give/win with.

The advantages to you include:

1. You get to ‘try before you buy’ too. This is particularly true in a job-search scenario. You get to experience the culture first-hand, meet the team, smell the coffee, assess the wall paper etc.

Getting a job is like dating, you really don’t want to date the wrong job and waste years of your life.

So do a Tinder on your job search and see if any jobs are ‘worth’ you dating for a day or a week before committing.

2. You get to learn. Now here’s the thing, learning and development is priceless. You may think you are not being paid, but having exposure to anything ‘on the job’ provides you with a golden learning opportunity. You may need a mindset shift to ensure you absorb as much as possible through your give/win work experience.

3. You learn about yourself. You get to really see what you like and dislike and what works for you and what doesn’t. This exercise is a great way for you to observe yourself, and improve and adjust.

The game of influence

Today influence is everything, and to be influential you need to be memorable. This is the no 1 strategy that Insta kings and queens apply, as well as You Tubers, Facebookers etc. They not only want to be seen, but they deliver value-loaded content to their audience BEFORE asking for any sales.

So their audiences already feel they know them, whenever a product is marketed. Influencers understand that they need to increase their ‘know, like, trust’ rating amongst followers before any sale occurs.

And the way to build your know, like, trust rating is simply to adopt a give/win style of transacting.

Give first, and your wins will flow in later, which is basically another form of a win/win.

Written by Dee Allan-The Gritty Girl, International Speaker, Writer and Entrepreneur. Dee is CEO- Founder of Career Queenz a community for mama-entrepreneurs to collaborate, connect and grow. She also manages an employment agency and blogs on Medium platform. Dee lives in Singapore with her husband and two cheeky kids.