Negotiation Styles!!!

I have been in the sales for over a decade now. And have done numerous negotiations, be it with public sector or private sector organizations. Be it a reverse auction of the government sector or serial negotiations in the big corporate houses of India. Unless there is urgency in the corporate to buy something, they would negotiate till they feel now nothing is left or sometimes they check the patience of the party on the other side.

The big corporates have different techniques to negotiate. Sometimes they would call all the vendors in one room and negotiate openly or they would negotiate separately with them. Whatever be the technique, I see that as an art.

In a recent negotiation visit to one of the big corporate houses of India, I openly asked the president of the company if he would like to do the “Sugar Cane Juice Style” or “Coconut Juice Style” negotiation. I could see the look on his face, as he wanted to know the difference between the two.

Here is the simple explanation as the name suggests: -

Sugar Cane Juice Style: - This is very common style of negotiations. Basically, the multiple level negotiations. As the sugar cane had to go through the press multiple times, in the same manner, in this style the service provider had to decrease the price at every stage. Normally the stage starts with a mid-management employee of the buyer and ends either with the top management or with the head of purchase department.

Coconut Juice Style: - This style is a single stage negotiation. Either this happens in the small companies or when the top management comes in the directly at the first stage itself.

Coming back to the story. I was sitting in the board room with the president of the company and his team. After explaining the difference in the negotiation styles, I told him “You can’t put the straw in the sugar cane itself and have the juice, however you can put the straw in the coconut and directly enjoy the juice”. With the laugh in the board room, Mr. President agreed to coconut style and we finished the negotiations in 10 minutes. We had a cup of tea and the revised offer document was prepared while sitting there and the approvals were granted.

This was just an incident that the negotiation was completed very easily but I am sure the path of the sales person is not always smooth. The nature of the person on the other side of the table plays a very important role. However we can ask the guys on the other side of the table about the style they prefer. My preference will always be “Coconut Juice Style” as that save a lot of time and efforts. And the mix of the two could be a disaster. Let us hope for the best.

Happy Negotiating!!