Pick up the Phone, Ask Questions and Listen

We are sitting in a team meeting one morning and someone asks, “Hey, is that package still available?”. We had evaluated a marketed asset several months earlier but were not in the position to make a competitive bid at the time. Luckily for us, things had changed and we were now ready to make a run at the asset.

The seller had been working and negotiating with another buyer for months by now, so it was a bit of a long shot.   Knowing this, I set the team’s expectations. We had to act quickly. 

To accomplish this, my goal was to pick up the phone, ask questions and, most importantly, shut up and listen to figure out what was important to the seller.  Did we have a chance to jump in this late in the game? Could we deliver on the things that were obstacles during their current negotiations? 

By listening, I learned there were some frustrations going on during negotiations. This is very common when negotiations last longer than they should. The parties seemed to be within a week or two of signing a purchase and sale agreement, so we had to move fast. I made sure the seller understood that the only way we could come to an agreement was if we could get a version of the purchase and sale agreement that was many steps past the original seller friendly version. By using the information, I obtained by picking up the phone, asking questions and listening, we were able to finalize a purchase and sale agreement with only a few turns of the document within ten days. 

Some key takeaways here are: Make sure you always listen to truly understand what the opposition needs, leave your ego at the door and don’t assume that you are the only party negotiating. Most of the time picking up the phone vs. emailing to discuss difficult points usually yields more productive negotiations.