Want to negotiate better? Be a "farmer", not a "hunter."

Hunters go for a kill.

Farmers plant seeds and grow them to harvest later.

Farmers have a longer-term perspective.

I'll give you an example.

I recently needed to clean my house.

And there were a couple of people who were starting a cleaning business - husband and wife.

Let's call them Brandon and Tamy (not their real names).

They offered me a sweet deal, and I agreed!

Only $270 to clean all the windows, 2 bathrooms, and most appliances.

What they didn't realize is that they signed up for more work than they expected.

After 3 hours of work, Brandon came to me and said they couldn't complete the job because they had another house to clean.

"We can't clean the windows from the outside, but we'll give you $20 back."

I have over 25 windows in my house, and the idea of cleaning it myself for $20 didn't look attractive.

"$20 doesn't cut it for me," I said.

"How much do you want?" Brandon replied.

"How about a $70 discount?" I countered though I wasn't sure I really wanted to go this route.

"$70?!" Brandon started to raise his voice. "We spent so much time on cleaning bathrooms. We went above and beyond! Now I need to go because I have to go to another job tomorrow. I wake up at 4 am."

Now, he is getting more pumped up.

"Well, if $70 doesn't work for you, then maybe complete this work later?" I suggested

"We can't!" Brandon replies assertively, "I have another job tomorrow."

"Maybe Tamy can?" - I said with a curious voice.

Brandon: "She doesn't drive."

Me: "What should we do?"

Brandon: "We'll give you $20 back, and we'll leave."

Me: "It doesn't work for me. I prefer all the windows cleaned."

Now Brandon raised his voice more so that our neighbors probably hear that, and Tamy overheard him from inside the house:

"We can't do that! We spent so much time cleaning bathrooms. We went above and beyond, and I have another job tomorrow. I can't go between both of you! (meaning me and Tamy) And you're asking me to give you $70. OK, I'll do it for free!" - he said his last words with frustration and disappointment.

I'm thinking to myself, "This conversation isn't going well. Brandon wants to re-negotiate our contract, but the way he approaches it is by yelling at me, the customer in this case. He is ruining the reputation of his business."

I slow down, smile, and say, "Brandon, I understand that we are not on the same page here. It's a difficult situation. I don't want to push you in either direction. In fact, I want to give a good review of your work. Why would we leave any negative impression on our business?"

When I said that Tamy had called Brandon, he had gone back to the house without replying to me.

I didn't realize how quickly the situation escalated and how abruptly it ended.

What happened next:

They kept working and completed everything.

Tamy called me a couple of times to show completed work.

It was OK, I accepted it.

I helped them a bit with windows myself.

Working together, we did all the work before sunset.

I thanked them and said that they really did a great job and went above and beyond.

Brandon smiled a bit as he heard that.

Tamy didn't show any hint of joy.

I paid them in full.

What are the lessons?

The biggest one is "Be a farmer, not a hunter"

Have a longer-term perspective.

Read about other lessons here (and watch a video with my comments):

https://bit.ly/be-a-farmer-not-a-hunter

#influence?#negotiation?#relationships #leadership #culture #negotiation101