This article is dedicated to helping you make effective presentations, both written and spoken.

Demand Attention!

The first job of any presentation is to get attention from the audience. Attention getters may be visual, such as a picture or chart, verbal, such as a startling fact or interesting anecdote, or three-dimensional. Be as dramatic as your presentation dictates, but whatever you use, put it right out there; don’t diminish it by hemming and hawing.

Spark Interest

Now give your listeners a reason to hang in there. In one sentence, tell what benefit will be derived from your presentation. Use a lead-in such as:

• Let me show you how easily you can create a -
• Success is guaranteed if you follow some simple steps -
• Money takes a backseat for three good reasons -

Follow this lead sentence with a brief preview of the points you will present.

The audience is now beginning to wonder, “Why should we believe you?” “What makes you an authority?” Or. “Why are you telling me this now?” So it is time to…

Establish Credibility

This takes a gentle hand. Don’t rattle off a long list of accomplishments, but do answer your audience’s unspoken question by briefly stating your qualifications for presenting this information or the reason for making an offer at this time. For example:

• Serving on the committee taught me several things -
• Our company recently researched the issue -
• One year, two law suits and $50,000 later -
• We’re overstocked and willing to take a loss -

Forecast Results

Before launching the body of your presentation, state a specific action for the audience to take afterward and the results to expect from taking that action. This is an important step in the presentation. You’ll want to word it precisely:

• Listen to the facts, then mail your reservation tonight, and we’ll –
• Next time you fly, review today’- notes and you’ll fine –
• While driving home today, use just one of the ideas I present and learn –

Own Up To the Drawback

Have you ever noticed that some people always have a “Yeah, but…” for any argument you present? Whether your presentation is written or spoken, you can bet that much of your audience is waiting to pounce on all your best points. Here’s a little known trick that will set most executions to rest: Present the major drawback yourself – then immediately restate the positive side. “Some folks object to Jet Paint’s intense odor while trying. But in a well ventilated area, the odor disappears within 24 hours.”

When the audience sees that you are willing to consider both sides of a situation, your credibility takes a giant leap. Yet, you leave them with the point you want to make.

Close With an Action Step.

One of the best presentation closes summarizes the opening (excluding the credibility statement), recaps the major points and ends with an action. You may want to save an anecdote to lead into the summary. But the final words should restate the benefit and the necessary action to receive the benefit.

Raw information tickles the logical mind and bores the rest of the mind to sleep. The result of an overly logical presentation: bored, sleepy listeners who remember nothing and do nothing. Great presenters start with raw information, add their opinions, color it with imagery, and give it personality. The more of the mind you tickle, the more retention and motivation you reap. Additional parts of the mind you can tickle include: long term memory, imagination, and emotion.

Long Term Memory

Adults know a lot. Unlike children who come to us with clean slates, adults harbor vast reservoirs of knowledge and experience. Great presenters do not fear this knowledge and experience. They use it to their advantage.

The fastest way to create learning is to link the unknown with the known. Since adults know so many things, opportunity for linking abounds. Simile and metaphor provide the means. A simile uses the words “like” or “as” to bridge the unknown with the known. Example: It tastes like chicken. I don’t care what food I’m discussing. You now know how it tastes. Metaphors link without the words “like” or “as”. Example: That business is a three-ring circus. You can probably think of multiple businesses that fit a three-ring circus description.

One year, the city that hosted the Super Bowl was vying to host an upcoming Summer Olympics. A reporter interviewed the mayor of that city and asked about his confidence level in hosting an Olympics after the recent success with the Super Bowl. The mayor responded by acknowledging the recent success, but then cautioned, “Hosting the Olympics is like hosting 15 Super Bowls per day.”

A COO of a healthcare organization used a wonderful bridge to lead into a brainstorming session on marketing ideas. He mused, “Suppose we were in the business of attracting squirrels. How would we attract them? We would climb up a tree and act like a nut. Now, what kind of nuts do our squirrels like?” Employees laughed and joined in enthusiastically to offer new “nuts”.

Imagination

The mind loves pictures. We dream in pictures. We daydream in pictures. We remember faces and forget names. We forget street names and remember landmarks. Have you ever given someone directions like these? “Go about one mile. Then you’ll see a big white church and a nursery across the street. Take a left. When you come to the fire station…”

I participated in a research study in college that still fascinates me. To earn extra credit in a psychology course, I agreed to be a guinea pig for the graduate students’ research project. The graduate students sat me down and told me they were going to read 20 sentences to me. My job, visualize or imagine each sentence as vividly as possible for 30 seconds. Then we would proceed to the next sentence. Based on only that information we began.

Being the good student, I visualized intently, practically crinkling my nose to see the images. After 20 sentences, the graduate students blindfolded me and walked me down a hallway to a water fountain. They told me to take a drink of water. They blindfolded me again and escorted me back to the original room. They took my blindfold off, handed me a blank piece of paper, and instructed me to write as many of the 20 sentences as I could remember in 60 seconds. Despite my unnerving walk down the hall, I wrote down 18 sentences exactly as they had read them to me within 60 seconds. I had no idea a test was coming.

Visual aids provide a perfect opportunity to incorporate pictures into a presentation. Yet, most presenters squander the opportunity by using bulleted lists of words and numbers as their visual aids. Challenge your bullet points. Clipart programs abound. Dress up boring graphs. For high profile presentations seek the assistance of a graphic artist or employ internal talent.

If real pictures elude you, paint word pictures on your listeners’ minds. Similes and metaphors, by their nature, paint vivid pictures like the 15 Super Bowls or the squirrels and the nuts. Take conceptual or technical ideas and create pictures for them. In a former life I used to be an actuary in the insurance industry. I recruited from colleges and gave presentations about the actuarial profession. To educate students about actuarial science and motivate them to pursue the career, I defined an actuary as a mathematical fortuneteller. Reaction from students, “Hey, that sounds pretty cool.” (Now do you believe word pictures are powerful?)

Emotion

People take action for emotional reasons not logical ones. Most people logically understand the hazards of cigarette smoking, yet they continue to smoke. Most people logically know that healthy diet and exercise keep them vibrant, yet they eat chocolate cake and watch TV instead. Sales professionals claim that people buy for emotional reasons then justify with logic. Have you ever purchased something you couldn’t really afford? Enough said.

In general, people are motivated emotionally by “moving towards” happiness or “moving away” from pain. When your alarm clock sounds in the morning, why do you get out of bed? If you answer, “Because I love life and I can’t wait to start another spectacular day. Carpe Diem!” You would be motivated by “moving towards”. If you answer, “Because if I don’t get up now I’ll be late for work and get fired.” You would be motivated by “moving away”.

Add an emotional element to your presentations by explaining to listeners the rewards of action (moving towards) and the consequences of inaction (moving away). Be sure to address both ends of the spectrum. If you only dangle rewards, the “moving away” listeners tune out. If you only threaten doom, the “moving towards” listeners sour.

A recent prospect wanted presentation skills coaching for their software experts because for the first time their Users Group conference included other companies. I advised that if they went forward with the coaching, the improved presentations would create a buzz that would drive some of the increased traffic into their sessions. Then I warned that if they didn’t pursue coaching, lackluster presentations might cause an exodus of once guaranteed audience members to other companies.

Summary

Raw information tickles the logical mind, but bores the rest. To increase motivation and retention, tickle more of the mind by appealing not only to logic, but long-term memory, imagination, and emotion. Use similes, word pictures, “moving towards”, and “moving away” to join the ranks of great presenters.

My life revolves around giving tests. I teach a week long real estate pre license class and give a test. Students are always worried about the test. Years ago, one of my students gave me a T shirt that said on the front “If it is not on the test, I don’t care”. This describes most of my students’ attitude. After you leave school, everything is a test.

In real estate sales, we go out and look for a prospect. We prepare to meet with that prospect. When we meet with that prospect, that is the test. One or two things is going to happen. That prospect is going to list with you or not list with you. If they list with you, you earn money. If they do not list with you you do not earn any money. It is a pass-fail test. The more tests you pass, the more money you make.

This is a simple concept. Most new Realtors do not seem to grasp this concept. The more tests you pass, the more money you make. If you grasp this concept, how many tests do you want to take? Lots! Your entire income is dependent upon how many presentations you make and how well you make them. Is that simple? Is that true? Yes it is true. The more people that say yes to you, the more money you make. It is simple. It is true.

Talk to a lot of people. Make a lot of listing presentations. The more presentations you make the more money you make. If you only make one presentation per week, it better be a good one. If you are making two presentations per day, you are going to make a good living in real estate sales.

Consider this. If one man makes one presentation per week and his twin brother makes two presentations per day, which one is probably making the best presentations. You know the answer. Even if Mr. Oneperweek is making a better presentations, Mr. Twoperday will get more listings with his less than perfect presentation done more frequently.

Suggestion number one is see more people. Suggestion number two is get good at making that presentation. Get excellent at it. Practice it on real people. Use your visual aids. Use animation. Tell great stories. Plan your closes. Know the answer to all the objections. Get serious about getting their signature on that listing. This is a simple concept. The more prospects you see, the more will say yes and the more money you will make.

See lots of people.

Make a perfect presentation.

I often ask my sales training classes “If a terrorist came into the room and announced that he was going to blow up the room unless someone could show him why he should list his house with a Realtor”, would you volunteer to make that presentation? Your answer should be yes because you are sure there is no one that can do it better than you. You should be prepared to make that presentation. you should know exactly what you are going to say. You should know what points you need to cover. You should know what questions you intend to ask. You need to know that your presentation is excellent. Your visual aids are perfect. Your qualifying questions are right on. You are not shooting from the hip. You are not hoping for the best. You are prepared. You have a planned presentation. You have practiced it. You have perfected it. You are ready.

If this is not so, when would be a good time to start making it so. You know. Now!

If you have ever wondered what the difference is between a boring, snooze-fest and a rocking presentation with big results then read on! Like many things in life, the difference between poor, good, and great is small, sometimes imperceptible, yet the results are very different. So what will take your presentation from bland to riveting, from a detached audience to one that is engaged, connected, and interacting? The difference can be seen right from your opening!

The most effective presentation training will tell you that you must quickly take command of the room and get them interacting, if you want to keep your audience engaged and entertained. This presentation training secret comes from the NLP techniques that help you gain rapport and influence right from the start.

Presentation Training Tip #1: Open your presentation with two questions.
Presentation Training Tip #2: Ask for a hand raise.
Presentation Training Tip #3: Lead by example.

Open your presentation with two questions. The questions should be complimentary so that they will end up including the majority of people in the room. In other words one question will get a “yes” response from a large portion of the room (who is a dog a lover). And then second question will get a “yes” response from the rest (and who is a cat lover). You’ll see another example in a moment.

Notice that before I ask the question I am also going to prompt people for the hand raise I want, by asking them directly for a hand raise. Lastly, after you ask each of your key opening questions, you are going to raise your own hand in response, as if you are answering your own question along with the rest of the group. So after the first question you will raise your right hand, and after the second question you will raise your left hand. This will help people feel comfortable responding.

Here how this might all look:
By a quick show of hands, How many of you have ever sat through a dry, boring presentation that left you checking your watch or your text messages? (raise your right hand) Now on the other hand how many of you have ever had a presentation be so engaging and fun that the time just flew by? (raise your left hand) Great well either way you answered you are in for a treat. Because this program is going to show you how a well-trained memory can help you deliver entertaining presentations with absolutely no notes! So you can toss the notes and cue cards, and focus on leading more engaging, interactive presentations. You’ll be looking like a pro in no time!

Can you imagine how much more interesting this is than simply saying, “Hi, I’m Kristin and we are going to talk about your memory and how it affects your presentation skills. Blah blah blah.”

In addition to being more compelling this techniques also sets the president for the YOU LEAD – THEY FOLLOW relationship that you want in a successful presentation. So later when you ask them to sign up for your newsletter or buy your product or set up another meeting, they will already be used to following your lead!

Add this presentation training tip to your toolbox, I know it will help you see better results from your next business presentation, public speaking opportunity, or sales presentation . Grab them in the opener, and your off to a great start! Your audience will have more fun, and you will see better energy, and better results!

Have you ever given a sales presentation and your prospect said thanks but no thanks? They didn’t seem all that interested or even if they were interested, they didn’t want to buy from you?

Think of all the time, money and resources (TMR) you have wasted on these sales presentations that go nowhere.

Here are five tips that will help you avoid this ever happening to you again. These tips will also help you give sales presentations that consistently sell.

Tip #1: Only give a sales presentation after you understand your prospect’s specific problem and motivation.

Before you can give a presentation and say you can solve your prospect’s problem, you need to understand their specific problem. Yes? Seems obvious and logical I know but ‘prescribing before diagnosing’ is one of the top 10 common sales mistakes. Therefore before you present your solution, ask lots of questions and dive deep into the answers so you can understand their problem. Find out what their problem is costing them. Also find out what specific benefits they would get if they solved their problem.

Tip # 2: Only give a sales presentation after you have asked the “magic question”.

The “magic question” will make the need for many presentations and proposals disappear. That’s why it’s magic. With this question you simply ask “Just suppose, that I give you a presentation on our products and services, and you see they’re a perfect fit for you, what would happen next?” The answer to this question will often indicate you need to do a lot more work before a presentation or proposal is the next best step.

Tip # 3: Give highly relevant sales presentations.

The more relevant your presentation is to your prospect, the greater will be their interest. Conversely the less relevant it is to them, the less will be their interest. There is a direct correlation.

If you give a standard – one size fits all presentation – on the faint hope that something you say will be relevant and hit a hot button, chances are your prospect won’t be listening – or they’ll be asleep by the time you do get to that hot button. If you are giving a standard presentation, you are leaving it up to your prospect to work out what is relevant and most prospects simply can’t be bothered. If you give a standard presentation, the relevance will be low and their interest will be low.

To give highly relevant presentations, only present those aspects of your products and services that are relevant to their specific problem. Ditch the rest. Your prospect doesn’t care about the rest.

You also want your presentation to be highly relevant in language. Speak to your prospect in the language of their role – not in your language. I call this “Speaking to their ears.”

Tip # 4: Give sales presentations that motivate prospects to buy.

With tip #1, I said to only give presentation once you understand your prospect’s motivation for solving their problem. During your presentation, you then simply reflect back all the motivation your prospect has told you during the questioning process. You reflect back what they’ve told you about what the problem is costing them. You reflect back what they told you would be the benefits if they solved their problem. Your prospect will agree with everything you’re saying as they are the ones that gave you the information. Assuming it makes sense (financial or otherwise) – and you should not be giving a presentation unless it does – your prospect will be very motivated to buy.

Tip #5: Only give sales presentations to people who are going to buy.

This tip may seem obvious but selling to prospects that aren’t going to buy is another one of the top 10 common sales mistakes. It’s a complete waste of your TMR giving presentations to prospects that aren’t going to buy so make sure you put your prospect through your filtering, or qualification process, before you give your presentation. You do have a filtering or qualification process, don’t you?

To implement what I’ve covered above, I suggest you do two things. First look back at some recent presentations (or proposals) you have given that went nowhere. Now look at these tips and see what you could have done differently to have avoided this situation. Your past “failures” are very valuable learning experiences – and you’ve paid for them with your TMR – so learn from them. Secondly I suggest you look at some current prospects you are talking to and see which tips you need to apply before you give a presentation.

Apply these five tips and watch how your sales presentations will consistently sell.

(c) 2008 Tessa Stowe, Sales Conversation. WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE? Yes, you can, provided you make all links live and include this copyright and by-line below.

In my long career as a salesperson, trainer, and consultant, I’ve seen and heard a lot of bad advice. From bizarre prospecting techniques to trick closes, some of what’s out there just serves as a good reminder that a lot of people don’t quite understand what we do. But perhaps beyond all other sales topics, the ones that seem to throw people completely off their best impressions of common sense is negotiating.

Wearing a red tie, slamming your shoe on a table, and raising your voice unexpectedly are not effective negotiating methods. They might look like fun in the movies, or even at a seminar, but in the real world, we have another name for stunts like that: “watching the sale get away.”

When it comes down to it, customers don’t negotiate with you because they want a performance, or because they’re eager to find out how many classes you’ve been to on holding your prices – they do it because, like you, they have budgets and goals that are easier to meet if they get a better deal. It isn’t anything personal; they’re just looking out for themselves.

Keep that in mind, and remember that there is also a flip side to that coin: no one negotiates with you unless they want what you’re selling. That means, by the time you’re seriously talking prices, delivery dates, and other details, the sale is close.

Here are five ways to negotiate with customers; you won’t find anything slick or fancy, but these tactics do work in the real world:

Raise the value of what you sell.

Most sales negotiations center around price – your customer thinks it’s too high, you think it’s fine where it is. The best way around the problem is to raise the value of what they’re getting in their minds; that way, they feel better paying for it. This can come in the form of reminding them what’s so great about your product, or including an item or service that you have a big margin on. Either way, make sure they know how much they’re getting, and they’ll worry less about what they’re paying.

Find the real problem.

Very often, the reasons people give us for not buying aren’t the ones they actually feel at all. The only way to tell whether the objection your customer is throwing out is real or a smokescreen is by asking the right questions. If you find that you just can’t get the order, slow things down and see if there’s another issue at play.

Make the numbers real.

This is a wildly popular, and hugely effective, tactic when you sell something that’s high quality, and with a price tag to match. Rather than focus on the big figure with all those commas that’s staring them in the face, show your customer what they are paying per month, per day, or per use. Often, when they’ve seen how the figures stack up in that way, you’ll find they’re a lot more willing to pay for quality.

Shut up.

The worst thing you can do is negotiate against yourself, and yet salespeople do it all the time. Probably this has to do with the tension that’s inherent in the closing stages of a sale – you’re just that close to a commission, and you worry about watching it slip away. But once you’ve given your price, or given it again, learn to be strong and be quiet. If your customer wants to fight for a discount, make them ask you for it.

Walk away.

One the oldest, and least-often used negotiating tricks is not negotiating at all. Simply tell the customer that you’re afraid you can’t give them what they want and wrap things up. When would you try this? When you’re so convinced that you’ve shown them the value of your product that you’re absolutely certain they’ll pay what you’ve asked, or when you have so many customers that the loss of one or two isn’t a big deal. Those are good situations to shoot for, since they mean you’re probably becoming a very strong producer.

Negotiating at the close of the sale is never going to be easy, but it doesn’t have to be a painful ordeal, either. Just follow these tips and fight for every penny you deserve. That might not be as much fun as using tricks, but you’ll get a lot more out of it.

The Art of Negotiating starts by looking at your self as a TRUE intermediary. The MIDDLE man. One who can take several different sides of a situation, merge them into one situation, have a happy ending and do it SUCCESSFULLY. This is very true in any Industry, but it is especially true in the Transportation Industry. Negotiations take place here at a very fast pace, in a very short time, and leave no room for error.

Negotiating is the process of arriving at a satisfactory conclusion for all parties involved.

Effective Negotiating is the approach, technique and structure used to accomplish such satisfaction.

You MUST have Good Quality Negotiating Skills in order to do this.

In negotiating, you must first learn to LISTEN. LISTENING is your key to SUCCESS in EVERY negotiation. Listen to what is BEING said and what is NOT being said. There are those who know WHAT they want to say but don’t know HOW to say it. And there are those who know what they WANT, but not the STEPS needed to obtain it. So, LISTEN to what is being said by all those involved. Let someone else start the negotiation process. This way you are free to take note of what is already being agreed upon and can start putting your negotiation plan together. Structure your notes, ideas and plan into a type of outline. From what seems to be the most important factor down to the least important. This way you will have a clear and direct route of WHEN you want to begin the final negotiation, WHICH direction you will want to take it, and HOW you plan to succeed at the end.

Finally, draw attention to your negotiating abilities by being confident. Talk clearly and be direct. Highlight the objective then go straight to the point. This will leave less room for those involved to change their minds and no one will be confused. Speak with professionalism. State your solutions but with a hint of suggestion. This will help keep everyone focused and leave less room for hostility. By allowing OPINIONS to form, and IDEAS to follow, you can fill in the blanks and end the negotiation with the results you had originally intended. Hereby skillfully and professionally demonstrating the Art of Negotiating.

In any negotiation, there are some key rules to know in order to come away with what it is that you want. The same holds true when you are negotiating with your creditors. Be sure to keep the following 5 tips in mind when you are going through the creditor negotiation process:

1. Never show all your cards

Your creditors will likely ask you what you can afford to pay each month on the debt you have with them, the number of interest only payments you want to make, how long you’ll need reduced payments for, and so on. Never let the creditor know the full amount you are able to pay! By holding a little back, you’ll have some room to negotiate with them. In some cases, creditors will accept the first offer. Many more, however will enter into negotiations. If you’ve shown all your cards, you’ll be out of luck.

2. Know exactly what your bottom line is

Know what the minimum is that you need to get out of the negotiation and know what the max that you can afford to pay a creditor each month. Never agree to more than that, or you risk not being able to live up to your agreement and will likely lose that creditor as one that will work with you in the future.

3. Know that you’ll have to give a little to get a little.

A successful negotiation is only successful when both parties come away from the negotiations with something. In the case of a creditor, they may be willing to drop the monthly payment or interest rate, but you may have to provide them with collateral to do so. Your goal here is to give up as little as possible, but be realistic – you may indeed have to give up something to get something.

4. Understand who has the edge in your negotiations

Clearly, who ever has the upper hand in a negotiation will have the stronger bargaining position. The person in the weaker position will likely have to come up with a little extra in order to come up with anything during the negotiations. Your creditors will likely be the ones with the edge, especially your secured creditors. But, with unsecured creditors, you could have the edge if your financial situation is dire and you have no assets of value.

5. Never get angry, demanding or confrontational during negotiations

If you fly of the handle easily, you best have someone else handle your creditor negotiations for you. If you are rude or confrontational with a creditor you are trying to negotiate a better deal with, they will likely cut you off and not want anything to do with you. If you are in the middle of a creditor negotiation and you find yourself getting upset, end the call and resume it after you’ve been able to cool down and clear your head.

Imagine for a moment that you own a sailboat, and you’re desperate to sell it. It was fun when you first got it, but now you hardly ever use it, and the maintenance and slip fees are eating you alive. It’s early Sunday morning, and you’ve given up a chance to play golf with your friends because you need to be down at the marina cleaning your boat. You’re scrubbing away and cursing your stupidity for ever having bought the boat. Just as you’re thinking, “I’m going to give this turkey away to the next person who comes along,” you look up and see an expensively dressed man with a young girl on his arm coming down the dock. He’s wearing Gucci loafers, white slacks, and a blue Burberry’s blazer topped off with a silk cravat. His young girlfriend is wearing high heels, a silk sheath dress, big sunglasses, and huge diamond earrings.

They stop at your boat, and the man says, “That’s a fine looking boat. By any chance is it for sale?”

His girl friend snuggles up to him and says, “Oh, let’s buy it, poopsy. We’ll have so much fun.”

You feel your heart start to burst with joy and your mind is singing, “Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!”

Expressing that sentiment is not going to get you the best price for your boat, is it? How are you going to get the best price? By playing Reluctant Seller. You keep on scrubbing and say, “You’re welcome to come aboard, although I hadn’t thought of selling the boat.” You give them a tour of the boat and at every step of the way you tell them how much you love the boat and how much fun you have sailing her. Finally you tell them, “I can see how perfect this boat would be for you and how much fun you’d have with it, but I really don’t think I could ever bear to part with it. However, just to be fair to you, what is the very best price you would give me?”

Power Negotiators know that this Reluctant Seller technique squeezes the negotiating range before the negotiating even starts. If you’ve done a good job of building the other person’s desire to own the boat, he will have formed a negotiating range in his mind. He may be thinking, “I’d be willing to go to $30,000, $25,000 would be a fair deal and $20,000 would be a bargain.” So, his negotiating range is from $20,000 to $30,000. Just by playing Reluctant Seller, you will have moved him up through that range. If you had appeared eager to sell, he may have offered you only $20,000. By playing Reluctant Seller you may move him to the mid-point, or even the high point of his negotiating range, before the negotiations even start.

One of my Power Negotiators is an extremely rich and powerful investor, a man who owns real estate all over town. He probably owns real estate worth $50 million, owes $35 million in loans, and therefore has a net worth of about $15 million. Very successful-what you could justifiably call a heavy hitter. He likes wheeling and dealing.

Like many investors, his strategy is simple: Buy a property at the right price and on the right terms, hold onto it and let it appreciate, then sell at a higher price. Many smaller investors bring him purchase offers for one of his holdings, eager to acquire one of his better-known properties. That’s when this well-seasoned investor knows how to use the Reluctant Buyer Gambit.

He reads the offer quietly, and when he’s finished he slides it thoughtfully back across the table, scratches above one ear, saying something like, “I don’t know. Of all my properties, I have very special feelings for this one. I was thinking of keeping it and giving it to my daughter for her college graduation present and I really don’t think that I would part with it for anything less than the full asking price. You understand; this particular property is worth a great deal to me. But look, it was good of you to bring in an offer for me and in all fairness, so that you won’t have wasted your time, what is the very best price that you feel you could give me?” Many times, I saw him make thousands of dollars in just a few seconds using the Reluctant Seller philosophy.

Power Negotiators always try to edge up the other side’s negotiating range before the real negotiating ever begins.

I remember an oceanfront condominium that I bought as an investment. The owner was asking $59,000 for it. It was a hot real estate market at the time and I wasn’t sure how eager the owner was to sell or if they had any other offers on it. So, I wrote up three offers, one at $49,000, another at $54,000 and a third at $59,000. I made an appointment to meet with the seller, who had moved out of the condominium in Long Beach and was now living in Pasadena. After talking to her for a while, I determined that she hadn’t had any other offers and that she was eager to sell. So I reached into my briefcase, where I had the three offers carefully filed and pulled out the lowest of them. She accepted it, and when I sold the condominium a few years later, it fetched $129,000. (Be aware that you can do this only with a “For Sale by Owner.” If a real estate agent has listed the property, that agent is working for the seller and is obligated to tell the seller if he’s aware that the other side would pay more. Another reason why you should always list property with an agent when you’re selling.)
So, Power Negotiators always play Reluctant Seller when they’re selling. Even before the negotiation starts, it squeezes the other side’s negotiating range.

Remember that when people do this kind of thing to you, that it’s just a game that they are playing on you. Power Negotiators don’t get upset about it. They just learn to play the negotiating game better than the other side.

Key points to remember:

Always play Reluctant Seller.

Playing this Gambit is a great way to squeeze the other side’s negotiating range before the negotiation even starts.

The other person will typically give away half his or her negotiating range just because you use this.

When you negotiate with a liar, be cautious. Identify him as fitting into one of three categories, a habitual liar, a loose attendant with facts, or one that honestly misstates information. There’s a distinct difference between those three mindsets. To negotiate better and avoid a liar’s beating, know those differences and how to address them. This article notes the distinctions and gives insights into doing just that.

Habitual liar –

This is the negotiator that will lie for the pleasure of deceiving you. He obtains a ‘high’ when viewing himself as a master trickster. He’s also the most dangerous negotiator type that you can encounter because, at times, he’ll lie just to be lying. Don’t let your guard down with this type of negotiator. If you do, you may pay a high cost for your lesson.

Loose with facts –

The negotiator who uses facts loosely may be someone that seeks to sway you with information. He may do so if he senses your logic is driven by data. In his attempts to sway you, he may quote statistics and/or facts that aren’t as valid as he professes them to be.

If you suspect he’s playing loosely with facts, pull out your mobile device. Ask your favorite Internet site about the validity of his statement. Do that in front of him. You may have to do that a few times. He’ll get the hint that you’re not someone swayed by the tactics he’s employing.

Misstates information –

Something that’s stated as the truth is a lie if it’s not true. And, everyone misstates facts at times. This may occur due to faulty memory. Because of that, your guard doesn’t have to be as high as with the other two types. Nevertheless, you should still note the degree of misstatements he makes. If he projects a demure demeanor while doing so, he may be using that as cover to hide his deceit.

Test the liar:

Regardless of the liar type, test him. As an example, cite an erroneous fact pertaining to the negotiation. Observe what he does with it.

• The habitual liar may embellish it, or attempt to use it to his advantage quickly; this may occur at any point in the negotiation.
• The loose fact individual may extend your version while waiting to see where it might lead; he’s not ready to bite on your bait. If he brings it up later, note when he does so. That’ll be an insight into how he plans to use such information.
• The misstates facts person may not say anything; that could be a clue that he’s not overly enamored with facts or the lies that extend from them. But, if he attempts to use the erroneous information to his advantage, consider moving him into one of the other categories.

If you sense deception, use the web the other negotiator is spinning to capture you, to ensnare him. To do that, if you’re speaking in-person, watch his expressions. Observe the degree his eyebrows rise; to the degree they do so, you will have surprised him. Note what he does next (i.e. stammer, clears his throat, rubs his eye(s)). Those gestures will indicate that he knows you’ve caught him. And he knows that you know it.

In every negotiation, a negotiator will lie to some degree. You should be most concerned with those that continuously lack conformity to the truth. They’re the ones that will attempt to expand the negotiation pie, only to steal it from you in the end. Thus, the more adept you are at recognizing and knowing how to negotiate better to avoid a liar’s beating, the less likely you’ll incur that beating… and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!