The Negotiating Coach Blog

Launching the NEW Power Negotiator Toolkit

2009-06-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

June 2, 2009 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact: Michael E. Sloopka, The Negotiating Coach® and President of negotiatingcoach.com®

Phone: 1-888-581-6777
E-mail: michael@sloopka.com

“Utilizing Poor Negotiating Skills in Today’s Tough Economic and Competitive Business Environment Means Businesses and Consumers Are Giving Away Thousands of Dollars … and People May Not Even Realize It!”

GUELPH, ONTARIO, CANADA – This provocative statement comes from negotiating expert Michael E. Sloopka, an internationally recognized authority and expert on negotiating and decision-making dynamics, and developer of the NEW Secrets of Power Negotiating® Power Negotiator Toolkit. Sloopka is the founder of negotiatingcoach.com®, which provides executive presentations, seminars, learning workshops, coaching and consulting services, and expertise around the globe.

Sloopka says that today’s troubled economy and challenging business environment have created a critical need for all people to improve their negotiating skills. “In any economic and business climate, people’s ability to negotiate effectively in a large- or small-scale business or personal situation could be the key to their success. Nothing affects the bottom-line profitability of any size of business or personal outcomes more than developing good negotiating skills.”

When asked about who needs to improve their negotiating skills, Sloopka says, “The answer is simple – all of us need to invest in improving our negotiating skills. We are negotiating all the time – in our personal and social lives, and especially in our business lives. Every time we communicate with another person, there is the potential to be negotiating. Negotiating is an essential life skill – not just a skill used in large-scale commercial applications.”

“Most people don’t know how to negotiate effectively, much less recognize all the situations and circumstances in which they should be negotiating, but aren’t. As a result, people may not be satisfied with their results and outcomes and may be leaving a great deal of money and/or value on the table,” Sloopka claims. He also says that “most people negotiate based on their instincts and that the majority of people have no formal education or training in the art, science, and sport of negotiating.”

Sloopka says that “in addition to the obvious business-related negotiations that occur every day, people are negotiating for new jobs, house purchases, rentals of apartments and condos, purchases of automobiles, appliances, furniture, and consumer electronics, are renegotiating mortgages and credit terms, and are determining what household chores to perform and what restaurants to patronize on a weekend – just to name a few.”

To address this critical need, Sloopka is launching his new cost-effective Secrets of Power Negotiating® Audio CD- and Data CD-based Power Negotiator Toolkit – developed specifically to help people learn to become more effective negotiators, to enhance their personal performance, and to improve business results, profitability, and outcomes when negotiating.

Sloopka says, “Anyone can benefit from purchasing our Power Negotiator Toolkit – whether one is a seasoned negotiator who wants to improve his or her skills with new material – or a beginner who wants to learn the proper process, methodology, strategies, tactics, techniques, and key scripts and phrases. The Power Negotiator Toolkit is an essential resource for everyone, in all walks of life – whether one is a corporate executive, senior manager, sales manager, salesperson, purchasing executive, entrepreneur, student – or a consumer looking to improve skills for everyday negotiations.”

Sloopka is not a big fan of books on the topic of negotiating and believes that books are not as effective at transferring skill as an audio learning program. “The Secrets of Power Negotiating® Audio CD Learning Program and our ultimate collection of Key Verbal Phrases and Questioning Techniques Audio CD provide people with potentially more effective solutions than purchasing a book on negotiating that usually only addresses various theoretical and academic concepts and principles.”

“Most books covering the topic of negotiating are written on the basis that the other side will respond exactly the way we want them to during the negotiation; however, most of us know from our own personal experience that people do not respond exactly the way we want them to in a negotiation. Our studio-recorded Audio CD learning products will teach you not only what to say – but also how to say it. Our Power Negotiator Toolkit provides people with the most effective overall personal development solutions that will help them achieve the improved results and outcomes that they are looking for.”

The Power Negotiator Toolkit is sold exclusively on the negotiatingcoach.com® website for a special introductory promotional price of $199.95US, plus taxes, shipping, and handling.
Become a Power Negotiator!
Purchase the easy to use, proven and effective Power Negotiator Toolkit online at http://store.negotiatingcoach.com!

The Power Negotiator Toolkit includes the following three products:

• Secrets of Power Negotiating® Learning Program (6-Audio CD Set) – Almost 6 hours of proven negotiating strategies, tactics, and techniques that provide the core education for learning to become a more effective negotiator.

• Secrets of Power Negotiating® Key Verbal Phrases and Questioning Techniques (2-Audio CD Set) – These two Audio CDs contain Sloopka’s "greatest hits" of his most effective verbal phrases or scripts that a person can memorize, practice, and apply during basic or advanced negotiating situations.

• Secrets of Power Negotiating® Personality Type and Corresponding Negotiating Style Assessment Data CD – Because people may not be negotiating with people who are like themselves, it is essential that they learn more about their own personality type and their corresponding negotiating style in order to learn to negotiate more effectively with others.

For more information about the Power Negotiator Toolkit – or to schedule an interview or request an appearance on your radio or television program, please e-mail Michael E. Sloopka at michael@sloopka.com or call him directly at 1-888-581-6777.

Professionally trained in broadcasting, Sloopka delivers entertaining, informative, and provocative radio, television, and print interviews. Please feel free to visit our website at www.negotiatingcoach.com

Michael Sloopka's Press Regarding Potash Corporation Labour Dispute

2008-08-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

Negotiating Expert Weighs In on Serious Potash Corporation Labour Dispute

Michael E. Sloopka, a Guelph, Ontario-based expert in negotiating and decision-making, says that the recent impasse in the discussions between Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan and United Steelworkers Union is very unfortunate and is a failure of the negotiating process and for those attempting to manage the process.

There are millions of dollars at stake for shareholders, management, and employees in this outcome. There are a complex series of issues at play in this negotiation – from the personality types involved in the negotiations, commodity prices, fertility management programs, crop yield capitalization, management stock option programs – to competitive Potash mines being developed in Russia.

There is no doubt that some shareholders and senior management have made millions of dollars from the performance of Potash Corporation’s stock price in recent years. Sloopka says that it is inevitable that employees want their “share” of this success; however, he warns that employees need to be careful about the idea of entitlement and expectations. Sloopka says that employees, like any investor, could have reaped the benefit of Potash’s stock price performance by investing in the company’s stock.

Sloopka says that the concept of “performance-based” incentives and bonuses for employees is a good strategy, and perhaps this approach makes more sense than the “commodity-based bonuses” that the Steelworkers and its members are pursuing. Sloopka says he hopes that the employees do not put themselves into a similar position to that of the North American autoworkers by achieving short-term gains in negotiations that are difficult to maintain and sustain in the long term.

Sloopka says he is seeing more and more parties becoming involved in impasses and deadlocks, because both sides do not have realistic opening negotiating positions in the early stage of negotiations. If both side’s opening negotiating positions are not realistic, reasonable, and attainable, Sloopka says that negotiations can break down quickly as a result of momentum not being attained from the expected “give and take” by both sides that is necessary for a mutually beneficial Win-Win outcome.

Sloopka says that getting to the “walk-away” stage in any negotiation and a having a “take-it-or-leave-it” attitude is the easy part – especially when both sides know that mediation and arbitration are potentially available to them. Gambits and countergambits such as “bracketing” and “spitting the difference” are common approaches used by mediators and arbitrators, which is why Sloopka is not fond of this result from a failed negotiation attempt.

Sloopka says that Potash’s competitor Agrium’s recent negotiation with the Egyptian government over a buyout of Agrium’s stake in a fertilizer manufacturing plant was a good example of a more collaborative approach to negotiating. It was clear that both sides could have taken a more aggressive stance on that situation; however, both sides realized that a Win-Win outcome was achievable with the right attitude, approach, and process.

Sloopka says that even if a negotiation is very complex and complicated, people need to utilize the proper process, methodology, strategies, and techniques in order to arrive at a satisfactory outcome. Sloopka encourages all his clients to understand that there are three stages to every negotiation: establishing opening positions (based on a maximum plausible position), gathering and exchanging relevant information with the other side, and, finally, reaching for compromise.

The current hard-line posturing by Potash and the Steelworkers Union is not conducive to arriving at a satisfactory outcome. Sloopka says that both parties should continue negotiating, consider changing negotiating team members, or bring in outside experts to help with the process – before it goes to mediation or arbitration – which, Sloopka says, ends up being a Win-Lose situation.

Investor's Daily Magazine - Sloopka Intervew

2008-08-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Clients:

Please see an article that recently appeared in the Investor's Daily Magazine and online edition. There are a some good tips in this article for business people and consumers.

Have a great week,

Michael E. Sloopka
The Negotiating Coach

Check Your Emotions In Vendor Negotiations

Yahoo! News and Investor’s Business Daily Magazine – August 8, 2008

By: Morey Stettner

As your company grows, you'll spend more time and money dealing with vendors and suppliers. Negotiate favorable terms by keeping your emotions in check.

"Once you reach a verbal agreement, beware of getting so excited that you overlook the details," warned Michael E. Sloopka, president of negotiatingcoach.com, a training and consulting firm in Reno, Nev. "It's not enough to say that you'll work things out later."

Sloopka advises entrepreneurs to address ambiguities and tie down loose ends before completing the negotiation. If you brush aside issues for later, you may dig yourself into a hole.

For example, define delivery dates with precision. Instead of verbally agreeing to "prompt delivery," clarify the time frame. If you want the vendor to commit to three-day delivery, do you prefer business days or calendar days?

Three Smart Steps

After you finalize terms with vendors, they might ask you to sign their contract. But the advantage goes to the party that drafts the agreement, Sloopka says, so beat them to the punch. It's better if you originate the contract. That way, you can protect your interests and ensure that you understand every clause.

From the outset, let vendors know that you will draft the supply agreement for them to sign. That eliminates surprises down the line and signals to them that you will be paying attention to detail. Whether shopping for raw materials or finished goods, begin the process by asking for a proposal from a supplier. Then use it as a starting point 15 haggle over the terms.

"When you've finished negotiating, draft a document based on what you've both agreed to," Sloopka said.

Because of similarities in most transactions, Sloopka suggests establishing a boilerplate vendor contract that your attorney reviews and approves. Then for each deal, tweak it on your own until it fits your legal requirements.

That saves you from paying lawyer fees each time.

Savvy Negotiation Ploys

During the dickering stage, look for chances to secure terms that give you maximum flexibility. For example, strive to work within wide parameters that fit your changing needs.

Rather than commit to purchasing 80,000 units of a vendor's product, for instance, propose a range of buying 60,000 to 80,000 for the same price. If your business hits a rough patch, you won't be forced to overbuy at a time when you want to scale back.

To wring concessions from vendors, use questions rather than statements.

Sloopka coaches entrepreneurs to begin with the words, "Under what circumstances ... "

Instead of declaring to a vendor, "You better not sell this to our competitors," it's wiser to ask, "Under what circumstances would you sell this to us exclusively?"

"Most people are too confrontational," Sloopka said. "If you start by arguing, it intensifies others' desire to prove they are right."

You can reach Michael E. Sloopka at michael@sloopka.com or call him directly at 1-888-581-6777, or visit his website at http://www.negotitingcoach.com

World-Class Negotiating Expert Available to Assist You with Your Next Article or Story Involving Negotiations

2007-12-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

Michael E. Sloopka, one of North America’s foremost experts in negotiating, sales, purchasing, and decision-making dynamics, can provide the compelling answers you need.

Michael E. Sloopka is available for media interviews covering a wide range of negotiating situations – from large- and small-scale public- and private-sector negotiations, everyday negotiations, and sports negotiations.

Professionally trained in broadcasting, Michael delivers informative and entertaining print, radio, and television interviews.

Get the Answers You Need to the Tough Questions About Negotiating

Of the six “W’s” that you must address in an effective news story, “Why?” is usually the most difficult to answer when you’re covering a situation involving negotiations.

You need to explain to your audience why people act the way they do. Why organizations take the positions they do. Why each party’s decisions and actions may or may not be important. And most of all, your audience needs to understand why the subtle nuances of negotiations are important and why they can have a significant impact on the results.

Michael E. Sloopka can make your job easier. As a recognized expert in negotiating and decision-making dynamics, he can provide you with insightful and colorful commentary, quotes, in-depth analysis of both parties’ positions, and even a prediction of the likely outcome(s) of the negotiation. Michael has more than 25 years of practical experience studying and teaching the art and science of negotiations in nearly every type of situation – from major business scenarios involving mergers and acquisitions, contract and supply agreement negotiations, sales, purchasing, marketing, and labor disputes – to personal scenarios involving the purchase of homes, automobiles, appliances, and big-ticket consumer items – to interacting effectively with family members.

So the next time you want to address questions such as “Are their opening positions extreme?” or “Are they really prepared to reach for compromise?” or even “What are they thinking?” – don’t rely solely on the individuals involved in the negotiation for quotes. Bring in a subject matter expert who can provide the insight and thoughtful analysis that your audience wants and deserves.

To schedule an interview or to request an appearance on your radio or television program, you can contact Michael by e-mail at michael@sloopka.com or by phone at 519-836-6105.

Due to Michael’s travel, speaking, and consulting schedule, he may not be immediately available. Recognizing that you may have an important deadline, Michael receives his e-mail messages remotely and will contact you as soon as possible.