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| The gospel according to Deepak Malhotra |
| Deepak Malhotra, assistant professor, Harvard Business School, mesmerized a choc-a-bloc audience with his jaw-droppingly simple yet cryptic tips on negotiation on the second day of the Nasscom Leadership Forum in Mumbai
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Pratima Harigunani
From how to turn tables when you are in a weak position and how to create win-win deals, to how to enlarge the pie on the table, Malhotra unwrapped many interesting nuances sprinkled with real-life business examples. Excerpts:
On punches and blows
Remember the age-old martial art lesson. Don't try to block your opponent's punch. The best block is not being there. Last-minute demands and surprise points work sometimes.
On power games
Power doesn't necessarily originate from the strength of alternatives, but from the ability to create value for the other side. Ask yourself : How can I be useful for the other side, what potentially makes life better for him and create your value around it? That value is your power.
For instance- oblivious areas like right of first refusal or exclusivity can also be created as negotiation values.
On David vs Goliath
If you can't leverage on your strengths, cash on your weaknesses. Being weak can actually be turned into an advantage point. Try changing the brawn of other party into their weakness. You can actually beef up your lean points by portraying as to how they can be disadvantageous for them too.
On diplomacy vis-à-vis negotiation
Great diplomats, like great negotiators, keep learning about the other side and building ties when there are no negotiations. Go, learn and talk, when you don't have to negotiate. You never know what might be useful later.
On winning customers
Talk to them when you are not selling to them. Don't stop selling but don't oversell either. It’s not only about communicating with your customer, it's about communicating with him/her at the right time.
On what sells
Your salesman can sell any of these aspects: Your company, your brand or himself. Your strength and independence rests on whether you know this and if you want to change the sale-pegs ahead.
When everything fails
Change the game. Change the source of power.
And before he walks off
Don't play the power game if you don't have the power. Most importantly, don't haggle with people whom you really care about. Often, paying extra and upfront in relationships pay in the long run.
© CyberMedia News
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