Thou $hall Negotiate!

How many times have we felt that,if we had that probably held on for a little longer or if we had such and such info then we could have very well converted the circumstances in our favour.Most often than not it happens when we meet our regular sales rep,the HR of the company,our argumentative neighbours ,our so called -IN LAWS(who gave them a degree?),the sabjeewala and on...Yes the particular topic hit me,when i read the bestseller named "You can negotiate anything" by Herb Cohen.His simple tenets made me think,and think from the point of the winner of the negotiation.Why is it that we send in specialists when we need to tackle an imbroglio like a hijack situation or handling a tough diplomat or for that matter getting an approval for an agreement.
There is often a misconception, that we often bargain harder only with people we do business with.But we are unknowingly doing so at home and everywhere else also.I am doing so when i say to my nephew "A choco after you have your breakfast,completely".So also when i turn up and tell my dad,"I need the latest gadget,as i topped the exam!",even if the timing is wrong and the world is in a recession!What i would like to scrutinize is why we end up on the wrong side of a negotiation.Primarily we lose because we are lazy by birth.Lackadaisical am I?Didn't anyone tell you that it was my birthright?How many of us would actually love to go through the entire Form16 and its various other sections so that we can file the tax online ourselves?(I hardly do.).We would rather give the tax consultant,his due money every year,rather than spend that extra time to go through the document.Aah alas ignorance is bliss!But at who's expense?So also in many metro's we would rather not go to the vegetable market and get fresh stuff @ cheaper rates and bargain our way to glory like most middle class housewife's would(Oh..their skills are awesome and would even put the best salesman to shame with their bargaining skills).We would rather hop into one of those food bazaars or food malls and get whatever at whatever rates.After all time is money time and yes we all love time!
We also have a nonchalance approach, which leads to less homework done on the topic at hand.So in the end, we have very less war material with which we can bargain.Also we give the opposite guy, more that subtle hints,that we are totally lost and you please guide us!How often do we quote,, that we can take the shopkeeper to consumer court in case the goods are faulty?(hardly any)How often does the auto/Taxi guy take you for a jolly ride in case you don't know the shortest or at best the route to our destination?Now that we didn't know,we can still make it our day,but we still give him hints that we are new to this part of the town,when we inadvertently make calls or receive calls.Mind you,he is hearing you all the while,even though he might seem distracted or disinterested.We also lose out on a lot of deals,because we are less persistent ,and are too much hurt,when our desired Master Plan A doesn't work.When i was travelling by train,last week there was this Hare Krishna guy who wanted to sell off his Bhagawat Gita books to people.And there was this NRI too.But the customer said a straight NO,the first time.The seller left off and came again a second round and this time the NRI said a No after having a look at the book .Then again he came a 3rd and a 4th time and finally the guy bought the book which was in Malayalam,which infact was a language, he didn't know!Also whenever we enter a negotiation of any kind, we shouldn't lose our purpose or aim of that negotiation.And we shouldn't enter any negotiation just because we can make a killing!How many times have we gone to malls and ended up buying stuff we know we would hardly wear??(please...i got it dirt cheap!)
Negotiation is a game and the one who holds the aces should use them only as a winning point.And in case we don't have any we can still bluff our way to glory Also it makes sense to evaluate the person who is on the other side of the equation.He might be totally lost and drowning,but is he giving that expression away?In which case how do we take advantage of the situation?Many a time we make a mistake by underestimating the fellow and reveal our aces pretty soon.So if the person on the other side of the table is also an equal competitor,he would probably try to go beyond the ordinary,scoff at you,sneer at you,praise you loud,give myriad excuses.But we we fall prey to any of these ,we are dead meat.How often we give way to loud boisterous people?How often do we keep quiet at such people who repeated get away ? But that is a different Blog altogether!Finally something to chew on..
"Never get angry,never make a threat.Reason with People-Don Corleone(The Godfather)"