|
The value of a service always appears to go
down quickly as soon as those services have been performed. The value of any
material object you buy may go up in value over the years, but the value of
services always appears to decline rapidly after you have performed those
services.
Power Negotiators know that any time you make a concession to the other side in
a negotiation you should ask for a reciprocal concession right away. The favor
that you did the other side loses value very quickly. Two hours from now the
value of it will have diminished rapidly.
Real estate salespeople are very familiar with the principle of the declining
value of services. When a seller has a problem getting rid of a property, and
the real estate salesperson offers to solve that problem for a 6 percent listing
fee, it doesn't sound as though it's an enormous amount of money. However, the
minute the Realtor® has performed the service by finding the buyer, then
suddenly that six- percent starts to sound like a tremendous amount of money.
"Six percent. That's $12,000!" the seller is saying. "For what?
What did they do? All they did was put it in a multiple listing service."
The Realtor® did much more than that to market the property and negotiate the
contract but remember the principle: The value of a service always appears to
diminish rapidly after you have performed that service.
I'm sure you've experienced that, haven't you? A person with whom you do a small
amount of business has called you. He's in a state of panic because the supplier
from whom they get the bulk of their business has let them down on a shipment.
Now their entire assembly line has to shut down tomorrow unless you can work
miracles and get a shipment to them first thing in the morning. Sound familiar?
So you work all day and through the night, re-scheduling shipments all over the
place. Against all odds, you're able to get a shipment there just in time for
the assembly line to keep operating. You even show up at their plant and
personally supervise the unloading of the shipment, and the buyer loves you for
it. He comes down to the dock, where you are triumphantly wiping the dirt off
your hands and says, "I can't believe you were able to do that for me. That
is unbelievable service. You are absolutely incredible. Love you, love you, love
you."
So, you say, "Happy to do it for you, Joe. That's the kind of service we
can give when we have to. Don't you think it's time we looked at my company
being your main supplier?"
He replies, "That does sound good, but I don't have time to talk about it
now because I've got to get over to the assembly line and be sure that it's
running smoothly. Come to my office Monday morning at 10 o'clock and we'll go
over it. Better yet, come by at noon and I'll buy you lunch. I really appreciate
what you did for me. You are fantastic. Love you, love you, love you."
So all weekend long, you think to yourself, "Boy. Have I gotten this one
made. Does he owe me." Monday rolls around, however, and negotiating with
him is just as hard as ever. What went wrong? The declining value of services
came into play. The value of a service always appears to decline rapidly after
you have performed the service.
If you make a concession during a negotiation, get a reciprocal concession right
away. Don't wait. Don't be sitting there thinking that because you did them a
favor, they owe you and that they will make it up to you later. With all the
goodwill in the world, the value of what you did goes down rapidly in their
mind.
For the same reason, consultants know that you should always negotiate your fee
up front, not afterward. Plumbers
know this, don't they? They know that the time to negotiate with you is before
they do the work, not after. I had a plumber out to the house. After looking at
the problem he slowly shook his head and said, "Mr. Dawson, I have
identified the problem, and I can fix it for you. It will cost you $150."
I said, "Fine, go ahead."
You know how long it took him to do the work? Five minutes. I said, "Now
wait a minute. You're going to charge me $150 for five minutes work? I'm a
nationally known speaker, and I don't make that kind of money."
He replied, "I didn't make that kind of money either-when I was a
nationally known speaker."
Key points to remember:
The value of a material object may go up, but the value of services
always appears to go down.
Don't make a concession and trust that the other side will make it up to you
later.
Negotiate your fee before you do the work.
Roger Dawson, CSP, CPAE is one of North America’s top negotiating
experts and a leading sales and management speaker. This article is excerpted in
part from Roger Dawson's new book-Secrets of Power Negotiating, which is
one of the biggest selling audiocassette programs ever published. His latest
book "Power Negotiating for Salespeople" is now in bookstores and a
must read for Realtors®. Copyright© 2000, Roger Dawson.
All rights reserved. For
information about Roger’s Keynote presentations and training sessions, please
contact The Frog Pond Group at 800-704-FROG (3764) or email susie@frogpondgroup.com;
http://www.frogpondgroup.com.
|
