#3 of 101 Best Practices in Negotiation

I just finished conducting my "Best Practices in Negotiation?" seminar at UC Berkeley, and we found a lot of appreciation and even some sighs of relief when discussing #3 of the 101 Best Practices in Negotiation:

"Always leave yourself an OUT!"

What does this mean?

It means most of us go into negotiations with TOO MUCH AUTHORITY to make deals, and then we use it, often without reservations. We agree to terms that a few hours later seem very unfavorable, but by that point the deal cannot be undone.

Or can it?

If we leave ourselves an OUT, then we can get out of bad or disadvantageous deals.

What's a typical OUT? "I'm going to have to run this by legal, for their stamp of approval," is a typical OUT in the corporate sphere.

"I need to consult my spouse" is certainly a time-tested, tried-and-true OUT in our personal lives.

We see OUTS in real estate contracts that enable a buyer to "approve of" the reports submitted by termite, roofing, and plumbing inspectors. If it turns out there is a lot of decay or damage, typically purchasers can walk away or insist on major price concessions from the seller.

I think of OUTS as providing cooling-off periods, intervals in which we can walk ourselves back through the terms of a deal, and if it seems unfair, lopsided, or at all imprudent, we have reserved the right to say:

"Sorry, but I changed my mind."

HINT: Leave yourself as much latitude as you can when drafting your OUT. The best language starts with, "The purchaser reserves the right to cancel this agreement within 48 hours for any reason."

Are you looking for the Best Practices in Negotiation, selling, customer service and telemarketing? Contact us.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top trainer, conference and convention speaker, and sales, customer service, and negotiation consultant. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is also the best-selling author of 12 books, more than 1,000 articles and several popular audio and video programs. His seminars are sponsored internationally and he is a faculty member at more than 40 universities, including UC Berkeley and UCLA. Gary's sales, management and consulting experience is combined with impressive academic credentials: A Ph.D. from USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a J.D. degree from Loyola Law School, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies.

His web site is: http://www.customersatisfaction.com and he can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com His blogs include: YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS! and ALWAYS COLD CALL! at: http://www.alwayscoldcall.blogspot.com

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