Chapter 5: Enhance Your Authority

The Authority of Print

There is a real authority in having prices, costs and details in print. Printed material carries an inherent believability. If you are a buyer, you may choose to have target prices, or competitive prices, or last year's prices. You may have a printed page detailing the implications of proposed prices and their impact on profit, on staffing levels, etc. You may even have a summary business plan built on your ability to achieve a given price for this contract. It is so simple but so effective it intimidates the seller into a defensive posture.

For consultants or others selling professional services, what often happens, for example, is that you quote a daily fee of £200 or £2,000 and the buyer has nothing to measure it against. How do they know that this is in fact a resonable rate? How do they know that you haven't made this figure up? How do they know that you are not just 'trying it on'? Having it in print will make it appear credible, more believable and more legitimate.

Either side of the negotiating table, having printed material disarms the other person. It makes it more difficult for them to squeeze more out of the deal. Printed price lists, letters from superiors, letters from current customers or suppliers, departmental budgets, letters from your superior, standard forms, articles from newspapers, competitors' brochures - all these have the power of authority for you to use. Just yesterday a national lettings agency sent me the printed document for a lettings agreement. For one level of service it stated 16 per cent. It was in print. I rang the manager and challenged the assumption, and immediately got a lower rate of commission agreed. But I noticed with interest my own inner reluctance to make that call. Why? Because there was an authority simply gained by having a higher figure in print.

Incidentally, if you don't have any material pre-printed then at the very least produce it on your own word processor with a date and a reference to give it validity.

Whatever printed material you deem appropriate in a particular negotiation, use it to validate your limited ability to move from a desired position. It makes it harder for the other person to ask you for any form of concession and it will build your confidence for the position you are taking. If the tactic is being used on you, one response is to say, 'Actually, that is not relevant to this particular application.' It doesn't always work but it does buy you some time!

Ed is a shy person and a computer guru. He was telling me how he went to a high street outlet and bought a joystick. The joysticks were on sale for £80; he saw a slightly damaged unit and bargained for it at £65. When he tried it out, it was faulty, so he took it back and asked for cash back, and a receipt clearly marked with the model on it. They had no others in stock, so he went to another store where the unit was on sale for £90. He produced his receipt for £65, and asked them if they could match the price, which they did. His printed receipt was a source of authority.



How to Negotiate Effectively
How to Negotiate Effectively (Creating Success)
ISBN: 0749448202
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 111
Authors: David Oliver

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