The Authority of Patience

Rush equals loss. There is often pressure to agree a deal, to close the sale or make the purchase. The tyranny of the urgent shouts so loudly that we don't give time to uncover information.

Some time back, I received a call from an electronics company wanting what they said was a marketing review. I was under pressure from a heavy workload. I told them I don't do speculative visits. I made some assumptions from a rushed conversation about what they were really looking for. I then put together a proposal, equally rushed, and made a subsequent follow-up call.

During the follow-up call it became clear that my rush had resulted in three damaging things. First, I had obtained inadequate information about them and their requirements. Second, I voluntarily printed a cost breakdown, which I shouldn't have done and from which they immediately negotiated. Third, my overall proposal was weak because I had not focused on the key points. I had totally missed the USP and I am currently on an uphill struggle to regain my lost ground. All that because I was in too much of a hurry.

What about time pressures on the buyer? When you are buying, you can usually build in time to allow to you to negotiate from maximum strength. The longer you can keep the salesperson waiting for an answer, the more likely he or she is to concede, to give things away that he or she would not otherwise have given. The more relaxed you are about the buying process, the more pressure it exerts on the seller.

Bide your time and wait for that moment where your counterpart expresses weakness. Wait until your opposite number is vulnerable, look for that moment and then move in.

One of my clients has a specialist skill in the buying and selling of businesses. The key, he told me, lies in timing. Knowing the right time is the critical factor in both buying and selling. There are all kinds of reasons why individuals might sell their company. They might be near retiring age with no family to pass the business on to. The business may need to move on, and they may not have the resource or the infrastructure to do it. But even when these needs are clear, you have to wait and be patient.

I have watched it myself, particularly with sole traders; you negotiate and think the time is right but they pull back at the last minute. Not as a tactic, simply out of uncertainty. If you try to pressurise them, you nearly always frighten them off. Patience is what you need. Sometimes it can take years. You may come close to agreement several times, with the uncertain party backing off several times. It is normal, and if you want to succeed you must prepare yourself for this inevitable delay.

The party who is most compelled by time is weaker - plan to have time, build in time.