NEGOTIATION CONT ...
CHRIS VOSS AT A TECHNOLOGY MARKETING
TOOLKIT ANNUAL BOOT CAMP EVENT
HAVE YOU GIVEN UP ON THIS PROJECT ?
When you ask the other side whether they ’ ve given up on the project — or whatever the issue at hand might be — it triggers the safety of no . At the same time , it also taps into prospect theory , the Nobel Prize-winning concept that loss aversion drives action more than the desire for gain . Did you know people are twice as likely to take an action to avoid a loss than they are to accomplish a gain ? Use this knowledge to your advantage .
Our clients swear by this question of whether someone has given up on a project . In fact , it ’ s one of the top email subject lines that produces results . There ’ s one caveat here : make sure you ’ re ready for a quick answer and are prepared to deliver a “ That ’ s Right ” Summary™ before you move any further .
Check out these scenarios and think about how you can apply them to your business negotiations .
WOULD IT BE RIDICULOUS FOR YOU TO COME SPEAK AT THE NEGOTIATION COURSE I TEACH AT USC ?
I asked Jack Welch , the legendary CEO of General Electric ( rest in peace ), this question when I approached him cold at a book signing once . He stopped dead in his tracks and gave me his personal assistant ’ s contact information so we could try to make our calendars sync . Unfortunately , the timing didn ’ t work . But how many people can get digits like that ?
Think about how many questions someone like Jack Welch is asked every day , and how almost all of them are yes-oriented questions : Would you sign this autograph ? Being able to say no and feel protected makes us more open to other ideas .
I also got Shark Tank ’ s Robert Herjavec to buy tickets to The Black Swan Group ’ s one-day negotiation training master class using this same kind of question .
WOULD IT BE HORRIBLE IF WE SAT IN THIS SECTION ?
One day , a couple of colleagues and I had just come out of a conference . We were a bit thirsty , so we headed into a restaurant in search of a happy hour cocktail — just one . There was a problem : there weren ’ t any seats at the bar . But there were seats in a roped-off section of the restaurant . So , I asked the waitress the above question , and she told us that it would be perfectly fine to sit there as long as we were out by six . We were , and I left her a great tip .
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