photo by conspiracy of happiness
So, we just finished day three of our seminar here in Virginia. These past two days have been about negotiations.
Don’t have a business? Trust me, everything in life is a negotiation, from negotiating the price of a house to negotiating the terms of a loan to negotiating the cost of having your yard mowed!
Did you know you can negotiate in department stores? I found a jacket I wanted at Belks. It had been marked down once but was still more than I wanted to pay. I asked the salesperson for a better price but she said they weren’t marking down again for another week.
I didn’t want to come back and what if it sold before it was marked down again? I’d lose out! So, I asked to speak to the manager. I told her what I was willing to pay to take it right then. She checked and came back with a “yes”! I got the reduction I wanted and they sold merchandise, win-win.
Here at the seminar, we were all given an assignment as we left for lunch. Some had to get a 10% reduction on the price of their lunch, some were to ask for a 25% reduction. Some were to ask for one free meal at the table, some were to ask for free desserts. Have you ever tried this at a restaurant?
I want you to know that EVERYONE came back with success. Our group was to try for a 25% reduction. We were originally told that would not be possible by the restaurant manager. We negotiated for a bit and finally asked, “what can you do for us?” It ended up that we all got free drinks and desserts. When we totaled what we’d spent versus what the free items totaled, it came up to almost 35% off the meal price.
But the best part is, it was still a win-win. They got full ticket price for the 5 meals we ordered. They gave us all free fountain drinks which costs a restaurant almost nothing. The desserts would probably not have been sold anyway. So, for us, it was a huge cost savings, for them, they created happy customers and gave up very little as far as profit.
Whenever negotiating, make sure to aim for a win-win situation. Both parties need to come out feeling good about the results.
You may not be able to negotiate the price of gas at the pump, but there are so many things you can negotiate everyday. What can you think of? What have you tried?
