March 29, 2017
Interview with Michael Wheeler, author of the book The Art Of Negotiation
Mike Carruthers:
When you get hired or want a raise it’s tough to negotiate with your boss for more but consider this…
Michael Wheeler:
If you don’t try to get more you won’t get more. And you want to display your eagerness to take that job and your commitment to do it well but you also have to demonstrate that you can represent yourself well.
Michael Wheeler, author of the book The Art Of Negotiation, says one fear people have is the boss will lose respect for them or like them less for asking.
In fact there’s a lot of research that shows that when you ask people after they’ve made a deal how do you feel about the person that you’ve dealt with? It’s entirely independent of the dollars and cents that were exchanged. You can’t buy somebody else’s love and respect just by lowering the price.
To negotiate effectively you have to know what you want but also keep an open mind.
Let’s say you’re shopping for a house and you should know provisionally how much you’d be willing to pay if you had to. You go and you look at the place it’s even nicer than you thought. In that case bumping up might make sense. You can improvise of nothing you ought to go in with a provisional sense of what you’re willing to do but don’t close your eyes.
And taking your time in a negotiation will almost always help.
When there’s time to sleep on it you should that time. Even if you don’t change your mind you’ll be more comfortable with the fact you’ve given the choice some thought.
