[case] How to return the debt from former employers or about clever negotiation strategies
About 4 years ago I had a chance to attend a recruiting conference. I gave a small report about hiring engineers there, but I enjoyed incomparably more pleasure from listening to the reports of experienced headhunters.
This is really a detective! Agatha Christie, Ian Fleming and John Grisham! People develop schemes for introducing their people into foreign companies, think out strategies for three moves ahead ... And it works.
Similar impressions captured me today, when our colleague Dmitry Kotkin sent a case from her practice, as one of his friends received her due salary from former employers.
')
(History on behalf of Dmitry Kotkin)
Once, a good friend who was involved in financial consulting asked me for help. The situation was simple enough - the owners (partners in the number of two people) of a small business owed her a large sum for consulting services. No, they did not deny the existence of the debt, but in every possible way delayed its payment, citing unforeseen difficulties, financial crisis, lack of money, etc. No documents confirming the existence of the debt existed, everything was based on a verbal agreement ...
The situation lasted more than three months. And the more time passed, the more ghostly the chances of getting money became. In the end, my colleague was able to arrange a meeting with the debtors. At the same time, she was not unreasonably afraid that at this meeting the situation would repeat and she would again remain with vague prospects for receiving her fee. To avoid this, she asked me for advice on preparing for the difficult negotiations. The situation seemed interesting to me, and I give our conversation in an abbreviated version.
I: So, our goal, the goal of the upcoming negotiations is to return the debt?
K: Not just to return, but still important to return without scandal and reproach, I would not want to spoil the relationship. It is necessary to leave the opportunity for further cooperation.
Me: What leverage do we have on debtors?
K: Well, I don’t know ... They don’t deny the fact of debt, i.e., we have verbal agreements on payment of my services, which, however, have already been violated several times. We have known each other for a long time, we have many mutual acquaintances, we have planned a joint project, which froze due to the financial crisis. In this project, I recommended them as reliable partners, in fact, led them to the order, which, however, did not take place.
I am fine! You said that there are two of them ... Which of them is the main one in the couple, who makes the final decision?
K: One of the owners is older than the other 5–7 years. They are a well-played team. At the negotiations, they understand each other perfectly. But the size of the fee, confirmation of its readiness to pay, the timing of payments of the fee was confirmed by the youngest.
Me: Well, in trilateral negotiations one of the strategic tasks is to drive a wedge between the partners in the negotiations, drag one of them to your side. It is only important not to get caught up with the “good and evil cop” response strategy, but I think they will not apply it in your situation. What else do we know about them?
K: They are returning from a holiday in the Maldives the day before our meeting ...
Me: This is important information! If we discuss their vacation, it will be difficult for them to use the argument about the crisis and about the fact that there is no money in the company ...
K: But what can I do if they say once again that, yes, yes, yes ... of course ... let's call each other next week and be sure to solve this issue! What then?
I: They should not have time to say this, we must begin to put pressure on the debtor long before the day of the meeting. What can be done? For "artillery preparation" takes time, let's move your meeting for a couple of days. We need to increase your value in the eyes of the debtor. To do this, ask your friends or loyal clients (preferably representatives of large companies) to call the debtor, as your client, with a request to advise on your professionalism: how successful were your projects, how did you comply with agreements, were there any problems with you etc. Kill several birds with one stone. You will learn how they treat you. If they praise you, it will be harder for them not to give you money. If they scold you, they are not going to return the money. Involve your mutual acquaintances — let them in conversation with these owners casually take an interest in their success, casually ask: “Is it really so bad for your company that you cannot settle with K.?”. Create a threat to their image, for men - this is a very sensitive issue.
K: You know, I'm already tired, I want to demand hard money from them, I'm not going to ask ...
Me: Well, why so sharply? A thin world is better than a good quarrel, you can do as I ask. So that people without aggressive pressure themselves want to return the money. It seems to me that you wanted this at the beginning of our meeting ...
K: It does not happen. If a person does not want to return the money, you can only make him ...
I: We do not have enough resources for an open war, and this is also an extreme measure. Let's go back to the real action plan. It is better to come to the meeting half an hour earlier so that they could not disappear from the office. Heck on this. When you come to the negotiations, do not start the meeting with the topic of duty. Ask how they had a rest, what interesting things they saw, ask them how to travel more economically to the Maldives (they will tell about the level of their spending on vacation). Do not "slide off" on the topics that will be offered by THEY, and which will not be related to the topic of debt. It is important. In the course of the conversation, shift your focus to a younger opponent, a light female attention - tell me how he looks wonderful, what a macho he is, that surely all the aborigines on the islands paid attention to him, etc. Contrast the partners with each other, let the elder become nervous ...
Casually say that the postponed joint project is about to start, and you will announce its beginning next week, on Monday. And then go to the topic of debt, say that there is a question on which they have gathered and which it is important to close today ... And then take a pause, let them fill in the dialogue space. Be quiet, no matter what it costs you ... The task is minimum - so that the money will be returned in part or in full right at the meeting!
Owners "broke" at the beginning of negotiations. They themselves raised the topic of debt and paid off the debt in two stages. What caught them the most? Receiving information from the telephone calls we have planned that my friend has the connections that are necessary for their business.
It took 1.5 hours to work out a scenario of behavior, a colleague managed to maintain friendly relations with debtors and get the promised reward.
Honestly, we know not so many managers who are really tightly prepared for negotiations (delivery of projects, communication with the customer, etc.). But when you begin to communicate with them, you are amazed at the thoroughness of preparation and systematic approach. Unfortunately, not everything that is told about beer can be published. But we are collecting these stories, and someday they will wait in the wings. :)
The question that I would like to ask habravchanam - friends, and how do you prepare for negotiations with customers and colleagues? Do you use any strategies? Or get involved in a fight, but we'll see (the main thing is to work well)? If you have something to share - we will be grateful.
PS Last week we had a turn from management tools towards negotiation techniques. But judging by the fact that the three previous articles scored a total of +350 - an interesting topic, most likely, we will develop it.
By the way, we did publish the Negotiator’s Handbook . This is a set of situations such as in this article, where it is discussed how to prepare for negotiations and how to conduct yourself in them. Pocket Encyclopedia of the negotiations. If the topic is interesting and necessary for you, we will be happy to help.
PPS Previous negotiation articles:
This is really a detective! Agatha Christie, Ian Fleming and John Grisham! People develop schemes for introducing their people into foreign companies, think out strategies for three moves ahead ... And it works.
Similar impressions captured me today, when our colleague Dmitry Kotkin sent a case from her practice, as one of his friends received her due salary from former employers.
')
Case “Negotiations worth 3 wages”
(History on behalf of Dmitry Kotkin)
Once, a good friend who was involved in financial consulting asked me for help. The situation was simple enough - the owners (partners in the number of two people) of a small business owed her a large sum for consulting services. No, they did not deny the existence of the debt, but in every possible way delayed its payment, citing unforeseen difficulties, financial crisis, lack of money, etc. No documents confirming the existence of the debt existed, everything was based on a verbal agreement ...
The situation lasted more than three months. And the more time passed, the more ghostly the chances of getting money became. In the end, my colleague was able to arrange a meeting with the debtors. At the same time, she was not unreasonably afraid that at this meeting the situation would repeat and she would again remain with vague prospects for receiving her fee. To avoid this, she asked me for advice on preparing for the difficult negotiations. The situation seemed interesting to me, and I give our conversation in an abbreviated version.
I: So, our goal, the goal of the upcoming negotiations is to return the debt?
K: Not just to return, but still important to return without scandal and reproach, I would not want to spoil the relationship. It is necessary to leave the opportunity for further cooperation.
Me: What leverage do we have on debtors?
K: Well, I don’t know ... They don’t deny the fact of debt, i.e., we have verbal agreements on payment of my services, which, however, have already been violated several times. We have known each other for a long time, we have many mutual acquaintances, we have planned a joint project, which froze due to the financial crisis. In this project, I recommended them as reliable partners, in fact, led them to the order, which, however, did not take place.
I am fine! You said that there are two of them ... Which of them is the main one in the couple, who makes the final decision?
K: One of the owners is older than the other 5–7 years. They are a well-played team. At the negotiations, they understand each other perfectly. But the size of the fee, confirmation of its readiness to pay, the timing of payments of the fee was confirmed by the youngest.
Me: Well, in trilateral negotiations one of the strategic tasks is to drive a wedge between the partners in the negotiations, drag one of them to your side. It is only important not to get caught up with the “good and evil cop” response strategy, but I think they will not apply it in your situation. What else do we know about them?
K: They are returning from a holiday in the Maldives the day before our meeting ...
Me: This is important information! If we discuss their vacation, it will be difficult for them to use the argument about the crisis and about the fact that there is no money in the company ...
K: But what can I do if they say once again that, yes, yes, yes ... of course ... let's call each other next week and be sure to solve this issue! What then?
I: They should not have time to say this, we must begin to put pressure on the debtor long before the day of the meeting. What can be done? For "artillery preparation" takes time, let's move your meeting for a couple of days. We need to increase your value in the eyes of the debtor. To do this, ask your friends or loyal clients (preferably representatives of large companies) to call the debtor, as your client, with a request to advise on your professionalism: how successful were your projects, how did you comply with agreements, were there any problems with you etc. Kill several birds with one stone. You will learn how they treat you. If they praise you, it will be harder for them not to give you money. If they scold you, they are not going to return the money. Involve your mutual acquaintances — let them in conversation with these owners casually take an interest in their success, casually ask: “Is it really so bad for your company that you cannot settle with K.?”. Create a threat to their image, for men - this is a very sensitive issue.
K: You know, I'm already tired, I want to demand hard money from them, I'm not going to ask ...
Me: Well, why so sharply? A thin world is better than a good quarrel, you can do as I ask. So that people without aggressive pressure themselves want to return the money. It seems to me that you wanted this at the beginning of our meeting ...
K: It does not happen. If a person does not want to return the money, you can only make him ...
I: We do not have enough resources for an open war, and this is also an extreme measure. Let's go back to the real action plan. It is better to come to the meeting half an hour earlier so that they could not disappear from the office. Heck on this. When you come to the negotiations, do not start the meeting with the topic of duty. Ask how they had a rest, what interesting things they saw, ask them how to travel more economically to the Maldives (they will tell about the level of their spending on vacation). Do not "slide off" on the topics that will be offered by THEY, and which will not be related to the topic of debt. It is important. In the course of the conversation, shift your focus to a younger opponent, a light female attention - tell me how he looks wonderful, what a macho he is, that surely all the aborigines on the islands paid attention to him, etc. Contrast the partners with each other, let the elder become nervous ...
Casually say that the postponed joint project is about to start, and you will announce its beginning next week, on Monday. And then go to the topic of debt, say that there is a question on which they have gathered and which it is important to close today ... And then take a pause, let them fill in the dialogue space. Be quiet, no matter what it costs you ... The task is minimum - so that the money will be returned in part or in full right at the meeting!
Last week - the results of the negotiations
Owners "broke" at the beginning of negotiations. They themselves raised the topic of debt and paid off the debt in two stages. What caught them the most? Receiving information from the telephone calls we have planned that my friend has the connections that are necessary for their business.
Summary
It took 1.5 hours to work out a scenario of behavior, a colleague managed to maintain friendly relations with debtors and get the promised reward.
Instead of conclusion
Honestly, we know not so many managers who are really tightly prepared for negotiations (delivery of projects, communication with the customer, etc.). But when you begin to communicate with them, you are amazed at the thoroughness of preparation and systematic approach. Unfortunately, not everything that is told about beer can be published. But we are collecting these stories, and someday they will wait in the wings. :)
Question: how do you prepare for negotiations?
The question that I would like to ask habravchanam - friends, and how do you prepare for negotiations with customers and colleagues? Do you use any strategies? Or get involved in a fight, but we'll see (the main thing is to work well)? If you have something to share - we will be grateful.
PS Last week we had a turn from management tools towards negotiation techniques. But judging by the fact that the three previous articles scored a total of +350 - an interesting topic, most likely, we will develop it.
By the way, we did publish the Negotiator’s Handbook . This is a set of situations such as in this article, where it is discussed how to prepare for negotiations and how to conduct yourself in them. Pocket Encyclopedia of the negotiations. If the topic is interesting and necessary for you, we will be happy to help.
PPS Previous negotiation articles:
- Managerial tools: need formula or how are we squeezed?
- [video] 8 ways to deal with the formula needs
- [video] How to put a person in place: 10 real questions about the pressure in the negotiations
- How to become a negotiator - an interview with Dmitry Kotkin
- [video] How to avoid unplanned rollback: analysis of 7 real negotiation situations
- How to discuss money with management or why sometimes careers stop?
- How to discuss money at the interview: the negotiation strategy for the applicant
- How to discuss money at the interview, if you hire someone and a little about working with people
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/230851/
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