First say no. Jim Camp's Negotiation School

The article is written on the book "First, say no." I first heard about this book on the pages of Artemy Lebedev's “Kovodstvo” , and then I saw frequent references to the pages of “Soviets” in the studio of Artyom Gorbunov. Both studios rely on this book when negotiating and I thought it would be good to record for myself and other basic thoughts from the book.

1. “Win-win” does not work

The author claims that this strategy and as a result of the negotiations the parties will still converge on one of the options “won-lost” or “lost-lost”. The first option often happens when one, more experienced side pushes the other, making you think that the deal is profitable for both and that you need to make concessions so that both parties feel good. The second option is a compromise: both parties make concessions in order to conclude this deal.
Theoretically, there may be a situation in which both parties will win, but the author does not believe in it, saying that the opponent does not sleep and that this approach encourages unnecessary compromises, is based on emotions, not decisions, and turns to the heart, not to reason.

2. Need is your biggest enemy

Need takes many guises. For example, a common version of "whose money is right." Buyers really do not usually have problems with the purchase (if you are not a monopolist, of course), but the seller has to think every time about how to sell your product or service. If the financial situation is not very good, there is a risk to surrender cheaply.
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Negotiators see your need and begin to use it. Knowing your situation, they will squeeze the last juices out of you. Moreover, the good negotiators are also able to create need: they promise you the golden mountains, breathtaking deals and a bright future. They will tell you that such a deal "happens only once in a lifetime" and it "will make you a career." However, until a little later, they change their initial requests, ask for exceptional privileges and buy only a sample site for 30 thousand rubles.

To shift your thinking in the right direction, simply replace the word "need" with the word "want." For example, “I need this jacket” → “I want this jacket”, “I need to call” → “I want to call”, “I need this deal” → “I want to conclude this deal”. You need nothing except air, water, food, clothing, a roof over your head and spiritual life. Everything else you just want, so you just need to start talking and thinking the word "want."
What other manifestations are needs:

• Servility
• Superfluous chatter. Speak only what you need and do not need to fill people with text
• Fear of failure. Do not be afraid, the refusal is normal, especially since you do not need this deal, but just want it.

3. Be "out of order"

Remember how Detective Colombo behaved in the television series. He was a little messy, went to the old Peugeot, tells sentimental stories about his wife and dog, forgets to ask the main question and he has to call or knock on the door again to ask him. He is always a little less flawless than his opponent. He has people to talk, because it makes them feel superior.

People want to feel "in order" and never learn from it, if you put yourself above them and will also "in order." On the other hand, as soon as you learn to be a little “out of order”, people will feel more relaxed and confident with you.

Kemp argues that only one person in the negotiations can feel "in order." Drop the pen, forget the wallet and business cards, ask for a piece of paper and a pencil, because you forgot your notebook in the car.

4. Say no

Forget the word "yes", forget the "maybe." The best “yes” in the negotiations is achieved with the help of “no”, because only “no” is a real decision that encourages the team on the other side of the table to really think and accept responsibility. When they say no to you, you start thinking: “why did they refuse me?” And thus focus on the problems of negotiations.

Using the word "no" we change the dynamics of the negotiations, leading them away from indefinite "yes" and even more indefinite "maybe."

"Maybe" does not give any of the parties exactly any idea of ​​how things are. If you say "maybe", you are stomping around without getting the price of information and meaningful reaction.

“Yes”, said at the beginning is no better than “maybe”. This is not a true “yes,” because in the beginning it’s just emotions. One more thing: when the enemy says “yes”, we start to worry, adrenaline appears and we start making wrong decisions, thinking that the deal is just about to take place and everything will be fine. However, you have not yet discussed everything and the decision will definitely change.

Say no and encourage your opponent to do the same. This will add rationality to the negotiations and speed up the process. For example, it can be done like this: “I’m not sure if this is necessary. If not, just say no and we will calmly continue. ” Your interlocutor will be calm and negotiations will be more dynamic.

5. Define the mission

Define the mission of your company and the mission of specific negotiations. Start with the overall mission of your company, which is addressed to the customer world. Those. a mission like “earn the first billion by 2018” will not work, because she focuses on you. Focus on your customers and think about what you can do for them. For example, something like this: “We help polygraphs to do their work faster and more conveniently.”

In addition to the general mission you can have a lot of private missions. You can have a mission for each call or even for each call. Think about the mission before each call, just remember that the mission should be addressed to the world of the client.

As soon as you develop a mission, the next step is to develop a habit of evaluating any questions in accordance with this mission: big and small. This is the standard to which you compare and evaluate your actions. Anything that does not fit into this mission, you ruthlessly sweep aside.

6. Do not try to control the result.

Concentrate on your behavior and your actions. Camp proposes not to establish any sales plans, no quotas, norms, figures, percent. Instead, you need to set goals that can be controlled.
And what can you manage? Only by yourself! You can control what you do and how you do it. However, you cannot guarantee to what result it will lead. Thus, no one, being in his right mind, will set goals that he cannot control.

In the meantime, many people set goals that, in fact, are the results, although five thousand years ago in Bhagavad-gita it was said: “A person must act out of a sense of duty, not striving for the fruits of his labor” ( 3.19 ) and from the same place: “Never assume that the results of your actions depend on you, but at the same time and do not refuse to perform your duties” ( 2.47 ).

So, our task is to concentrate on the process and achieve perfection in performing the task. There may be some results, but you should not set them as the main goal. By the way, such a philosophy does not allow people to work in unloved and uninteresting jobs, because in such places employees just concentrate on the result: if only to get a salary at the end of the month, the fact that work does not bring any pleasure is not important.

7. Ask questions

The most powerful driving force of the negotiations is questions. They are of two types: closed and open. The first are questions that can be answered with “yes”, “no” and “maybe”. They will not help you to develop the conversation properly and are needed only to consolidate the result or to determine a clear agreement. For example: "Will you do it?" Or "Will you have a few minutes?".

With open questions, it's different. By asking the enemy open questions, we help him see a picture of what is happening. As long as he answers, he himself will understand the essence of the matter, will plunge into the problem and think about it. For example: “What would you like from me?” Or “How will you understand that we have made a good website for you?”. Such questions are lively and give you real valuable information.
Do not complicate the issues. They should be short, so that the whole question got into the head of the interlocutor.

8. Camp Fuel System

Throw firewood in the negotiations. This firewood will be “care”, “counterquality”, “bundle”, “3+” and “slack off the fishing line”.

Care is the ability to do everything for the enemy so that he feels free and confident. You listen and appreciate what he wants to say. When listening, do not twitch, do not make sudden movements. Just stand or sit in a comfortable posture.

Counter -question - the answer to the opponent's question with your own question.
- How are you?
- Perfectly! And you?
Counter-question is not set from scratch. Opponent need to prepare:
- What will it give me?
- This is a good question. But, before we get to him, tell me, please, what is the biggest problem you face when selling alcohol?
- The number of idiots is declining every day and the demand for my products is falling ...
Thus, the correct counter question allows not only postponing the answer to the question, but also revealing the client’s pain.

A bunch - stimulating the opponent to continue the previous thought. For example:
- You made a bad site!
- Why do you think so?
- I see no result. I can not find myself in Yandex
- And-and-and?
“It's been two weeks already, but clients don't find me.” I expected the customers to go right away.
This “and-and-and” is the bundle. It allows you to learn something new and additional. Instead of "and-and-and" you can substitute something like "what can I do for you?" Or "continue."

Technique "3+" allows you to clarify or fix the result. If you come to an important stage of the negotiations, ask your opponent at least three times about the same thing. You can do this in different formulations, but the essence should be the same.
This technique can be used when you want to make sure that the “yes” that you hear from the opponent is truly “yes.” You are not trying to close a deal three times. On the contrary: you ask him to say “no” and, even if he invites you to say “no”, says “yes”, this can already be considered as a really positive shift.

Etching fishing line - a method that allows you to keep negotiations in a neutral position. Camp gives an analogy with a pendulum that swings from negative to positive. Here you are arguing violently over the price of supplies and within two minutes you laugh at a competitor who buys even more expensive than yours. Three minutes later, you're arguing about pricing again.
Keep the pendulum of negotiations in a neutral position. Decisions made in the extreme states of the pendulum will be based on emotions, unlike decisions made in the middle position.

Etching a fishing line is the entrance to the enemy state and its gradual removal to a neutral position. For example:
- Your tech support is terrible! They require me to scan a passport to register a domain!
- Oh yeah. This is very inconvenient, especially when you do not have a scanned passport at hand. What can we do for you?
- Register me a domain already and dismiss your idiots!
- I understood you. Please tell us whom to register with the owners?
- Me, here are my full names
- I understand that this is strange, but often all sorts of scoundrels use other people's data to spread illegal information over the Internet. Therefore, the FSB requires us to observe some formalities. They say that we need to make sure that you are you. While we are just getting acquainted and do not know how to do this without a passport scan. If you tell us, it will be good. By the way, instead of a scan, you can send a photo to your phone. The main thing is that it is read.
- Well, you will fotochka.

The conversation is quite long, but you have returned the client to a neutral position.

Do research
Your best weapon is information about the enemy. Positive or negative predictions are deadly, because they make you think about what is not really. For example, if an adversary tells you that “we want technical support for the next 10 years,” you should not make predictions for the next 10 years. Just before you an experienced negotiator who wants to bring down the price.

In such cases, real information about the enemy helps a lot: how much does he already work, how many employees does he have, will his goods last for another 10 years, why did he stop working with previous partners? What are the reviews about his work? With this information, you can quickly get to the right questions and ask them to the enemy.

"Do not scatter the beans"
Simply put, do not chat. As we all know, a talker is a godsend for a spy. This phrase is still relevant and, including, in business. If you talk a lot, it is likely that your customer will guess that your studio consists of one and a half freelancers and you. This may adversely affect the course of negotiations and will give rise to unnecessary bargaining.

Often, e-mail correspondence is preferable to oral negotiations, because you always have the opportunity to re-read the letter and consider whether you have blurted out anything extra. Collect enemy beans and do not scatter your own.

9. Learn and describe the client's pain.

The pain leads the enemy to the negotiating table. He didn’t just call you and said that he needs your mega-order management system? He just has certain problems that he wants to solve with your help. In addition, previous developers have done everything badly, washed away in Goa and no longer support its system.
The most interesting thing is that the client will not tell you all this, although this information is the most important for you. Seeing the pain of the client you will understand whether you can cure this pain. If yes, describe the client's pain in your own words and tell us how to win it.

Do not forget about care when describing pain, because at this moment it may seem that your interlocutor is an incompetent loser. Even if it is, he should not feel it.

10. Keep track of the budget negotiations

Try to reduce your budget and increase the budget of the enemy.
Budgets are different: temporary, energy, financial, emotional. You spend on negotiations some resources and your task is to minimize the costs of resources for yourself and increase the costs of these resources for the enemy. Then you will not be tied to the outcome of the negotiations, and the enemy will, because he has already spent a lot on them and it will not be profitable to fail the negotiations.

Spend time and energy of the enemy: arrange meetings in your territory (let him go to you) and give him homework: “to make your project, we need answers to these 20 questions. You can do this not now, but when you have free time. ”

A financial budget is the amount of money a party spends on negotiating. If your opponents spend a lot of money on negotiations, it will be more difficult for them to part with you and your deal. The same rule will apply to you: you spend a lot of money on negotiations, the more you attach to them. Highlight the negotiations as much as you can afford, without becoming attached to the result.

The budget of emotions is a very significant thing. The calculations are as follows: time - 1x, energy - 2x, money - 3x, emotions - 4x. When joy and grief come into play, the value of negotiation increases many times over. How to influence emotions? Build castles in the imagination of the enemy, learn about the pain and offer colorful solutions. More promises, threats, demands, deadlines, doubts, etc. Manage the emotional pendulum yourself.

11. Find out who makes the decisions.

The moment I write this article, the following happens. I signed a contract for the development of the site and a week later in the office the director changed. The new head of the office does not yet wish to go into the details of the project, but it does not appoint a responsible one. A technical IT specialist says that you can continue, however, I do not do anything until I receive an explicit order from the general director about who is responsible for the project.
What can happen if I do otherwise? At the last moment, the CEO will intervene and say that he does not like everything. Thus, time will be lost and we will need new strength to complete the project.
It is important to find not just the most important face of the company, but all decision makers. You need to build relationships with them and know the decision making process.

You may consciously interfere. There may be people in your client’s company who are not interested in your services. They may be supporters of other products or simply be afraid of losing their jobs. You also need to identify and neutralize such people by negotiation or through company management.

12. Define the agenda

The agenda should contain the following mandatory items:
Problems
This is what bothers you or your opponent. You consider your opponent’s problems to be problems, even if you think it is irrelevant. Raise issues without delay.
Your emotional baggage
Tell your opponent about things that may influence decision making. For example, that you do not have sufficient experience in conducting such projects, but in case of difficulties, you have someone to ask for advice. If this turns out to be a problem for the customer, you will get by with a little blood.
Emotional baggage of the opponent
There are people who follow some principles. For example, in my studio, the site cannot be ordered by an alcohol merchant, prostitute, online casino, meat producer, or "family planning" experts. In short, all those who, in my opinion, harm the Motherland and society. It is likely that you may get caught by such a counterparty, with whom it will be difficult to work because of its “baggage”. Find out about this baggage as early as possible.
What do we want from the situation
Clarify what you want from these talks and from this meeting. If you have goals, follow them. Then you, most likely, will not go astray and will not mark time. After reading about this, I began before each call to the client to write out the goals of the call on a piece of paper and during the conversation I follow the execution of each item.
What happens next
Determine the following actions, coordinate them with the enemy and confirm at least three times using the “3+” rule. This will help you and your opponent control "on which side of the ball."

13. Presentation

The best presentation is one that your client has not seen. Camp claims that the presentation puts you in a position below the opponent. You show your need. If you are acting within the framework of the Camp system, if you described the enemy his pain, you made the best possible presentation. If you could not describe the pain, the presentation will not help and will give nothing.

If for some reason, the presentation is still needed, make sure that you conduct it for those people who make decisions. Agree on the agenda, enter in the presentation only the information that worries the enemy and is related to his pain.
Use in preparing for the presentation of the style of Steve Jobs .

14. Pay forward

At the talks you should have high self-esteem. At the same time, your high self-esteem does not conflict with the “slightly out of order” position, because this position is intended for external people, and self-esteem is only your own business.

Self-esteem rises when you help others. If you donate for the restoration of the temple, for the development of a public project, for the treatment of incurable; All these actions lead to an increase in self-esteem. Donation does not have to be in the form of money. This can be any other significant cost for you, for example, time. Spend 1-2 hours of your time on charity events and it will not matter to you what your opponents say: you will always know that you are not really a goat.

PS: Camp’s system seems a bit odd, but I can say for myself that the items I tried really work. And I tried to pay in advance, say “no”, setting the mission, do not need and do not control the result. Application of the remaining points is still ahead. If not laziness, tell us about your experiences and impressions of the book (if you read it) in the comments.