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I just attended a meeting in Second Life where SunMicrosystems’ Nicole Yankelovich described Sun’s Wonderland 0.5, which is planned to be released this summer. While a 0.5 version in any software program demonstrates that it is in its earliest stages, Wonderland is trying to address many of the concerns corporate training departments have expressed about […]

When we teach people to be more effective negotiators, we tend to focus on our Three Ps – Preparation, Probing and Proposing. Perhaps even more important than these threeskills is being a good listener. This area is often neglected because few people think that there is skill in listening, and even more believe it is

Relationship Value SNI believes that Relationship Value is the product of: 1. The level of TRUST you gain from a person. 2. The level of CREDBILITY you have with a person. 3. The amount of VALUE that you deliver to a person. Trust Trust is defined as firm reliance on the integrity, ability or character

Negotiations deadlock for many reasons. When both sides refuse to budge, it’s time to be creative. Here are some guidelines to get the other side talking again: • Start Over. When Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev deadlocked during arms talks, Reagan reached across the table and said, “Hello, Mikhail, my name is Ron, and I

Probing Past Positions Probing effectively does not just work in fictional negotiations. Often, our seminar participants share their own success stories involving their ability to “probe and probe again” to get past the other sides positions and uncover their true interests. Recently, we heard from a banker who specialized in real estate loans. He had

By Ron Shapiro Co-Founder and Chairman of Shapiro Negotiations Institute Often participants in our programs voice the following frustration: “How can you possibly achieve a Win-Win result when you are in a weak position? When the other side holds all of the cards, isn’t it impossible to be an effective negotiator?” I believe the most

A common issue that arises late in the sales cycle when trying to close a deal to deliver sales training is “How do you measure the impact of your course?” This question is loaded with danger…and opportunity for the forward-thinking training organization. The stack of research and literature on measuring the impact of training is

As the reverse auction increases in popularity as a way for buyers to drive vendor costs down, more suppliers are choosing not to participate in them. Suppliers are resisting the pressure to reduce profitability and commoditize their products and services. However, a strategy to avoid reverse auctions is not the best or only way to

A reverse auction (also called procurement auction, e-auction, sourcing event, e-sourcing or eRA) is a tool used in business-to-business procurement. It is a type of auction in which the role of the buyer and seller are reversed, with the primary objective to drive purchase prices downward. In an ordinary auction (also known as a forward

Many training initiatives are reactive in nature. An influential executive notices a skill gaps or deficiency and prescribes training as the remedy without careful consideration for the long-term benefits. In fact, training alone will rarely, if ever, provide for lasting and productive change in the way people do their jobs. People are able to change