Be One of the 7% to Get the Most Out of Every Deal
You were always in the 90% percentile
Now join the 7%
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Someone once told me that you can’t argue with a story, only with a position or another argument.
That’s why narrative is such a powerful negotiation strategy and why asking diagnostic questions that elicit stories is one of the best – but most overlooked – bargaining strategies for business men and women alike.
Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University has written that only seven percent of all negotiators ask diagnostic questions when to do so would dramatically improve the outcome of the negotiation.
What are they?
Diagnostic questions are those inquiries that reveal your bargaining partners’ needs, desires, fears, preferences and priorities. They will also uncover hidden constraints on your negotiation partner’s authority to bind his principal or ability to satisfy your needs, unveil hidden stakeholders who hold greater sway over your bargaining partner than you could hope to exert, and unearth misunderstandings or knowledge deficits that are standing in the way of closing a deal.
Your bargaining partner will rarely acknowledge the rectitude, nor even the good faith, of your proposals or opinions. She will, however, freely disclose what she needs out of the transaction – to infuse capital into her business, pay back debts, put her children through college or to acquire much-needed catastrophic health insurance.
Your bargaining partner will also invariably telegraph his risk averse or risk courting attitudes; his predictions for the future of his business and the economy as a whole, and what he believes the value of his business to be today and should be tomorrow.
who what where when why and how
the magic doors to successful deal making
WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?
Once you acquire this knowledge, you are far more likely to find ways to trade items that are worth more in your partner’s hands than in yours. You will also find ways to deliver value that is less costly for you to give up than it is for your bargaining partner to acquire. Problems that were once hidden can now be brainstormed for the negotiators’ mutual advantage.
Asking diagnostic questions was one of the most important tools in the mediation kit I used when I was helping lawyers settle contested commercial disputes.
I could tell you a million stories but I’ve promised myself to keep my posts short. So try beginning your negotiation with questions - who, what, when, why, where and how? Follow up answers seeking as much detail as possible. Then report your own stories back to me.