We had our first session of the course ‘Skills and Strategies for Successful Negotiation.’ I’m not sure if I’ve had a more ebullient professor. Her high spiritedness was apparent on her slides too.
We started off with an instance from the times of Theodore Roosevelt, I once read a few pages of his huge biography, I know him as to have led a vigorous life, and I understand that he has written books on a wide variety of subjects. Even some biology, I believe.
We now had a case that pertained to one of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidential campaign. The campaign run into a serious problem when the campaign realized that they had printed three million copies of a pamphlet with Roosevelt’s picture but had not secured copyright from the studio that owned it. They figured out that they’d be liable for one dollar for every picture, and that the studio was unlikely to case a benign attitude towards it.
So how should the campaign manager tackle this situation?
The campaign manager sent the following to the studio:
“We are planning to distribute millions of pamphlets with Roosevelt’s picture on the cover. It will be great publicity for the studio whose photograph we use. How much will you pay us to use yours? Respond immediately.”
The studio replied that they’d be willing to pay USD 250.
The trick is to have it crop it up as an opportunity.
Read more about the Roosevelt negotiation problem here:
Later, we had a two-member negotiation activity based on a real-estate property for sale. I got the role of the seller. My interlocutor (buyer’s role) was a good friend of mine. I did not expect a that I’d fair well in the negotiation. But surprisingly I did quite well.
I’d like to reflect on the journey of the negotiation, but due to the paucity of time, I’ll just draw lessons as to why I may have got a good deal.
Why did I get a good deal?
- I set a high target for myself and completely believed that the property was worth its highest value.
- I set a higher initial anchor.
- Looking back, I realize that I inadvertently projected my real estate as an opportunity for the buyer.
Later, we discussed BATNA, RV, ZOPA and a few other negotiation strategies in the debriefing session. I’ll come back and write more on this.
THE DIARY OF A B-SCHOOLER 