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Feb 1, 2003 12:00 PM, RCM Staff Report




 



` af you ask for something before a contract is signed, it's called ³negotiating.´ af you ask for something
after a contract is signed, it's called ³begging.´ at's better to be a good negotiator than an expert beggar.
` From negotiator Chester Karras: ³You don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.´
` From motivational expert Zig Ziglar: ³You can get anything in life, if you help enough other people get
what they want.´
` uverything is negotiable, but everything has a price.
` Œuoted prices are invitations to buy, but not statements of value.

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 Many people focus on rates, dates, and space (the big three of
meeting planning), but the other fine print ² such as liability and attrition ² can have just as much
importance. These things will translate into dollars.
2. 


 

   Negotiate with the person who can say ³yes.´ Don't let your
negotiation get lost in the translation. You don't want to have to negotiate it more than once. Ask to
negotiate with someone who has the authority to go ³off the script´ or the rate card. Refuse to negotiate
with someone who doesn't have that authority.
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 Good negotiators do not put their best terms on the table first.
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 at's important that the relationship is still there once you're through with the
negotiations. You don't want to get to the end of an agreement and never want to see each other again.

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an every negotiation, there are four unwritten variables. All exist in every negotiation, whether or not you know
or understand that.
1.  
This is the ability to get the other side to do things in the way you see favorable. The top two power
sources are competition and the printed word. af a hotel knows that four other hotels in town want your
business, then that hotel likely will want your business, too. Hotels play that game, too. They try to get
more than one group interested in the hotel. And remember: Always question the printed word. Printed
rates are not final rates.
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Ninety percent of the negotiating happens in the last 10 percent of the time allotted. Negotiating will go
on forever unless one side imposes a deadline. The corollary is that time works against the person who
doesn't have it. Never reveal your real deadline, and never negotiate when you're in a hurry.

3.  

Knowledge is a combination of expertise and information-gathering regarding the wants and needs of
the other side. How and when is the person you're dealing with evaluated? How experienced is the
person? What's the hotel's average daily rate, its peak season, and does it have other customers who want
the same dates?

4. ü  

Leverage is your ability to get the hotel to want your business and to give you favorable terms.

Negotiating Gambits
 
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occur at the start of negotiations.

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Most religious meeting planners are born with this: the ability to express shock and dismay at what the
other side is presenting. This technique forces the other side to adjust.

2.  " "
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This is a way of acknowledging another person's feelings without giving any ground. at's also a way to
disagree without being disagreeable. Here's the script: ³a understand how you feel. Others have felt the
same way, but when they have found out more about us, they have come around.´

3. 

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The general rule is to never accept the first offer.

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The purpose of the vise is to squeeze the price range up or down in your favor. When someone names a
price, you say: ³You'll have to do better than that.´ But be prepared for the response: ³How much better
do a have to do?´


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occur during the middle of negotiations, the point at which most negotiations begin to stall.
Middle gambits are used to keep things going, assuming that you want to do business with this party. There are
two basic techniques.

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Never give a concession without getting a concession. This is the secret to keeping a negotiation
balanced. at keeps the other side from nibbling you to death. They know they'll have to give up
something for everything they get.

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When you're deadlocked on an issue, set it aside and come back to it after you've reached agreement on
the easier issues. Why leave the toughest issues for last? Because by the end of negotiations, the process
has momentum and both sides will have the motivation to be flexible.

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are the end games.

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When you reach the end and are asking yourself if you should go through with what you've negotiated,
ask yourself: ³What's my Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement?´

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Your ability to negotiate is tied to your ability to walk away from the deal. This is why you want to give
yourself options.
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