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  • Okay! Y'all have been working towards this moment for weeks.

  • You've learned about emotional influence.

  • You've prepared your questions, alternatives, and remember: clear goal, full hearts, can't

  • lose.

  • If you need to brush up and rewatch those videosnow's your chance.

  • Because it's go time.

  • It's time for you to get your head in the game and figure out your personal negotiation

  • style.

  • You gotta learn how to collaborate and what cheap shots to watch out for.

  • You have to learn the rules by heart: how to start, pose a counter offer, avoid pitfalls,

  • and make sure everyone is playing fair until the deal is done.

  • I'm Evelyn from the Internets.

  • This is Crash Course Business: Soft Skills.

  • And it's time to negotiate.

  • [INTRO MUSIC PLAYS]

  • Negotiations are all about resolving conflict through collaboration.

  • You're not actually trying tocrush the competition.”

  • I mean, sometimes, you're in a completely distributive negotiation with limited slices

  • of proverbial pie.

  • And there are a few things you can avoid to make sure you don't get the smallest piece.

  • Say it was 1978 and you wanted to open an ice cream parlor in Burlington, Vermont with

  • a friend.

  • Maybe you'll call it something cute like

  • Ben and Jerry's.

  • You've found the perfect spot: an old gas station in the central part of town.

  • Since it's a funky building that fits your style and gets heavy foot traffic nearby,

  • you're willing to pay $1400 a month for rent.

  • I'm making this up, but work with me!

  • And you've prepared for negotiation.

  • So you know your alternative: a boring, smaller storefront down the road for $1200 a month.

  • And your target: $1400 a month.

  • You need to start off strong.

  • So, first, you shouldn't start a negotiation with a range of prices.

  • If you offer a range, like $1200 to $1600, you'll lose leverage.

  • Your negotiation partner will just pick the price that works in their favor.

  • Basically, they only hear $1600 a month because that gets them more money.

  • Don't open with your target either, because you probably won't get it.

  • Your collaborator is looking out for their interests too, so they'll try and counteroffer.

  • Especially if it's a situation where people expect to negotiate, like over salary.

  • That's also why you shouldn't take the first offer you're given.

  • It's probably not your collaborator's resistance point or their target, and you

  • could get a better deal.

  • The first number in a negotiation matters because our brains are weird and don't like

  • randomness.

  • We latch onto ideas and make up significance.

  • It's kind of like why we're so good at seeing shapes in clouds or coming up with

  • constellations.

  • Astronomers looked at a bunch of stars and were like, “I mean, I guess that could be a scorpion.”

  • In business negotiations, people get trapped by anchoring.

  • Even if a first offer is completely arbitrary, your wacky brain is going to think that number

  • is important and use it to inform the rest of the negotiation.

  • So if the owner of that old gas station starts by asking for $2000 a month, take a breath

  • and think about whether or not the offer is fair.

  • Because of anchoring and your irrational brain, you may feel like you have to go closer

  • to $2000, even if your original offer would have been $1200.

  • So don't jump right in!

  • Take time to propose a counter offer, and don't bargain against yourself by backing

  • down right away.

  • If you start with $1200, don't gowait...wait!

  • $1500” just because they have a surly look on their face.

  • It doesn't mean they've hit their resistance point and are walking away.

  • They're probably just thinking!

  • So be patient, be confident, and you may find they're willing to make a deal.

  • And if you're suddenly talking rental dates, rental price, and refurbishment, try to

  • move away from bargaining and toward an integrative negotiation.

  • To find those creative solutions, listen more and talk less.

  • Negotiations are scary.

  • You may be nervous you won't walk away with what you need, or maybe you just really hate

  • silence.

  • But filling the gaps by talking a bunch isn't going to give you any more control -- you're

  • just showing your hand without getting anything in return.

  • Not to mention, you're missing out on opportunities to understand the other person's side.

  • Like my boy Powerline says: “If we listen to each other's heart / We'll find we're

  • never too far apart / And maybe love is a reason why / For the first time ever, we're

  • seeing it eye to eye

  • For a truly innovative solution, just look at when Stevens Aviation and Southwest Airlines

  • both used the same slogan, “Just Plane Smart.”

  • Instead of spending thousands of dollars and years in court, they realized they both

  • just wanted brand recognition.

  • So they competed in a televised arm wrestling match for the slogan, and both got huge bumps

  • in sales.

  • Y'all, I'm serious.

  • That's what happened.

  • Look up theMalice in Dallas"

  • Now, you probably won't be solving any slogan disputes anytime soon, but negotiation strategy

  • matters a lot when you're figuring out salary.

  • Sometimes, companies offer bonuses instead of higher pay.

  • And any money is great, especially if you've got student loans.

  • But having a higher annual salary will help your bank account more than a one-time bump.

  • So it's better to negotiate.

  • Let's go to Thought Bubble.

  • You've just graduated from U.C.

  • Santa Barbara with a degree in criminology.

  • And you got an offer from the area's premiere psychic detective agency.

  • Even though it's a relatively small firm, you think you could get your salary raised

  • by another $5000 per year.

  • You're not in the interview anymore.

  • They want to hire you, so you've got some power.

  • Every person brings value to a company, and you deserve to get paid what you're worth.

  • So now it's time to talk about what you bring to the table... without acting like

  • a hostile Lassiter.

  • And the 'I-We' strategy can help.

  • It sort of flips the script.

  • You still advocate for yourself -- that's the “I” part.

  • But you focus the conversation on how your skills benefit the company and how the negotiation

  • serves everyone's interest -- that's theWepart.

  • When the HR coordinator, BurtonTT ShowbizGuster, offers you a $5000 signing bonus,

  • you bond over your shared Super Sniffer abilities.

  • You listen carefully to all he's offering, but then counter with a $5000 dollar salary bump.

  • You talk about how your honed psychic skill set could give your boss a break from interrogating

  • perps and give him time to sip pineapple smoothies on the beach.

  • Then, mention how your negotiation skills could help the agency get into crime scenes

  • without resorting to hopping fences.

  • By the end of the conversation, the HR coordinator is convinced, and offers you that pay bump.

  • You're a big believer in giving everything a good night's sleep.

  • So the next morning, you accept the offer of an extra $5,000 a yearand a day off

  • for Scare Fest to boot.

  • Thanks, Thought Bubble!

  • Any job offer is exciting, and you may want to take it right away.

  • But it's worth taking time to think, weigh your options, and prep if you want to negotiate

  • more.

  • If you want to talk about an offer at home first, it's never okay for a company to

  • ask who you're talking to.

  • You could talk to your cat for all they're concerned.

  • But not everyone got the memo that you should always play nice in a negotiation.

  • Just like with emotional influence, there are unscrupulous characters who will try to

  • use hardball tactics to convince you to take a not-so-good offer.

  • It's tempting to act like the tough guy if you're afraid of losing out or aren't

  • used to asserting yourself, but hardball tactics erode trust and don't always work.

  • We want to teach you to fend them off like an experienced negotiator.

  • So it's time for a bit more defense against the dark arts.

  • Ultimatums -- likeif you don't buy this remembrall now, I'm out of here” -- and

  • other bluffs are risky, because you'll lose credibility if you don't follow through.

  • They're also justannoying.

  • Remember how you hatedmy way or the highwayas a kid, even though you did need to eat

  • your veggies?

  • If someone gives you an ultimatum, downplay or reword it with something like, “I know

  • you're reluctant to pay more than 100 galleons for this old wizarding journal, but it really

  • is a rare item.”

  • That way your negotiation partner saves face, because they probably weren't going to

  • walk away.

  • People may also may try to skew a negotiation in their favor by lowballing or highballing

  • you with a ridiculous offer.

  • Remember anchoring?

  • It's really easy to fall prey to, even if you try to avoid it.

  • Our irrational brains, y'know?

  • If you're offered 50 galleons for your 600-galleon Firebolt toget it off your hands,” that's

  • lowballing.

  • And if someone says they won't take less than 1500 galleons for a 600-galleon Firebolt

  • because it hassentimental value,” that's highballing.

  • Either way, don't get swayed by the dramatics.

  • Use research to show you know your offer was reasonable, like the other broom prices in

  • Diagon Alley thrift.

  • Or re-anchor the negotiation with the price you were originally going to offer.

  • And just like there are loyal Hufflepuffs such as myself, there are also Slytherins

  • who may be a little more... intentionally deceptive.

  • Your gut may tell you when something feels off, so be on the lookout for people who avoid

  • your questions, change the subject, answer a question with a question, or use their charisma

  • to flatter you.

  • If you're buying a home, asking about problems, and are suddenly directed away from the

  • elegant marble bathroom, you may want to press harder.

  • You may not have any Veritaserum, but liars don't really practice their stories.

  • So if you ask the same questions different ways and take notes, you may spot contradictions.

  • But even the most noble of us can fall victim to bad behavior.

  • Nobody's perfect.

  • Negotiations are stressful, so if you panic a little, you might start evading questions.

  • If your brain really starts to go haywire, you can