Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Authenticity and transparency
Consumers tend to have an increased interest in authenticity with an increased need for transparency. With the increased range of products, it is hard for the consumers to decide what is authentic. Marketing is not working as it used to. Therefore we need to change our focus on marketing from “what consumer needs” to “what consumer wants”. Distinctive brands need something more – sensory marketing. Advertizing campaigns has become less important. Instead, quality-to-price ratio has increased in importance. There is a shift from lowest price competition to quality-to-price ratio. Also the story of tradition and origin is important. Advertize with your heart, not your brain.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Become a star negotiator
The most common mistake in negotiations is to be unprepared and initiate with the lowest (if selling)/highest (if buying) acceptable outcome. I once had the opportunity to listen to a seminar by Karin Klerfelt and here are her tips for us to become star negotiators.
1. Initiative; If coming from your opponent, buy yourself time by asking if you can get back later, for example at 2 pm. If coming from you, be prepared.
2. Preparations; Set goals at 3 different levels - best, okay and worst outcome. This gives you space for negotiation.
3. Greeting; Build a good atmosphere by sending a “I want us to reach an agreement” message to your opponent. All your expressions (spoken language, vocal, body language, etc) need to send this message.
4. Introduction; What are the rules – how long will the negotiation take part? Take acceptance!
5. Demands; Ask the opponent. Practice your lines/questions before the meeting. What is the goal, budget, is there any other person that has the final mandate, etc?
6. Agreement; List of demands from opponent needs to be prepared. See to that you reach win-win for both partners. Give and take! This is a human mechanism called “reciprocal action”. Money is not everything, instead of giving a discount you may add a supplementary product. Be flexible!
7. Finnish; Settle the agreement. First make sure to have real eye contact and then summarize what you have agreed upon. To summarize is what drives the meeting forward.
8. Follow up; Important to follow up with the opponent in between negotiation events. This is when you build your relationship before next event.
1. Initiative; If coming from your opponent, buy yourself time by asking if you can get back later, for example at 2 pm. If coming from you, be prepared.
2. Preparations; Set goals at 3 different levels - best, okay and worst outcome. This gives you space for negotiation.
3. Greeting; Build a good atmosphere by sending a “I want us to reach an agreement” message to your opponent. All your expressions (spoken language, vocal, body language, etc) need to send this message.
4. Introduction; What are the rules – how long will the negotiation take part? Take acceptance!
5. Demands; Ask the opponent. Practice your lines/questions before the meeting. What is the goal, budget, is there any other person that has the final mandate, etc?
6. Agreement; List of demands from opponent needs to be prepared. See to that you reach win-win for both partners. Give and take! This is a human mechanism called “reciprocal action”. Money is not everything, instead of giving a discount you may add a supplementary product. Be flexible!
7. Finnish; Settle the agreement. First make sure to have real eye contact and then summarize what you have agreed upon. To summarize is what drives the meeting forward.
8. Follow up; Important to follow up with the opponent in between negotiation events. This is when you build your relationship before next event.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)