One of the first lessons I learned when I joined Procter & Gamble was part of the "Effective Communication" training, and it was very intriguing at first: "You must always respect the New York Times rule". And while it's been some time since that training, what I see happening in business in the recent years makes be refer to this rule much more often that I thought (and frankly speaking, much more often than I wished)!To cut the long story short, the rule simply says: "If you feel comfortable seeing your picture on the first page of the New York Times newspaper together with what you SAID, DID or WROTE,…

Flying always fascinated me and, while I did not have the chance to become an airline pilot, I recently started having flying lessons as a hobby. I also started learning much more about what it means to be a pilot - and I realized that, as a business negotiator, I could learn a lot from pilots and step-change the chances of winning my deals. Let me start with one (negative) example: On Feb 21, 2008, Santa Barbara Airlines' Flight 518 taking off from Merida airport in Venezuela and heading to Caracas crashed into a nearby mountain shortly after departure, killing all its 46 people onboard. It was the deadliest accident involving…

Humor in negotiation? I know I'm raising many eyebrows with this topic. This is because negotiation is many times considered a very serious subject - which it is, by the way! And many times people run business negotiations extremely stiff and sober, rarely joking or even smiling. I've been in countless such negotiations and believe me, saying they weren't fun is an understatement. Yet, I often recall the answer of an international spy to the question "What is life?". He said: "It doesn't really matter; you are not getting out of it alive! So, don't take it so seriously all the time!"It may be my nature, but I am a…

Barter negotiation is a tactic I simply LOVE ! I have used it countless times across my career and it NEVER failed me! I only wish I would have thought of employing it more often! For sure I would have won more deals... I strongly feel that nowadays, in these times of unprecedented crisis and turmoil, barter can be the "golden nugget" that may make many deals come true, despite the difficult economic environment. In this short post I will share with you how to best use of this tactic and close truly WIN-WIN deals!Before anything else, let me say it loud and clear: BARTER is one of the most…

I'm sharing in this blog my personal observations, strategies, tactics and tips about what makes a successful negotiation. I derived these from my own, extensive international business negotiation experience. They served me very well over time and helped me win many important negotiations. I have personally tested them for over 20+ years and proved they work across geographies and in various business or personal circumstances. Find more strategies, tips, tactics and advises on how best to prepare, run and implement successful negotiations in my book "The Elite Negotiation™ - 3rd international edition". For an unforgettable interactive experience, attend my special 1 or 2 days training or my LIVE Webinars.