In most negotiations, some form of misinformation is conveyed. That can occur in the form of disinformation, which may or may not be considered misinformation. The way you and the other negotiator perceives the differences between the two determines the path of the negotiation.

“… but I don’t lie!” The person making such a pronouncement, more than likely, just lied to you.

This article delves into how to exploit and use disinformation when negotiating and how you might also consider using misinformation as leverage to enhance your negotiation position.

Misinformation:

While misinformation (i.e. information cited wrong, unintentional representation of the facts, information omitted, etc.) can be disheartening in a negotiation, it can be forgiven if the information was not delivered with malice and/or the intent of drastically dissuading you from your negotiation plan. That’s the marked difference between misinformation and disinformation.

Disinformation:

Disinformation is the clandestine intent to influence an action that makes you question not only what the truth is, but it also makes you question yourself per the validity of your thoughts. That can be devastating in a negotiation. In such a scenario you’re not really sure what reality is. Thus, you negotiate based on the ghosts you’ve assembled in your mind. That’s like helping the other negotiator negotiate against you.

How To Advantage Your Position:

1. Verify whether misinformation or disinformation is being employed against you. This can be accomplished by knowing the facts before assembling at the negotiation table. More than likely there’s a mixture of the two. In that case, discern which is more prevalent by asking the opposing negotiator to provide the source(s) of his information. It’s very important to make that request because the rest of your strategy will flow from that point.
2. Seek to catch him in a situation where you know his information is suspect at best and false at worse. If you know he’s ‘on-the- ropes’ while trying to defend himself, let him stew and observe his body language (i.e. perspiring, touching his face, rubbing his hands, etc.) Those will be signs of his uneasiness with the position he’s in.
3. Challenge him by asking his perception of the truth and to what degree he’s being forthright with you. Based on his response, assess to what degree you’re willing to continue in the negotiation. Definitively state that you won’t tolerate any form of mistruths. Let him know that trust hangs in the balance and the only way you’ll continue is if you can trust him.
4. Understand that the preceding strategy has a maximum effect when you’re in a power position in the negotiation. Therefore, consideration should be given to the degree of power you have and how it’s perceived by the other negotiator before you attempt to implement it.

With a premium being placed on the truth in a negotiation, you might question why a negotiator would convey some aspects of information and omit others. The answer may lie in how far he’ll go to get a negotiation deal and the possible deceit he’ll engage in to accomplish that goal. Thus, the more you probe to uncover his hidden agenda, his source(s) of motivation, the greater insight you’ll gain into the mind that operates his actions. Once discovered, you can become his puppet master, controlling him and the flow of the negotiation. That will align you for the negotiation win… and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

#HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #Disinformation

Presentations are the way many products and services are sold. The effectiveness of your presentation determines your success. Yes, you also need to find a lead, set an appointment and follow-up, but the presentation is key.

Below are some thoughts about the components of a successful sales presentation:

You have the solution to your potential customer’s problem. If you can’t meet your potential customer’s need, you can give the greatest presentation, but you probably won’t get the sale. Of course, it isn’t ethical to con him/her into thinking you have a solution when you don’t. You clearly explain how your offering can solve the problem of your potential customer If you don’t explain clearly, you may have a solution, but you won’t get far. This is why presentation preparation is so important. When you prepare, check that your message is organized and clear. State the problem simply and completely, based on questions you asked earlier or o questions you ask during the presentation. Then show how your product or service can solve your potential customer’s needs.

Be sure to provide supporting data to validate your solution. Even with a great solution, how do you ensure that people believe you? This is the important art of persuasion. As you show your solution, you must connect all that you say to their problem and back it up with both hard — facts and figures – and soft data — testimonials, your experience, and current customer names they might know., Be sure to convey how your solution will make them feel. Relieved? Less stressed out? Happy to reduce costs or increase profit? A positive emotion is a requirement for making a decision.

Your visuals are clear. Your slides must be crystal clear. Did you know that people can’t read and listen at the same time? So, if you use slides full of text, they’ll read them while you’re talking and won’t hear what you’re saying-that isn’t clear communication! Diagrams and charts should be easy to understand and not contain irrelevant content. If you have to provide highly detailed data in a spreadsheet, have a handout so your audience can follow along easily. Don’t provide unnecessary data during the presentation. Instead, leave supplemental content as a handout, if your potential client wants to review it before making a decision. Make sure that all text is legible and use animation only if shows a process. Use only high-quality photos and. avoid loud backgrounds. Put one point on a slide and backs up that point with a photo, diagram, or chart-this is called the Tell ‘n’ Show Method.

You connect with your audience. Think of your presentation as a two-way conversation, especially if you are speaking to a small group. Meet their eyes, ask and answer questions, be friendly and natural-think of it as an interactive presentation. Your potential customer will buy from you as a person not a presenter.

Lean manufacturing principles use continuously developing practices, implemented through tried and tested techniques to help your company gain more productivity, customer satisfaction and employee fulfillment. It’s a complete path to overall improvement, with the basic goal of reducing wastes or deficiencies and adding value.

While it is very effective, Lean manufacturing is not easy to implement. It takes cooperation, will, motivation, and more importantly, the desire to learn. The fundamentals of it are primarily taught through an extensive presentation. Many companies offer these presentations for varying prices. And while Lean is a well-known philosophy, there is no standard modular system for teaching it. This is what those companies attempt to do, and so, before you sign up for a presentation, you should always check for an overview of contents and pick the one that’s either most comprehensive, or the one that suits your company best.

Its principles can be learned easily with the right tools. These tools typically involve the Lean manufacturing presentation that includes other teaching tools, like Lean games and simulation.

The philosophy of Lean involves a lot of jargons – jargons that describe principles that either involve or preclude one another. Thus, a good Lean manufacturing presentation should contain extensive discussions of these principles in the right order of association for the trainees to properly grasp and comprehend.

A good Lean manufacturing presentation should also be able to help you visualize your transition from your old practices to the new Lean practices. It should effectively illustrate how you can eliminate your company’s inefficiencies and wastes, by seeing the differences between your old practices and Lean. The presentation should also help you with describing techniques and clear examples of appropriate practices for certain events.

Most importantly, like a real instructor or sensei, your Lean manufacturing presentation should be able to teach you how to identify obstacles and help you learn how to come up with effective ways to overcome them. Overcoming obstacles is the best skill that your presentation should be able to give. This is the key to sustaining Lean principles and practices in managing your manufacturing business.