More on E-mail and Negotiation
As a follow up to my diatribe on e-mail communication and in response to the many questions about e-mail practices specific to negotiation, I dug a little deeper. Here is what I found out.
As a follow up to my diatribe on e-mail communication and in response to the many questions about e-mail practices specific to negotiation, I dug a little deeper. Here is what I found out.
Interpersonal conflict happens. It can happen with new customers, with prospective customers, or with major accounts. From time to time in a customer/supplier relationship, disagreements can happen over quality, failure to meet commitments, or interpersonal dynamics. When problems like this happen you can quickly get stuck in a stalemate with a customer. Until the problem is resolved, you probably won’t be able to go forward or do business.
What’s the difference between niche marketing and mass marketing? I get asked this question a lot. The answer is simple.
When communicating with a customer, which is the best method or channel of communication: face-to-face, phone, or e-mail?
Not everyone plays fair. You learned this as a child on the playground and I bet that you are still learning that some people will do most anything to get what they want. This includes lying by omission, misrepresenting facts, and manipulation.
As is my tradition, I sent out a Jackson family Holiday letter to friends, family, and colleagues. Although many of the letters were sent by “snail-mail”, I also sent an electronic version to a subset list, which included Internet sophisticated people. The letter included photos and a word document. Simple stuff really.
Negotiating makes many people uncomfortable, so they avoid it or just don’t do it. By taking this stance, they only hurt themselves by letting others take advantage of them. By not negotiating, they don’t get what they want or deserve.
With the proliferation of the Internet, along with blogs, wikis, social networks, and online communities, buyers today are making superior purchase decisions based on information that is now readily available. Gone are the good old days when buyers depended on their sales people to educate them on the products and services. This new found purchasing sophistication applies to both B2B markets and B2C markets.
When the other party asks you an open-ended question, beware that he or she may be fishing for information to use against you in a negotiation. Often the question seems innocent; the other party is smiling at you with eyebrows raised. Be sure to look for this body language, since it can be a signal that he or she is not your friend.
People buy products and services for their differences, not because they are the same as everything else. This also applies to your website. The proliferation of websites has raised the bar when it comes to making your customer experience unique and meaningful. Although all good websites must have the same basic things such as up-to-date…