For all the slack lawyers receive for being underhanded or corrupt, the vast majority are good decent people out there to do the best they can for their clients. If you live in California or follow the changes in its legal community, you may be aware that one of its most prominent figures died this week.
William Coblentz was one of the founding members of Coblentz, Patch, Duff, & Bass LLP, a prominent law firm in San Francisco. Mr. Coblentz was a man of many things: developer, politician, activist. But what he saw himself most as was a lawyer, and he was a great one who helped shape San Francisco’s look and culture. He was known for his charm and wit, as well as ability to use these skills to become a great negotiator.
Being able to convince people to give you what you want is
no easy feat. Harder still is to do so
and still maintaining a good relationship with the person afterward. Like any skilled negotiator knows, the art of
influencing isn’t done with a hammer, but with a scalpel. So in honor of Mr. Coblentz and his legendary
negotiation abilities, here are some tips you can use if you ever find yourself
in a position where you need to structure a deal.
1) Be Nice
People are always surprised by this one, but negotiators and lawyers the world around will tell you that being nice is the first step required when you’re trying to get anyone to do anything. Most people just don’t respond well to bullies. Think about the worst bosses you’ve had in your life; the one thing that they all probably had in common was that they were all jerks and that was probably the reason why you stopped working for them and found a new job. People just don’t like to do things for those they dislike, but generally have less of a problem doing favors for friends. Being nice sets a positive and collaborative tone. This in turn will usually cause people to be more responsive to your request.
2) Keep Your Emotions In Check
This can be difficult to do, especially when the negotiation is concerning things that are personal to you. However, staying emotionally neutral is often the best way to get deals to go your way. In some sense, keeping your emotions in check is really meant to keep you from forgetting to be nice. In most adversarial negotiations yelling and fist-pounding are counterproductive and lead to stalemates. The more you stay calm and nice, the more fair and reasonable you’ll seem to your opponent, which in turn will make your suggestions all the more persuasive.
3) Ask For More Than You Think You Can Get
If you’ve been calm and friendly so far, this tactic can go a long way in turning the tide in your favor. Most people can get uneasy asking for more than they expect, but I’m here to tell you that you have to fight that urge to throw out your best offer first. The reason is because that usually will set the tone for the whole negotiation and you may soon find yourself settling for a lot less than you had originally anticipated. So tell them your ridiculous offer, but do it confidently and calmly so that they know you’re serious. Don’t worry about offending them. Because in the end, when you come down for that offer to your reasonable one, it will seem like you came down a lot. And if they take your high offer, then woo-hoo!
4) Don’t Leave Your Opponent Feeling Cheated
This may seem counterintuitive to the previous rule, but it’s really designed to keep the other party from reneging. Because even if you can get a person to agree to your really high offer, they may have second thoughts about it later and back out if they feel they’ve been cheated. Furthermore, depending on the situation, it may also help to maintain good relations with your opponent so that they’d be willing to deal with you again in the future. Leaving a good impression on the other party is easy to do and can be as simple as throwing in a little gesture that will make them feel good that they were willing to settle with you.
5) Be Willing To Walk Away
You may not always feel this is an option, but if your negotiations have reached a point where you feel the settlement is too expensive, you have to know and recognize that it’s not the right deal for you. Knowing that you can walk away is a powerful tool. Not only will it prevent you from feeling remorse and regret later, but it can also sometimes trigger your opponent into giving you a better offer.
Sticking to these tactics will serve you well whether you are battling it out in a legal related situation or otherwise. Share your negotiation stories below and please send your condolences to the Coblentz family.
By: Andrew Dat
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