2019 was brimming with excitement at Negotiations Ninja . Fantastic discussions on the podcast, exciting content on the blog, and exceptional experiences training and coaching have made it a big year. We’re looking forward to integrating everything we’ve learned through these incredible experiences and moving forward into 2020.
The end of each year brings an opportunity to reflect on our achievements before beginning new adventures. 2019 has been amazing: The Negotiations Ninja podcast made the number one negotiation podcast in the world. First-rate guests have been essential to the podcast’s success.
Business negotiation, whether carried out by small, medium, or large business personnel, is a skill that must be developed. But small and medium business approaches to negotiation need to be better informed if they are to succeed when competing against the larger companies. My guest on this episode, James Orsini, brings a wealth of insight to us through his experience as an agency leader and from teaching small and medium business leaders how to be more successful, not only in negotiations but i...
One of the most plentiful commodities available to anyone who wants to learn is the wisdom of others in our field. As negotiators, we need to avail ourselves of this amazing resource every chance we get. This episode is filled with pearls of negotiation wisdom from my friend, the one and only Marty Latz. You’re going to hear Marty’s personal and career negotiating successes as well as some situations that didn’t go well. He has some fantastic insights into the key skills every negotiator needs t...
Nobody would assume that crisis negotiation is easy, but few of us truly know just how hard it is. My guest on this episode, Mark Lowther, is one of those who know the reality first-hand. Mark’s diverse catalog of experiences ranges from serving in the United States Marines to two Metro SWAT teams where he was involved in and all levels of negotiations, including the first known hostage negotiations involving social media. Mark has extensive background and training in suicide intervention and on...
For procurement and other contract-related roles, there has never been any kind of contract playbook that new people to the profession can look to for guidance. The wait is over. This episode of Negotiations Ninja features co-authors Jeanette Nyden and Lawrence Kane who have quite literally just written the book on the subject. “The Contract Professional’s Playbook” is now available on Amazon and sets the standard for developing procurement talent, building those individuals into personnel asset...
Negotiation has been happening since the beginning of time and every one of us negotiates with others all day, every day. Those who are masters at negotiation have learned from all those years of experience, they apply the old school techniques to their current situation. Ed Brodow, the guest on this episode, has been negotiating and teaching negotiation skills for over 32 years. His old school approach to negotiation is refreshing and powerful. He’s authored a number of books that are “must-hav...
Wouldn’t it be great if you could receive a personal guide to negotiation from an experienced, wise negotiator who is proven to be successful? That’s what you'll get when you listen to this episode. David Meltzer is a philosopher, business coach, entrepreneur, and so much more, including an amazing negotiator. He grew up poor and thought money would bring him happiness, so he pursued sports (he wanted to be a pro football player), then becoming a doctor, then a legal career. When he passed the b...
As we are all aware, every conversation, not to mention every negotiation, has much more going on under the surface than is easily seen by observers. Detecting deception, both manipulative and unconscious is part of what makes great negotiators outstanding. Dr. David Matsumoto specializes in understanding facial expression and trains negotiators, sales professionals, and leaders of all stripes how to notice and respond to the barely visible signals that often reveal what’s going on under the sur...
One of the reasons I’m happy to have someone like Stephen Kozicki on the podcast is because he brings an entirely different perspective to the process of negotiation through his approach to creating and discovering value. Stephen takes a very data-based, provable approach that serves incredibly well because it removes egos from the process and demonstrates tangible outcomes that offers of lower price alone cannot overcome. Listen to hear Stephen’s detailed approach to working out, creating, and ...
Procurement chains become increasingly complex the larger an organization becomes, which means that many gaps occur that cost the organization money rather than saving it. Valuable, cost-saving data is missed or lost, processes are elongated, and inefficiencies grow. A.I. and Machine Learning are tools that can be used to address these issues and many others. It’s up to us as the procurement professionals in our organizations to open our minds to the possibilities, learn about what’s happening w...
The negotiations process can seem mysterious and difficult to those looking on from the outside, but Mike Caro says that it’s made up of the same principles and psychological dynamics that everyday life situations contain. Interestingly enough, Mike has developed that belief as one of the world’s foremost authorities on the game of Poker. It’s a tremendous offer to be able to present this conversation with Mike, who’s in seclusion somewhere in the Ozarks working on his latest brainchild. Join me...
Everyone involved in sales, procurement, or negotiations of any type needs to develop the influencing skills that make them effective. We are all influencers in one way or another (for bad or good) and intentional focus on making those innate skills work for us can have great results. Shane Martin reached out to me because he has found that the same influencing skills he uses in his sales career are also powerfully effective in his role as a volunteer at his local suicide hotline. Join us for th...
If you haven’t heard Molly Bloom’s story you’re missing an incredible lesson in overcoming adversity. You could say she made her own bed—and she’d agree with you. The legal trouble she got into bears it out as well. What did she get into hot water over? She was involved in organizing and managing high-stakes poker games for high-profile and high net worth individuals and she stepped over a legal line. A Federal raid of her home, her arrest, and a very public trial offered her the opportunity to ...
Stan Garber and Alex Yakubovich have sought venture capital financing more than once and each time they’ve done it, the stakes have been higher. Their most recent round of investment for Scout RFP has drawn the attention of companies like Workday and Salesforce. That’s not only a huge boost of confidence for them but also a good sign of how effectively these two guys are at building the relationships that result in funding. Listen to hear how Alex and Stan have gone about seeking venture capital...
There are few people I know who are as competent and smart about how the negotiation questions we use impact the way the conversation goes than Dan Oblinger. Dan’s experience as a hostage negotiator coupled with his drive to understand the impact of deep listening is at the root of this superpower. He’s a fount of nuanced knowledge and he shares it so generously during this conversation. We talk about what he calls “Garbage questions” and why they are so bad, why we need to ask questions that de...
It’s an extreme pleasure to speak with a person as thoughtful and well-versed in topics pertinent to negotiation as Robert Greene. He’s a prolific author who’s penned works that inform and highlight the timeless principles behind great leadership, power, and influence. In this conversation, we discuss why power is not always built on bad motives, why using misdirection and masked intentions can be beneficial to negotiators, how predictability is the death of good negotiations, action VS planning...
The skills required to be a great negotiator are also powerful tools in the arsenal when it comes to getting the meeting with the decision-makers on your list of prospects. Both require savvy, knowledge, and people skills that go beyond the ordinary tactics most salespeople and negotiators are willing to employ. Stu Heinecke explains how those who are willing to go outside the normal channels and to use unorthodox but personalized approaches can not only get the meeting but close sales at unprec...
When you hear the term “social hacking” you might think of a covert, manipulative way of prying into someone’s life. That’s not at all what we’re talking about when we apply the term to negotiation. Social hacking is an approach to information gathering that comes from the discipline known as “Social Engineering.” That's a field that my guest, Chris Hadnagy has become known for. Chris is the CEO, Founder, and Chief Human Hacker of Social-Engineering, LLC, and author of the phenomenal book, “Soci...
The science of influence is fascinating. It’s one of the ways those of us in procurement or involved in negotiations can learn to be better at our craft. This episode features author and speaker, Roger Dooley who I asked to teach us what science teaches about influence, and how we can use it to get better deals in our negotiations. Roger explains how to practically apply neuroscience, behavior technology, and behavior research (combined it's known as neuromarketing). How can procurement professi...
We all want to walk away from our negotiations with more value, but for that to happen we’ve got to rethink and reapply a kind of negotiation training that can get us there. Keld Jensen is at the forefront of a movement to rebuild negotiation training from the ground up, starting with a mindset that moves away from the Zero-Sum game that most of us have been taught and toward an approach that adds value to every negotiation for both parties. You will enjoy hearing Keld’s perspective and hearing ...
ERP implementation is a difficult and lengthy process that can make or break an organization. So how does an enterprise roll out the implementation effectively and efficiently? What processes or procedures can smooth the transition from an old system to a new one? Shaun Syvertsen with ConvergentIS shares how to make the process easier and how to avoid common failure points. He emphasizes the necessity of getting high-level management involved and invested in the process. Shaun points out that th...
Robert Semethy joins us in this episode of Negotiations Ninja —all the way from Vienna, Austria. Robert is the Chief Procurement Officer at Erste Banke—which is now celebrating its 200th year. We talk about differences in procurement and negotiation between Europe and North America. What do we need to know if we're working or living in Europe? What are the primary differences from the viewpoint of an American now living in Vienna? How do we succeed professionally once we understand the differenc...
The wonderful Bernice Lee returns to the podcast to share more about Chinese business etiquette. Bernice is an etiquette coach who was raised in Canada, worked in the U.S., and is now based in Hong Kong. She teaches Westerners and the local business communities all about the ins and outs of doing business in Hong Kong and China. She’s an expert on the correct way to greet people, what to avoid, the big no-no’s, and even dinner etiquette. In this episode of Negotiations Ninja, we’re delving even ...
Antonio Humphreys leads marketing procurement at Adobe and joins us to chat about identifying and solving internal challenges. Antonio helps us dispel the myths around challenging internal customers and what we can do to improve these internal relationships. Spoiler alert! A lot of it comes down to Emotional Intelligence (EQ). Antonio delves deep into the human-centered approach procurement professionals need to take to develop great working relationships with internal customers. From there, und...
Jason Cammorata joins us to chat about the benefits unique and different backgrounds can have for procurement professionals. As a long-time, high-performing musician, Jason learned a lot about performance, planning, and preparation that he's applied to his procurement and negotiation career. What lessons can we learn from our past experiences? How can we take the skills we've learned and leverage them today? This week we're reflecting on our past to understand how to be more successful today. Ou...
In this episode of Negotiations Ninja , we’re talking with Matthias Schranner—former hostage negotiator and founder of the Schranner Negotiation Institute—about the mistakes that people make in negotiations. We're focusing on the biggest mistake—the avoidance of deadlocks. Why shouldn’t we avoid deadlock? Because sometimes starting in a deadlock gets you to the best possible outcomes. Matthias shares why it's important to start with a deadlock and more importantly, how to get out of them. Outlin...
This week we’re chatting with Cal Chrustie, a war-time and hostage negotiation expert who now consults with organizations around the world. In this episode of the Negotiations Ninja, he talks about what he calls the three S’s—strategy , structure , and self . How do we strategize for negotiation? What’s the structure of a properly set up deal? And the third S—self: How do we go about understanding ourselves, our values, and what we are (and aren’t) capable of. Most importantly, what does it take...
In this episode of Negotiations Ninja , I’m chatting with Eric Germa—one of the most interesting and driven procurement professionals I’ve ever spoken to. Eric is the SVP of Strategic Procurement at Macy’s. This conversation is all about procurement transformation . Transformation is an expansive topic, covering everything from change management, upskilling your team, and becoming the leader that takes your procurement department to the next level. Eric’s experience leading transformation speaks...
What is a win-win negotiation? Is it even appropriate to think a win-win negotiation is achievable? The fantastic Mr. Chris Voss, author of Never Split the Difference , returns to the Negotiations Ninja podcast. Chris was the FBI’s Chief International Hostage Negotiator for many years and is an author and prolific speaker. In this episode, we challenge the widely-held belief of a win-win negotiation. What does it look like when we move away from win/win negotiations to mutually beneficial negoti...
