tempsora.info

I was recently the fly on the wall at a negotiation. The negotiation itself is a result of longterm planning in most cases. This article details what to do before entering a business negotiation.

Step One:

Do your homework. That means research anything that may come up in advance of the business negotiation. Absolutely, have a few notes there to back up your viewpoint. If you don’t have that research, you are at a disadvantage.

Step Two:

Consider jotting down notes of what you intend to get out of the negotiation. Include things like points that are absolute deal breakers. Include points that you are likely to compromise on.

Additionally, draw or sketch out what the final deal will look like. Include financial numbers to give you an idea of what ballpark you want to end up in as a result of this business negotiation. Ie. People who are successful at business can see into the future for longterm rewards as much as they can see into the future for shortterm rewards. But clearly, having a map drawn of where your headed is valid before entering negotiation. It will also help you to be firm in your negotiation, knowing what you may be foregoing.

Step Three:

Do some market research. I know that companies can charge you millions of dollars for a simple study of getting people’s opinion on something. If this business negotiation affects people, find out from people what they think. Don’t limit yourself to two or three of your closest managers or friends. Extend that. Show up at a mall. Ask if you can have a minute with people. Dress appropriately to break down the barriers. People are flattered when you are seeking their opinion so to be fair, treat them appropriately and explain how their opinion will have some affect.

I have a friend in the natural concoction business. Before working on a new product, she phones up a list of customers who are agreeable and asks them about the future product. It may be well into the future but she gets the goods on the interest long before she undertakes it. Such is the case with a negotiation.

Absolutely, do your market research. Some things look good on paper but never go anywhere in the real world. For example, if you’re the marketing guru behind The Clapper you would have researched this product in advance and how agreeable people would be to buying it. But say, you invented something similar like The Sneezer, then tried to market it without asking people how hard it would be, how useful it would be to them. You would undoubtedly lose your shirt.

Step Four:

Set down in advance what you as a company stand for and who you’re willing to negotiate with well in advance. For example, if you believe in only dealing with union shops, then make sure you write that down and stick to it before any negotiation. There’s a phrase that if you don’t stand for anything, you will fall for everything. By having principles, you are already on your way.

Step Five:

Enter the negotiation with a window of time that you will allow before making any final decisions. This prevents an emotional response to the negotiation.

A Lethal Listing Presentation

To create a “lethal” listing presentation, you need two pieces. What are the pieces? The first piece is knowing your market statistics so that you’re truly the best agent for the job. Becoming the market authority. Then the next piece is knowing the value of the subject property so that you can get the top dollar for your seller client. By knowing how to prepare the ultimate CMA, your foundation is complete.

Beginning the process without laying this foundation simply won’t work. It’s absolutely critical that you go through these first two steps before you learn the listing presentation, simply because the presentation builds on this foundation! If you’re just skimming through this approach so you can get to the “magic words” to say, you are wasting your time. This approach is not about having magic words. It’s about creating a magnetism that will attract your listing clients to you. That comes from building the foundation.

Without building your foundation on solid ground, you’ll instead be building your presentation on quicksand, and you won’t be able to list properties using this powerful and unique method. Why? Because you won’t have the most important element of any sale: the believability factor.

This listing approach is counter-intuitive. It is going to fly in the face of what 95% of the other agents are telling your client. As such, it demands that you have credibility. If you don’t have credibility, the listing approach will never sell because you’re asking the client to place his faith in an approach that, in all likelihood, he’s never heard of before. Take the time to build the foundation.

Last year there were more than 1.1 million Realtors in America, so I guess you could say that there are 1.1 million ways to sell a house. But the truth is that there are really only two ways to sell a house: you can sell it by price, or you can sell it by traffic. Every other sales method is a subsidiary of one of these two. We’ll explore the two different approaches at length and discuss how they differ and how one of them will yield far better results for your client while making you more money.

The Traditional or Price Approach. I’ve read dozens of books – probably hundreds of books – on the subject of real estate. Many of these books speak of the importance of listing real estate, and all of them describe nearly identical listing approaches, with only slight differences. Now, the reason for all this sameness is obvious: it’s the way listings have been done since the beginning of real estate. It’s the old “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” thing. Well, I’m here to tell you that it is broke! If you expect to make a lot of money in real estate, you need to determine what everybody else is doing and then do the opposite.

Okay, here’s the basic formula for the “traditional” or “price” approach. As you’ll recall, we talked earlier about building a CMA, or comparative market analysis, for your client. The traditional approach teaches us to find the “reasonable range” of value and then try to list the property on the low end of that range. That’s why we used closed comparables only, and not active listings as comparables. It’s why we aren’t taught to adjust upward for the list-to-sale ratio. We start as low as the client will let us.

If the home doesn’t sell within a month or so, we’re all taught to…what? You got it! To ask for a reduction in price. Then if the property still doesn’t sell, we lower the price again, and again, and again, until eventually we find a buyer for the place. Think about it: we’re selling the house by price. We’re using the price as our marketing tool. That’s why we continue to lower the price, or wait for appreciation in the market to lower the price for us, until the house eventually sells.

One of the reasons this approach works well for the agent is that it places the entire burden of selling the home on the seller! Another reason for using the traditional approach is that the agent doesn’t have to spend a lot of money marketing the house. He doesn’t have to spend a lot of time or effort devising a marketing plan or promoting the property because the price is doing the selling for him. There’s no doubt that this approach will work, of course: it’s been working for decades with good and bad agents alike. However, there are a few drawbacks to the traditional approach that are seldom mentioned.

First and foremost is the agency issue. It’s your job as the listing agent to represent the seller’s interests, which include getting the absolute top dollar for the property. However, most agents don’t get top dollar when they use this approach, and the reason is as simple as supply-and-demand. When there are fewer buyers competing for a home, the sale price may need to be discounted substantially in order to attract interest. In economics-speak, “with a fixed supply and a scarce demand (i.e. fewer buyers), prices drop.”

Another drawback to using this approach is lack of speed: several months may pass before the traditional approach begins to have an effect. In the process, the home often becomes stigmatized. After several reductions, it’s not even shown to potential buyers because it’s been on the market “too long” and is now assumed to have something wrong with it. If the agent starts the process too high and then reduces the price too slowly, the home becomes very difficult to sell at any price.

Many times, listing agents unwittingly become de-facto buyer sub-agents. Even though I don’t know a single listing agent who would intentionally sell out his client, it’s entirely too easy with the traditional listing approach to help the buyer rather than the seller. And, yes, I realize that my judgment may sound harsh, but if you’ll honestly examine this method, you’ll have to agree that, very often, it doesn’t yield the best results for the seller.

In this article, we will take a look at 10 Christmas presents for golfers. When we look at supply versus demand, those who love golf have an endless demand for anything golf related. And, fortunately, there is an endless supply of golf items to satisfy this need.

To kick off the 10 Christmas gifts for golfers, we need look no further than the abundant supply of golf accessories. Golf accessories make great stocking stuffers or gifts to put under the tree. Golf accessories range from the inexpensive, a golf umbrella or golf tees, to the slightly more expensive, like a golf GPS finder. The beauty of golf accessories is that you cannot go wrong. Golfers are always in need of new accessories to compliment their game.

At number two, and always in demand, are golf balls. Like many golf related gifts, golf balls come in expensive and inexpensive variety. For accomplished golfers, you will want to consider a golf ball like the Titleist Pro V1, which come in at about $50 for 12 balls. For beginning golfers (who tend to lose balls), you can get 60 “recycled” balls for about $24.

All golfers see Tiger Woods hit the ball a mile and they want to know how to drive a golf ball just like Tiger and other professionals. As gift #3, consider a new golf driver for Christmas. The hottest golf driver on the market currently is the TaylorMade Burner, but there are many from which to choose.

Golf apparel comes in at #4 on our golfer’s Christmas list. The advances in clothing technology have been significant in recent years. This is especially important for golfers who need absorbent, flexible clothing that allow them to swing properly. You can get great golf gear at reasonable prices and the golfer in your life will be very appreciative.

Golfers can not score well until they have mastered the art of putting. Putting is crucial to shoot great golf scores and you, or the golfer in your life, need the best putter. Currently, a putter called the Odyssey White Hot is the one that has people talking.

Many people like to walk when they play golf. And when you walk a golf course, you need extremely comfortable golf shoes. Golfers can never have enough pairs of golf shoes. At affordable prices and great styles, golf shoes come in at #6 on our list of 10 great gifts for golfers.

A new type of golf club that has taken the golf industry by storm in the past several years is called the hybrid. Hybrids replace short irons that are notoriously difficult to hit. These “rescue” clubs, as they are often called, are a must in the arsenal of all golfers.

Along with putting, golf wedges are extremely important for serious golfers. For good golfers, wedges are usually purchased separately and most golfers carry 3 wedges of varying degrees. Currently, a market leader is Cleveland Wedges but there are many competitors.

Coming in at #9 on our list of Christmas Golf gifts is golf iron sets. These are the clubs that a golfer uses most. If you, or the golfer in your life, is considering an upgrade, Christmas is a perfect time to upgrade that iron set. You can test out golf irons at the local store, but then check prices online, as they are often much more competitive.

Finally, at number ten on our list, we have complete golf sets. For those who want to learn how to play golf, a full set of golf clubs can be purchased at a reasonable price. Sets such as these include every club that you need to begin the game of golf. They are perfect for new junior golfers or those who have recently decided to take up golf. Full complete golf sets can often be purchased for under $200.

Any one of these 10 Christmas golf gifts will make a golfer extremely happy!