Tip of the Spear Ventures

A Family Office that behaves like Venture Capital | Private Equity | Business Consulting

leadership

How to Build Capability to Power Business Transformation | Part 3

By

The Point: A program that encourages productive behavior and skills in employees can be a powerful tool for boosting the organization’s productivity. It is also an important element of any successful business transformation. So why do so many leaders get it wrong? In this series, we’re going to explore building employee capabilities, or skills for business transformation… Enjoy!

Business Transformation_Zeroing Agency

Capabilities and Transformation

There are typically four steps to building capability that support a successful business transformation. First, employees are taught new skills. Second, teams apply those skills to their abilities and behavior change. Third, the organization then begins to improve its effectiveness. Fourth and finally, the company achieves its financial goals and other goals/objectives.

Looking to transform your business?

Download our 37 page | 128 question Business Transformation Self-Assessment Workbook!

DOWNLOAD NOW

Business Transformation Common Sense Isn’t So Common

This four-step process would make business transformation seem like common sense when it comes to implementing a capability-building program. However, it’s not a common practice, as we have already noted in our previous posts. Why? Companies don’t prioritize capability-building because the learning outcomes are too simple or distracting, or the key C-suite member isn’t interested. This results in lost opportunities that leave the outcome of business transformation programs up to chance.

Business Transformation Ineffectiveness

However, business transformation programs that focus on skill building are often ineffective. A Tip of the Spear Ventures survey of 120 business executives found that nearly 80 percent of respondents believed capability building was very or extremely important for the long-term success of their businesses. This is an increase of 59 percent from before the COVID-19 pandemic. Only one-third of the respondents believed that capability-building programs are successful in reaching their business goals and maximizing their impact on the economy.

A Business Transformation Case Study | Take 1

An international manufacturing corporation’s business transformation experience shows how a strong capability-building program can drive transformation. The company was in the bottom quartile of its OHI score. Within four years, the company’s OHI score had more than doubled and placed it in the second quarter.

The company’s issues of accountability and business unit communications — which were the main causes of its problems — changed the ground-level impact. Roughly 5,000 new ideas were generated by employees who are now engaged, many of which had a positive impact on the bottom line.

These ideas for improvement were a great asset to the company and helped more people achieve their goals. The company’s former Chief Transformation Officer (CTO) stated, “We can’t view everything from up here.” In other words, sometimes great ideas come from deep within the departments of a company. Leadership can help frontline employees develop their capabilities and give them the opportunity to champion an idea and be recognized for their efforts.

A Business Transformation Case Study | Take 2

Another case showed the importance of capability-building in business transformation. A module of capability-building program on effective meetings saved 2 to 3 percent of time in their employees’ schedules. This may not seem like much on an isolated incident episode, but it adds up over a year in the company that has over one thousand employees.

The company’s capability-building efforts made it more agile than its peers. One example was when a group of capability-building workshop participants sat down and predicted what black-swan events could adversely impact the plant in the next year. One of the results was a category 5 hurricane. This is not an everyday or even annual occurrence. The company had to prepare for this contingency by purchasing extra equipment and creating special procedures. As a result, the plant was back online in weeks after an actual hurricane struck. The sixfold increase in shares after implementing the transformation and the capability-building that supported it was also associated with a shorter time span of four years.

Business Transformation Research

Research points to the power and effectiveness of capability building, despite some anecdotal evidence. Recent Tip of the Spear Ventures research showed that employees who engage in capability building during organizational transformations have an effect on organizational health. Exposing at least 10% of their employees to these programs was twice as likely for success as organizations that did not. The average improvement rate was nine percentile points, versus zero improvement. The organizations that had more than 30 percent of their workforce participate in formal capacity-building programs increased by an average 12 percentile places.

These economic benefits are real. Our analysis revealed that companies that included more than 30% of their workforce in capability-building programs enjoyed total shareholder returns of 43 percent higher than the benchmarks after 18 months. The benefits are not only for employers, but also flow back to employees. It turns out employees actually love learning new skills!

SUMMARY

It is difficult to implement and sustain business transformations. Many thousands, sometimes hundreds, of thousands of employees need to be involved and aligned regardless of their location, language or culture. Organizations can develop the mindsets and behaviors necessary to drive a change and reach their full potential through capability-building programs that are effective.

Sam Palazzolo

Professional Service Firm Leadership + Business Development

By

The Point: Business Development is the lifeblood of any organization. If nothing happens in business until you sell something, then no sale is made until you develop some business! But at a professional service firm, what role does leadership play in Business Development? In this post, we’ll explore professional service firm leadership and their role in Business Development… Enjoy!

Why are You in Business?

“We’re in business to make money” a Professional Service Firm Leader exclaimed during our initial acquisition interview. The question that prompted this answer was a nice, slow, softball right down the middle of the plate for him, namely “Tell us about your business?” A simple question… An even simpler answer!

Most businesses, especially professional service firms are in business to make money. While there may be those nonprofits that are in business to assist customers to “Never Stop Exploring” or some other tagline, the vast majority are in the business of business to make money and return/create value for their owners. Along those lines, the topic of Business Development should be considered the “lifeblood” of any professional services firm (or any organization that sells anything for that matter!)

During the acquisition due diligence phase, we’ve seen the effect of poor Business Development during the most recent pandemic. Businesses that we looked at acquiring at my Private Equity firm shared financial information reflecting decreases in revenue of 20% to 50%, and we’ve heard horror stories of those that have fallen significantly worse! A business’ health and sustainability can be directly measured by the revenue they produce. If revenues drop faster than expenses or are off-pace, this poor health indicator could eventually lead to the death of the organization (i.e., a road to bankruptcy or sale – Cutting expenses can only go so far and typically are not a way to grow a business).

So, the simple question that started off our acquisition interview has a complex underpinning to it, especially when you consider the role of the professional service firm’s leadership!

Leadership’s Role in Business Development

Leadership’s role in driving Business Development at a professional services firm (Accounting, Architecture, Law, etc.) can be seen as a fairly simple initiative — Creating a Sales Strategic Plan, implementing a Business Development Model, and proper Prospect Identification are key aspects that we look to identify in those acquisition interviews. These topics will form the basis of this four (4) part series.

It’s important to keep in mind that Business Development starts with leadership at the professional services firm (Firm leaders, practice leaders, and niche leaders). In conducting acquisition interviews, I’ve seen it play out at far too many firms where leadership rejects the premise and therefore communicates the boomerang-expectation that business development is something that only “rainmakers” can be successful doing. In other words, someone other than themselves. These firm leaders accept the idea that most partners are not capable of Business Development and should therefore focus their efforts/energies on their subject matter expertise (SME) – Accounting, architecture, law, etc. However, in following their SME path of getting the work out the door and letting the rainmakers drive new clients and organic growth, there is a dichotomy that presents itself. Viewing the firms’ revenue in this way results in a sort of bilateral view — rainmakers bring in new clients and the rest of the partners’ service clients. Carrying this further, since firm leadership has no expectation of Business Development from most partners, there is no training or coaching and especially no need for accountability. So, Is there any wonder that so many professional service firms struggle with achieving significant growth year over year?

We Have a Plan…

 “Yes, of course we have a Business Development plan… It’s just different from the one you may have been told exists” a Professional Service Firm Leader shared with us during our acquisition interview. Upon further review, I found that the plan that existed on paper was rarely, if ever, followed. This inconsistency led to poor results in Business Development, and overall firm financial figures being reported. I’m often puzzled why leaders believe that we will not “see” something as being off or different when they give us this contrarian perspective. Afterall, it’s not that these firms are large enough to hide these individuals or their erratic performance.

Sales Strategic Planning

If the adage, “Nothing happens until you sell something” holds true (and why shouldn’t it, even at a professional services firm?), then what are the major actions leadership needs to take in order to drive significant growth year over year and build a successful business development structure? From a high-level perspective, the following three (3) actions should be incorporated in a Sales Strategic Planning document annually:

Expectations

Professional Service Firm leaders need to clearly communicate that it is every partner’s responsibility to be successful at Business Development and drive top-line revenue for growth. Business Development goals need to be established for every partner — goals that are stretch goals and that take into account each partner’s strengths and weaknesses. The issue here is not to give every partner the same revenue goal, but to give every partner a revenue goal for them to hit individually. These individual goals should roll-up into the stated goal for the overall firm.

Training and Coaching

Just like any sports team, there is a range of ability from the superstar to the team members who just make-up the team. To carry-on with the sports analogy, the coaches must understand the span of abilities that exist amongst the individual team members and as well as the responsibility to ensure that every member of the team improves their abilities each day (This is what practice is for!) It’s no different with a Professional Service Firm. Firm leadership must ensure that there is a strong training and coaching model in place to provide continuous improvement to the entire partner group as it relates to their Business Development abilities.

Accountability

For the above two steps (Expectations + Training and Coaching) to achieve the overall goal of driving revenue and successful Business Development, there needs to be an effective accountability model in place. Every partner has to be held accountable for their individual performance against the goals established for them. Accountability needs to be focused on helping each partner achieve greater levels of performance, versus laying blame for not achieving their goals. Accountability needs to be established with a carrot and stick methodology… There is motivation and training tools that act as the carrot, not as a Billy club acting as the stick in the event goals are not achieved. Accountability is a key ingredient necessary to drive every partner’s success in Business Development. Lastly, Professional Service Firm leadership should be held accountable for creating and implementing a successful Business Development model throughout the firm.

Leave the Networking to Leadership

“It’s the expectation that every leader in our Professional Services Firm network to increase our client base” I was told during an acquisition interview by our prospective organization’s Managing Director. If it was clear to him, it apparently wasn’t too clear to everyone else at the leadership level or beyond (Sales year over year were down a whopping 50%!)

A Business Development Model

Let’s look at the three major stages of an effective Business Development model:

Building a Network

Business Development starts with each Professional Service Firm Leader building their own network of contacts that are in a position to create an opportunity for the firm. This is the single most challenging piece of the Business Development strategy, and one that generates the most fear and concern for most partners. The bottom line is that most partners are just not comfortable going into an industry conference or local business association meeting and making contacts that matter. Professional Service Firm Leaders need to understand this and build training and coaching programs that will help each partner learn and become comfortable with building their network. There is no one approach to successful networking, and each partner needs to develop a process that works for them.

Creating Opportunities

The value of a personal network is in the potential opportunities for new clients. A major mistake that many partners make is thinking any contact is a good contact. This strategy is based on “hopes” and “wishes,” not on strategic decisions. Unless the contact is a decision maker at a potential client, or the contact is a key influencer with access to target clients, the contact has limited value in terms of the potential for opportunities to be created. Turning a contact into a valuable contact is a critical process that includes training, mentoring and a defined plan of action. Most critical in this process is the contact must be able to build trust in the partner.

Closing the Sale

All the best networking and opportunity creating activities results in little/nothing if the sales closed percentage is low or not where it should be according to the goals established for the partner/firm. So, what percentage will you set? Too low and you can modify higher. These adjustments are important because you have to start with something stated. It’s only based on the autopsy of either business won or lost that you can identify not only the proper percentage to target, but what activities you should train/monitor for successful Business Development.

Of Course We’re Driven to Acquire New Clients

“Of course we’re driven to acquire new clients. At this Professional Services Firm each of the partners take growth very seriously!” a leader at the firm shared with us during our acquisition interview. But where exactly were the firm’s leaders focused on acquiring new clients? After a few additional questions, it became obvious that they were looking at very low-hanging fruit clientele (i.e., those that were extremely easy to acquire!)

Who are Your Prospects?

There are three types of prospective clients to be taken into consideration for your Sales Strategic Plan as part of your Business Development efforts for the Professional Service Firm, Price-driven, Relationship-driven, and Value-driven. Let’s review each in more detail.

Price-driven

This type of prospect is only interested in the price, and from their perspective the lowest price. If that is the type of prospect you want to pursue, your win percent will in all likelihood be low (probably below 30%). Professional Service Firm Leadership caught in identifying Price-driven prospects typically believe that they can secure clients from other Professional Service Firms on price alone (“If we lower the price of our services, we’ll increase our client base). These same leaders tend to believe that once secured, they will be able to sell future services at a significantly higher rate so the overall profit on the client will be acceptable. This rarely happens, as these clients tend to find other low-price firms to do business with.

Relationship-driven

The Relationship-driven prospect is one who has a direct relationship with a part of your network or was referred by someone who has a good and trusted relationship with the prospect (i.e., they have a relationship with someone/somewhere which is why they’re doing business with your Professional Service Firm). Price may still be a driver for them, but the relationship often trumps price as long as the price is within a reasonable range.

Value-driven

The Value-driven prospect is one where the client agrees to do business with your firm due to the value they derive. Typically referred to as the “gold” standard, they never use price as a factor in selecting the Professional Service Firm, as long as they can see the connection between what your price is and the value that you deliver.

The best client-prospect is the one that is both relationship-driven and value-driven. As the firm or practice leader, you have to create a winning Business Development model that will drive growth every year, with each partner improving their Business Development success every year. For your firm to achieve significant annual growth, the best path is to implement a Business Development model that capitalizes on every partner’s strengths (and limits their weaknesses), sets clear expectations, and holds each partner accountable for results — the results being the actual new clients acquired.

SUMMARY

Professional Service Firms struggle to achieve significant growth year over year. Business development in its simplest structure consists of (a) building your network; (b) creating opportunities: and (c) closing the sale. So why is it so difficult for so many professional service firms to consistently drive substantial annual growth? Serving the firm in a role that’s larger than compliance and client service to one where all partners have a responsibility to sell is the purpose of this four (4) part series.

Sam Palazzolo

#Leadership #BloodSweatSpears

#acquisitions #acquisitionentrepreneurship #businessgrowthstrategy #businessmergersacquisitions #buyabusiness #buyingabusiness #buyside #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #entrepreneurshipthroughacquisition #exitstrategies #mergers #mergerandacquisition #mergersacquisitionsdivestitures #privateequity #growingbusinesses #growthstrategies #mergers #mergersandacquisitions #newbusinessopportunities #searchfund #sellabusiness #CapitalAssetManagement #sellyourbusiness #smallbusiness #InvestmentBanking #PrivateEquity #PE

Is Happiness a Requirement for Success?

By

Are you happy? Ask yourself right here/right now are you truly happy? It seems the world right now is not a very happy place. With a health pandemic raging on, long overdue protests taking place, and a world economy on the verge of collapsing the news headlines don’t share a lot to be happy about. It’s an unrealistic expectation for people to be happy all the time, even without the current happenings. So, it got us thinking here at the Tip of the Spear Ventures, is happiness a requirement for success? In this post we’ll explore the benefits of happiness and share two reasons why it’s not good to be happy all the time (Trust me… Research shows it’s not all it’s cracked up to be)… Enjoy!

Is Happiness a Requirement for Success?

Happiness Meet Ditch

Yesterday I had a Zoom meeting with a colleague (I’m sure you did too!) The meeting started off just like every other meeting I’ve ever participated in, but quickly took a hard left-turn straight into the ditch! After we initially exchanged pleasantries (“Good morning (Name)”… “Good morning Sam”) we breached the “How are things going?” moment. This is where the turn came in! My colleague expressed “I’m bitter, burned out, and besieged!” How do you respond to that? Truth be told, I’ve asked that question a thousand times, pre-pandemic/pre-protest and typically get the standard “I’m good, how are you?” response. But not this time! Was my colleague trying me on? Didn’t they really owe me the standard response so that we could get down to business? Why was I facing this derailing moment?

Positive Psychology and the Study of Happiness

Positive psychology is a field born roughly 25 years ago. Positive psychology is often mistaken of perpetuating a myth regarding happiness, inasmuch a good life is all about being happy. There have been a number of good works on the topic of happiness, including Shawn Achor’s “The Happiness Advantage,” Matthieu Ricard’s “Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill,” and The Dalai Lama’s “The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living” (Even I’ve written on the topic in a post titled “The Leadership Challenge: Pollyannaish!”) But perhaps this happiness-focus is not exactly what it should be?

According to Martin Seligman, perhaps the most-often cited expert in the field of positive psychology, the study is meant to approach optimal human functioning at large, including the topic of happiness. Furthermore, it turns out that happiness might not be the best state to operate in for success (As a matter of fact, it isn’t!)

Success does not Require Happiness

In order to function optimally in our lives, we do not need to operate in a perpetual state of happiness all the time. So why would we not want to operate in such a state of bliss? Here are two (2) reasons:

Why are You Here? – Meaning and Happiness

The question is as old as time: “Why are you here?” or “What is your purpose?” Defining your meaning is difficult, after all it’s at the top of Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ for a reason. With this in mind, answering those questions is going to take some thought… Some real deep thought! The experiences, actions, and relationships that make your life worth living typically fall into the two camps of “hedonic” and “eudaimonic.” Hedonic life moments are all about pleasure (Seeing beauty, eating chocolate, and/or loving another). Eudaimonic life moments, on the other hand, are all about personal meaning and purpose (Upholding your personal values, finding ethical meaning expressed in what you do, and/or standing up for someone that can no longer stand). Most of the time, what is most meaningful isn’t the most pleasurable and vice versa.

Negativity Makes Life Better!

While happiness might be a preferred state, research shows that negative feelings can in fact be good for us! Anxiety and fear can protect us (think “fight or flight”), guilt can motivate us to make amends, and anger can help us increase focus on a problem at hand. While there’s a difference between feeling an emotion and acting out as a result of it, most are able to experience the negative emotion in life’s ups and downs with a goal of creating a healthy and manageable lifestyle.

SUMMARY

So, happiness as it turns out is not the sole requirement for success. While living a good life isn’t just about being happy, it also entails incorporating authenticity, pleasure, pain, happiness, sadness, love and conflict. If we were only happy all the time, we’d overlook opportunities to provide improvement to ourselves, those we lead, and the communities in which we serve.

Sam Palazzolo

Q&A with Tip of the Spear Ventures’ Sam Palazzolo

By

‘We went from talking about sales acceleration and strategic plans to working in survival mode!’

Sam Palazzolo
Sam Palazzolo

I’ve been counseling businesses from the Fortune 500 to small businesses as a strategic partner for more than two decades. Believe me… I’ve seen my fair share of ups and downs! Perhaps that’s why I was recently interviewed to gather my thoughts on where we’re at as a business community and what we must do in order to recover successfully. Here is a transcript from that interview… Enjoy!

Interviewer: How would you describe the current recession… How does it compare to 2008?

Sam Palazzolo: I remember well the great recession of 2008. I had just left a successful corporate career at Toyota, including working retail running a few large franchises. I had just launched my second company when the recession hit (Good timing, right?) What we are seeing now is a similar pattern, albeit greatly accelerated. The difference between is that was a financial meltdown… This is a medical pandemic induced recession.

After successfully exiting a startup I was leading, I formed my current company (Tip of the Spear Ventures) in 2012. Part of my job is providing business advisory services to a host of clients. The advisory services focus on three (3) specialties as subject matter experts (SMEs):

  1. Sales / Business Development
  2. Mergers & Acquisitions
  3. Business Turnarounds

Interviewer: Set the stage for us… How were things going before all this happened?

Sam Palazzolo: I had been on pace to travel this year for 40+ weeks, down from my typical 48 weeks annually. The clients I visited were actively seeking help with their businesses, primarily in architecting Strategic Plans and Sales / Business Development blue prints until it all blew up and the phone calls started.

Interviewer: What hit first?

Sam Palazzolo: At the same time the order came to shut down and stay home, there was also a request to identify what to do now? So we were working right away with business owners early on.

Interviewer: How did your job change through all this?

Sam Palazzolo: I spent the majority of my days answering phone calls, texts and emails. We pulled together some intellectual property regarding the pandemic, and specifically what to do about it as a business leader. Based on our research, we compiled and presented webinars… Lots of webinars! To date, and we just calculated this figure at the end of May, we had completed roughly 70 webinars.

Interviewer: What were the webinars about?

Sam Palazzolo: We took a two-pronged approach. The first focus was on business survival — what can businesses do to preserve cash runway, raise funds, adjust sales forecasts, consider appropriate marketing, implement headcount strategies, and control capital spending.

These played themselves out in webinars on leadership, working remotely, virtual sales techniques, serving the customer virtually, and more. At the end of each webinar, we always make a point of polling participants for what additional topics they’d like to see researched/presented. This has fueled future session development on all too timely topics.

Interviewer: What kinds of issues have you encountered along the way?

Sam Palazzolo: Like everyone else, we’re working remotely. This poses several challenges, namely ensuring that you have the proper home office setup (Best internet bandwidth available, phone connections, etc.) You can count on the unexpected occurring! The big question is how will you overcome these technology challenges and make sure you receive forgiveness from participants.

Interviewer: What other issues are business leaders dealing with?

Sam Palazzolo: The top issues are reduction in income and sales, of course. Businesses were closed by direct order of the government, considering some essential and the vast majority non-essential. That’s what makes this unique. Usually a downturn in the economy takes a little time to develop, giving business leaders time to prepare. But this was on a huge scale, all at once. Roughly 15% felt as though they were thoroughly prepared to face the oncoming pandemic… Only 15%!

Interviewer: What’s the scenario in a normal recession?

Sam Palazzolo: Typically, if you think about an economic wave, the crest of the economic wave, things are going well and then something happens that starts a decline and the economy contracts. Normally that takes weeks or months to play out. Then you hit the bottom of the recession, the trough, that can last 16 to 18 months and the recovery begins, eventually leading back to prosperity. What makes this so unique is the sudden drop-off to a recession. As I mentioned previously, this is a medical pandemic NOT a financial pandemic. Regardless though, in a matter of days things began to plummet putting an immediate hardship on all businesses.

Interviewer: So, if everything reopens, is there a shortcut to the recovery phase?

Sam Palazzolo: Some believed early on that it could return to normal as quickly as it came upon us. A lot of it depends on how this plays out with the virus itself. People are now understanding it’s going to be with us for a while, which means a new normalcy, new health and safety standards across the board. It’s going to change a number of existing business models. People at this stage are doing a lot of hypotheticals about how requirements will affect business. The customer base, the employees, the supply chain.

Interviewer: Where are we now?

Sam Palazzolo: We’re in the pre-recovery period right now. We’re still assessing new information from the state and regulatory agencies on how to reopen. A number of businesses are weighing their options — is it worth continuing or just shut the thing down and move on. That’s a tough, stressful period for business owners and families. Our acquisitions business has helped identify a positive recovery path. Keep in mind, in any downturn in the economy you’ll see some businesses end up closing. Those businesses who do survive are often in a much better place. The reason being, former competitors are gone, creating an opportunity to grow. Others find new opportunities. It’s a cycle.

Interviewer: What is happening now with your clients?

Sam Palazzolo: We went from talking about sales acceleration and strategic plans to working in survival mode!

How to Embrace the Power of ‘Yes’ in Business Turbulent Times

By

The Point: These are truly turbulent times in business for leadership. Make the right moves, and you’ll be a hero! Make the wrong or no moves, and you’ll be far from a hero!! I’ve seen a lot of negative-speak lately as COVID-19 takes an enhanced grip on the globe. Recognizing that it’s awfully difficult to agree to deals that no longer make sense (especially when your business hair is on fire!), it made me wonder if we’re looking at the business-landscape through too negative a lens? So in this post, we’ll explore how to embrace the power of ‘Yes’ in business turbulent times… Enjoy!

How to Embrace the Power of Yes’

Starting with ‘No’

“I loved saying ‘No’ when times were good… I cherish the opportunity now that times are bad to say it with even more conviction/volume!” a purchasing manager at a client recently shared with me. If they’re like most purchasing managers or leaders I’ve worked with, during negotiation they’ve learned the single best tactic towards achieving a successful outcome for themselves/their company is to begin with ‘No.’ While embracing the power of ‘No’ typically leads to continued negotiations, and hopefully positive (or ‘Yes’) results for both parties, the possibility exists for negotiations to breakdown, stall or worst case scenario come to a screeching halt.

So, what are the effects of starting negotiations with ‘No?’ From Harvard Business School and Harvard’s Department of Psychology, research has been conducted and summarized on how the utilization of ‘No’ not only leads to poor negotiation traction, but often times the negative feelings associated with future negotiations. Furthermore, negotiations that start with ‘No’ typically break down, as participants perceive the inflexibility of the other party.

Starting with ‘Yes’

In business turbulent times such as these, the last thing I would recommend to a client is to take a bad business deal. As a matter of fact, I don’t think even in non-turbulent times taking a bad deal in and of itself is a good option! However, is there a way in which we can successfully not start with ‘No’ during negotiations? What would be the outcome in starting with ‘Yes’ instead?

Starting with ‘Yes’ overcomes the initial negativity often experienced during a negotiation. The inevitable “I should have started higher” thought permeates the negotiators mindset. However, this can not only lead to earlier agreements, shortened sales-cycles, but also better outcomes for both parties now (as well as in the future!)

‘And” is Better Than ‘But’

So how can starting with ‘Yes’ be better in negotiations than starting with ‘No?’ The key, according to a mediation expert, is to utilize the conjunction ‘And’ instead of ‘But’ in negotiation moments. Supported by the Harvard research, this technique often “[O]pens a window of opportunity for addressing multiple issues, and using new approaches, while mitigating the taint of pejorative shadings [leaves both parties].” ‘And’ also avoids the dismissive nature associated with using ‘But’ during negotiations.

Starting with ‘Yes’ using ‘And’ Example

Here’s an example of how to properly utilize ‘Yes’ as well as ‘And’ in a typical negotiation. For framing purposes, your company is being pitched a new software piece that will significantly reduce costs and increase utilization (Yes, this is possible!) However, it’s your birthday and the strategic partner calling on your company knows it… So, they inquire:

SP “I heard it’s your birthday today?”

YOU “Yes, that’s correct, and I’d love a cup of coffee and a doughnut.”

SP “Well then let’s go get one!”

Admittedly, this is not the greatest negotiation example (after all, who wouldn’t like a doughnut, and do we really need to wait until it’s your birthday to have one?!?) But the point I’m making is that if we had started with ‘No’ and utilized ‘But” in the response we’d be looking at a negative negotiation with the potential of stalling/stopping and having caused future negotiation to not occur (All future negotiations!)

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve explored how to embrace the power of ‘Yes’ in business turbulent times such as these. We explored the Harvard research surrounding the negativity of ‘No’ as well as how to positively leverage ‘Yes’ for successful negotiation outcomes. The key in utilizing, and especially in starting with ‘Yes’ is to use the conjunction ‘And’ to stipulate what you’d like to see have happen as a result of beginning, and staying, at ‘Yes.’

Sam Palazzolo