How the f*ck do you negotiate?

How the f*ck do you negotiate?

Seemingly NO ONE knows this.

So I made this little guide:

This is one of those success multipliers, you'll do better than everyone else if you do well...

Despite doing the same amount of work and getting the same results...

If you don't learn this and don't do it right:

• You'll be framed into submission like a naughty dog being pushed down the ground by Cesar Milan
• You'll get underpaid
• You'll do whatever people want you to do without a fighting chance

"HOW DO I DO THIS PROPERLY THEN, VITKIN"

This is how:

1. Know what you actually want before getting on the meeting.

When you talk about it, you need to have a clear agenda; here's what we're going to talk about and why...

For you, yourself, without sharing with the client, you should have 5-6 reasons why it's in their benefit to give you the money you want.

Most people don't have 2 reasons for anything...

1. Know what you'd be UNHAPPY WITH -> worst case scenario

Make it absolutely clear what you won't accept.

The way things are?

A drop in price is a NO.

NEVER NEGOTIATE ON PRICE?

Be prepared to take action... if it's not reached have an alternative.
It's well and good to say you don't stand for low prices; but if you don't have an alternative, the client is likely to fuck you in the ass.
This goes back to the intro; you'll build a crazy momentum of success.

1. Be prepared to walk away:

Just like girls sense when a guy is needy, business owners or clients sense when you're not willing to walk away AND master negotiators will test you for this.

Be prepared to walk away pleasantly; not fuck you suck my dick if you don't get what you want.

You should express that it's gone well and explain why you can't work to whatever they're asking for.

I don't want to leave things badly, I've enjoyed working with you.

We've had people in the mastermind that get fantastic results for clients.

Clients get pitched by lots of people, and they'll come back to work again with you cause you're not the c*** who pushed too hard and left on a bad note...

You're the cool normal person they'll come back to even though they didn't initially work with you..

OR they'll refer someone to you.

1. Don't be framed into a position you'd be fucked in:

You have to come from a place of power and certainty.

This has lots to do with how your life is going.

You need a strong frame. Not just "believe in yourself"... but "don't be worried about the outcome of a meeting"...

You need to have strong client lead generation process, so that you're more firm in the ability to influence clients and yourself.

If you've done your research, you have other options, and you stand firm, you will almost automatically have a stronger frame.

Someone with $200k on the bank account will be less needy and weird than someone who's broke and needs the money for a flight home next week.

1. know the value you bring and be prepared to bring even more

Sometimes clients don't know how much value you've actually brought them; don't assume they're aware...

Be sure you have metrics to show how much money you've made them, bring it to the table and remind them of it.

Ideally in a dollar figure.

Sometimes $ is hard to prove, so SOMETIMEs it can be ok in other metrics.

1. Don't get into combat with them; make it win-win:

It's very easy, when negotiating with someone, to fall into the trap of thinking they're the enemy...

and that you don't like each other....

Sure, it can feel liberating not to have to be cordial for a while, but you can't actually be a dck like that unless you're some football club owning billionaire (or otherwise have sufficient fck off money).

They're probably not going to say yea if you're asking for money without bringing more value.

Better: I think you'd benefit from x, that's going to be worth it to pay me y if you need it and you think it's what I'm offering is great.

1. Make it super clear that you enjoy working with them and why;

Frame the conversation with them because things will go better.

If you compliment them up front and it's CLEAR you want to work towards wanting to work with them...

You're trying to find a solution to work with them, if they fight for it as well, of course.

Example negotiation with an employee:
"I love working with you, but this and that has to change"

vs

"You can only stay if you take a pay cut."

-> Huge difference emotionally and ultimately benefits your social and money bank accounts...

1. Do your research well; who are the people you're talking to, what will help them and you...?

You want to be prepared with an excellent proposition.

To make a proposition awesome, do your homework.

Check out what their goals are; what their pain points are...

Some people think the most valuable thing is not annoying their customers.

Some people think squeezing all the money out of their customer is a good idea... and f(*)ck people who get annoyed.

Unless you know internally what their compass is, what their goals and values are; you can't offer them everything they want.

Especially, if they're your client, you have no excuse not to know everything about them.

1. Research the marketplace and place yourself within it.

You don't exist in a vacuum.

Your services don't exist in a vacuum.

The marketplace is the alternative to YOU.

Knowing what the going rate for services is all by itself is HUGE.

We've had people go into a marketplace, charging $30/lead, because that's what their other clients were paying.

But, this NEW marketplace, was dominated by a single player who was charging $200/lead.

They missed out on a lot of cash cause they didn't research properly.

(BEGINNERS: That being said, don't prevent yourself from starting a business because you still need to do research. GET HELP from someone who's done the research.)

Similar story:

A business I know was reselling a product, without researching the market rate.

They put a 10% markup on their supplier cost, and they were making a $2k profit as a whole.

The 10% was completely random; they had no idea what the market rate was.

As soon as someone did some research, they realized that their supplier was giving them an awesome deal.

They upped their prices and were soon making between $10k-40k profit per month for the same service.

1. Listen to your client:

Your client will tell you how to do a good job and how to win negotiations.

Negotiations are not about manipulating them and talking them into what you want but hearing their concerns and issues and delivering solutions they'll love.

1. Create win-win deals only, anything less is guaranteed failure:

Even if you manage to convince someone of something you want that does not benefit them, it's not going to last long.

If you want a long-term business, it's always better to have low churn and happy clients whom you don't have to manage all the time and who you don't constantly have to negotiate with cause they love you.