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From The Editor's Desk:
Not Finished With Balls |
The World Cup may be over but the ball games are not. I became aware once again this month that I'm a juggler. This awareness came about mainly, I'm afraid, because of the balls I dropped rather than the ones I was proficiently keeping in the air. I guess juggling a couple of businesses, as well as relationships with teenage children, a husband, and parents who have recently moved in to live with us, and house renovations, it's inevitable that here and there a deadline is not met or a phone call not returned. But actually it matters to no-one how many balls you have in the air so long as you handle the ones you have to, when you have to - no excuses. You either have to become a more expert juggler or reduce the number of balls.
Dealmaking is probably only one of many balls you are juggling, as critical or central as it may be. The problem is that dealmaking remains demanding, no matter what else you have to handle.
"It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?" - Henry David Thoreau - American Author, Poet, Naturalist and Philosopher; 1817 - 1862.
Enjoy your dealmaking
Leigh
Strictly Come Dealmaking: Sixth Of Ten Drop Dead Dealmaking Moves
Choreographing The Deal
Here is the sixth move as we compare dealmaking to the tango. If you would like to review the previous five moves you can follow these links to our website:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
A dance like the tango, in fact any dance, is only executed flawlessly once the actual steps have been worked out. The choice of movements, how they flow together, and what will fit best with the music have to be designed, or rather choreographed, before they are performed. The same applies to dealmaking. The shape, flow and timing of the deal have to be designed before there is any actual negotiating encounter.
Deal design
Just as a dance doesn't exist until it has been choreographed, neither does a deal until it has been designed. Therefore, a significant proportion of your planning time needs to be spent deciding what exactly you want and where you can be flexible. You need to know this before you start trading or persuading.
The first step is for you to look at your strategy going in to the deal. If it is more sales oriented you need to try persuasion first, looking at overcoming the other party's objections. If it is more of a negotiation, you need to prepare what concessions you will make for what gains on your side. There may even be other alternatives you need to explore such as deadlock, walking away, or mediation amongst others. These alternatives all carry a cost of some kind, so you need to keep this in mind when choosing your strategy.
Remember that you will have to keep reviewing your strategy - it will change throughout the deal process. In other words, you may well move from selling to negotiating and then back to selling, or closing, and then probably back to negotiating. "Keeping on your toes" is not only something dancers need to do, but dealmakers too!
What do you want?
In a negotiation, if you don't know exactly what you want, you are simply handing the deal carte blanche over to the other party. Therefore in designing your deal you need to identify all your key issues. These will be issues that are essential to you getting the deal you need. They will be both financial and non-financial issues. It is a good idea to also prioritise these issues.
Identifying and ranking the other party's issues is also really important. If your issues are different from the other party's, you have greater power to negotiate as you can give the other party what they want in exchange for getting what you want in return. If the key issues overlap, as happens with price, the negotiation often ends up in a haggle, going backwards and forwards until a compromise is agreed.
How are you going to move?
It is almost certain that the other party will want a better deal than you initially offer. Do you simply then dig in your heels and hope your obstinacy will win them over? Of course not. Within your deal design you need to plan where you can be flexible. You need to know how far you can move from your opening offer until you reach your bottom line. You need to know what your limiting factors are in terms of deadlines, time objectives, mandates, targets, policies and procedures.
For each of your key issues you need to know what you are likely to get in this negotiation based on your research of the market, past deals and the person and organisation you are negotiating with. You then also need to know what your bottom line is as well as the offer with which you can realistically open. This is known as your "bargaining arena" or "ball park". It is the range in which the deal will be struck.
In every deal there will be a variety of smaller, less essential aspects that would be nice to have, or you are happy to concede. These become tradable items which can help you to get the deal or to maximise it. These are another means by which you can move from your opening position but still get the deal you want.
Conclusion
A deal has to be planned and designed as carefully and deliberately as any dance has to be choreographed. And just as a dance is only as good as the steps that make it up, so is a deal. Therefore it is vital that you list the key issues identifying exactly what you must have out of a deal. You also need to assess the range, or ball park, within which you are prepared to strike a deal on each of these issues. Movement and flexibility are expected in a negotiation, so you will need to have a number of options available that you can either offer or ask for to enable you to get the best possible deal.
Leigh Harrison, Johannesburg, July 2010
Women's Day Invitation
Feel fabulous about being YOU
To celebrate Women's Day, spend the morning
expanding your mind and improving your personal power
with Two Delightful Divas,
renowned businesswomen and authors,
Helen Nicholson and Kim Meredith. In addition to a programme filled with stimulation and fun, Helen will introduce her ravishingly revised book Networking: How To Get Your Black Belt In Business Success, and Kim will present her brand new book Deal Diva: How To Negotiate Your Way To Success Without Selling Your Soul, the latest addition to the Work Diva series.
Date: |
Thursday 05 August 2010 |
Time: |
07h30 to 12h30 |
Where: |
Hyatt Regency Johannesburg Hotel in Rosebank |
Cost: |
R985 per person or R8,865 per table of ten |
Goody bag: |
Every guest will receive gifts including a copy of
Networking and a copy of Deal Diva |
Prizes: |
Prizes on the day exceeding R20,000 to be given away |
Bring: |
You, your friends and colleagues, and your business cards |
RSVP via email to jeans@thedealmaker.com. Limited seats available. Book now!
Continue reading...
The Suite Of Programmes
The Dealmaker Programmes Company has five programmes. All of them focus on using selling and negotiating to close deals quickly and profitably. This focus is our strength. However, we also acknowledge that one size does not fit all and so the five different programmes are designed for different audiences and have different emphases.
Below is a brief description of each of the programmes so that you can understand the differences between them and better discern which programme would best suit you and/or your team.
The Dealmaker™ programme is a high level two and a half day event for experienced sales executives, purchasing staff, negotiators, managers, professionals, medium-sized business owners, etc. As it is the longest of the programmes, The Dealmaker™ achieves the greatest improvement in behaviour-based skills.
The Dealmaker™ programme helps companies to not only protect their margin, but to approach sales and business deals innovatively and strategically. The dramatic increase in the delegates' levels of negotiation strategy, process and execution make sure that deals are closed more profitably.
The Dealcloser™, a two day programme, is for people with some sales and negotiation experience who want to learn to shorten the selling cycle while protecting the size of the deal and controlling the sale close date.
The programme's emphasis on value-driven solution sales and executive-level selling strategies ensure that delegates are able to significantly enhance their ability to control and close large, critically important or complex sales. Reducing the time to closure and deal slippage means that companies have far more control over their revenue line.
The Dealguru™ is an exclusive and intensive two day programme for Executives Only - people who hold a board position or partnership (or have extensive dealmaking experience) with a large company. Senior Graduates of The Dealmaker™ programme are also invited to attend this event. The number of attendees is strictly limited.
The programme competes directly with Business School MBA modules and focuses on advanced negotiating skills and business process optimization, particularly the dealmaking expertise needed for Mergers and Acquisitions, corporate finance and similar large business transactions. While challenging their knowledge and ideas, executives also have the opportunity to network with people exploring similar intellectual horizons.
The Dealbuilder™ is a two day programme developed for people with general business exposure (customer interfacing individuals, small business owners, etc.) wanting to develop their dealmaking talents by significantly improving their negotiation capabilities. The programme concentrates on power, communication and negotiating skills.
The Dealbuilder™ programme assists people wanting to improve their negotiating skills, and thus their personal and business financial future and well being, by building their confidence and teaching them exactly what they need to do to get the deals they want.
The Dealdiva™, also two days in length, has been developed for Women Only and addresses the negotiation challenges and obstacles women face in business and in life on a daily basis. The programme is suitable for women with any level of business, sales or negotiation experience. Specific attention is paid to assertiveness in order to help delegates considerably boost their negotiating abilities and confidence.
As The Dealdiva™ is a women's empowerment programme, it touches on issues of self-esteem, how to position oneself in the workplace, and building business expertise through skilful negotiation.
Booking
To book a place on the South African, European or American programmes, or for an appointment with one of our consultants to help you evaluate what intervention will work best for you and your company, please send an email to enquiries@thedealmaker.com.
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Graduate Mentors: Learning From The BestAn Interview With Canninah Mapena, Utilities Manager, Schneider Electric and The Dealguru™ Graduate |
Canninah grew up in Vosloorus, a small township east of Johannesburg. On the advice of her German mentor in her first job she studied further, leading to her becoming the Commissioning Engineer at ABB. To further her career she moved from technical to sales and eventually ended up at Schneider Electric as their Utilities Manager, running both commercial and technical aspects specific to Eskom and all municipalities. Canninah is married and has a daughter aged ten and a son of seven.
What do you enjoy about the work you do?
I love interacting with people, and in my work I get to mix with many different people of different cultures and levels within the organisation. I also love mentoring others.
In my work I am simply myself, displaying my strengths and weaknesses. If I need help I ask for it. This means that I have been mentored by some brilliant people.
What is your career goal?
Ultimately I want to run my own successful business, but in order to get there, I want to be CEO of a large organisation.
How do you juggle all the balls you have in the air?
I have a great support system: a nanny, family close by and a very supportive husband. It's not easy finding the time to build relationships but we all work together as a team. I find fitting in my studies the hardest, especially as I'm carrying an extra work load with not having a Team Leader, but I'm not prepared to compromise on finding the right person just for the sake of the short term.
I have always lived by the motto that I need to live my life well before I can make anyone else happy. And I am open about this, so take me or leave me as I am. I always think it is better just to be yourself - who you are will emerge eventually anyway, so why not be that person straight away?
I do find that probably the ball that gets dropped most frequently is "me" time. I've just recently decided that each week I need to spend at least an hour with a friend or go out with a colleague to have a bit of that "me" time. That's why I agreed to do this interview!
When you have "me" time what do you like to do?
I love shopping! I have a system where I leave my purse at home and first do my window shopping, and then once I know what I want to buy I go back and get it. I have a weakness for shoes, handbags and I must confess - cars. In fact, I'm just about ready for a new car now.
I also love spoiling myself at the spa.
How do you manage your energy?
I've discovered I don't enjoy gym, so I basically feed off the natural energy I have that comes from my passion for my job. Every now and then my body gives in and I find I have to rest, and then I just listen to my body.
I have also learnt to stand my ground as a woman in a male dominated environment. I grew up with boys and I think I was just born with a fighting spirit, but I've also had to work extra hard to prove myself. I've toughened up over the years and learnt to be strong. You have to "grow balls" if you want to achieve!
While I do persevere to get what I want, I want I'm also the kind of person that if something's not working I make a decision to change it. On the down side this means that when I reach a goal I don't always stop long enough to enjoy it before I move on to the next one!
What do you think differentiates an excellent dealmaker from an average one?
An excellent dealmaker keeps the needs of both sides in mind. They don't think the deal is all about them.
The same applies to team work. If you stop singling yourself out, everyone benefits. But it then becomes critical that you have the right team.
Feature Book: The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People By Stephen R. Covey
When I thought about the theme of juggling I realized there is probably no better place to go than Covey's good old classic. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of the basics. So here is Stephen R. Covey's Third Habit, which is "Put First Things First." - Ed
Two key questions
Covey begins his chapter on "Principles Of Personal Management" by asking two questions. They certainly are challenging and I guess even life changing if we took them seriously, and acted on the answers.
Question 1: What one thing could you do (you aren't doing now) that if you did on a regular basis, would make a tremendous positive difference in your personal life?
Question 2: What one thing in your business or professional life would bring similar results?
A story (quoted directly from the book)
When I was Director of University Relations at a large university, I hired a very talented, proactive, creative writer. One day after he had been on the job for a few months, I went into his office and asked him to work on some urgent matters that were pressing on me.
He said, "Stephen, I'll do whatever you want me to do. Just let me share with you my situation."
Then he took me over to his wallboard, where he had listed over two dozen projects he was working on, together with performance criteria and deadline dates that had clearly been negotiated before. He was highly disciplined, which is why I went to see him in the first place.
"If you want to get something done, give it to a busy man."
Then he said, "Stephen, to do the jobs that you want done right would take several days. Which of these projects would you like me to delay or cancel to satisfy your request?"
Well, I didn't want to take the responsibility for that. I didn't want to put a cog in the wheel of one of the most productive people on the staff because I happened to be managing by crisis at the time. The jobs I wanted done were urgent, but not important. So I went and found another crisis manager and gave the job to him.
Urgent and important or not
Covey's time management tool is to divide activities into quadrants depending on whether they are urgent or not, or important or not. Activities that are Urgent and Important have to be done and have to be done now. Unfortunately we spend much of our lives here, in crisis management. Activities that are Urgent but Not Important usually fall under the category of someone else's agenda, and probably a lot of meetings! Activities that are Not Important and Not Urgent are simply time wasters, but we need time in this quadrant every now and then just to space out - most TV watching falls into this category. Then there are those activities that are Important but Not Urgent. These are the actions that would make a significant impact in our lives and businesses but we don't get around to them because we are too "busy".
This brings us back to the questions posed at the beginning of this article. What are your answers, and what are you going to do about it?
The rest of the book
Covey's book is now over twenty years old. It is a bit unwieldy and heavy in places and doesn't always allow for the flexibility and pace that 21st century living calls for, but there are still a few gems. So if you haven't read it yet, just take a glance through to get an idea of the principles. They still apply in many areas of our lives.
What If You Just Stopped Juggling Altogether?
After a very messy and painful divorce, a dysfunctional relationship, all leading to something of a breakdown, author Elizabeth Gilbert decided to take a year off from her life to indulge her senses as well as seek spiritual depth in her life. This led to her spending a third of her year in Italy, a third in India and a third in Bali, where she found the love of her life. Her book about her experiences is called, "eat pray love". Gilbert dropped all the balls she was juggling and opted out of her life for a year so that she could rediscover herself and what balls she wanted to pick up thereafter. Maybe we can't all be this indulgent, but time out to reassess our juggling game can't be all bad!
Here is an excerpt from Gilbert's book when she first arrives in Italy. I can just see the postcard caption "Wish I was there"! - Ed
The first meal I ate in Rome was nothing much. Just some home made pasta (spaghetti carbonara) with a side order of spinach and garlic. (The great romantic poet Shelley once wrote a horrified letter to a friend in England about cuisine in Italy: "Young women of rank actually eat - you will never guess what - GARLIC!"). Also, I had one artichoke, just to try it; the Romans are awfully proud of their artichokes. Then there was a pop-surprise bonus side order of fried zucchini blossoms with a soft dab of cheese in the middle (prepared so delicately that the blossoms probably didn't even notice they weren't on the vine anymore). After the spaghetti, I tried veal. Oh, and also I drank a bottle of house red, just for me. And ate some warm bread, with olive oil and salt. Tiramisu for dessert.
Walking home after that meal, around 11:00PM, I could hear noise coming from one of the buildings on my street, something that sounded like a convention of seven-year-olds - a birthday party, maybe? Laughter and screaming and running around. I climbed the stairs of my apartment, lay down in my new bed and turned off the light. I waited to start crying or worrying, since that's what usually happened to me with the lights off, but I actually felt OK. I felt fine. I felt the early symptoms of contentment.
My weary body asked my weary mind: "Was this all you needed, then?"
There was no response. I was already fast asleep.
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