Negotiation Skills

Amazing negotiation and persuasion tricks to try right now

Book Reviews Consumer Behavior Sales skills Self development September 20, 2019 3 Comments

One of the top needed skills for the job market in 2019 is negotiation skills, persuasion, and influence.

LinkedIn: The Most In-Demand Hard and Soft Skills of 2019

Forbes: The Skills You Need To Succeed In 2020

… and what a better way to tackle this, than making the best of my favorite subject of consumer behavior?
Consumer behavior is the study of how consumers search for, choose, buy, and use your products or services.

Consumers are people. Whether you influence them to buy your products or services or influence them to buy into your ideas, you can more or less follow the same concepts.

Persuasion and influence could be one of the hardest tasks anyone can be assigned to. Some people are skilled, while others are left dazzled, not sure what could be the next step they can take to improve in that area.

I know. I know because I bet you are a bit like me and face this situation every single day — at work or in social settings. After all, I am a nerd, and well, I did study software engineering. This is quite far from negotiation skills if you ask me.

Read: Learn how consulting changed my life

The good news is negotiation skills, persuasion and influence can be taught. Yes. Some people think that only the born talented are the ones who can exceed in that area, but I beg to differ.

The power of stating the obvious

Consumer Behavior Copywriting Self development July 21, 2019 3 Comments

THow many times have you sarcastically said, “Thank you very much for stating the obvious?”

I know I did, numerous times, perhaps even every single day.

In case you don’t know, I live on sarcasm. Maybe, I will figure out the psych-analysis reason later on, but that’s not what I am here to talk about. It’s good though to learn a little about me, myself, and I? ?

Moving on.

It seems like we are more likely to be cooperative and in a sales setting receptive to suggestions and converting to a buying customer when someone states the obvious to us. We can buy an idea, it doesn’t even have to be a product.

I have no idea why though, but if it works, why not try it?

How exactly hard is it to say “No”?

Consumer Behavior Self development July 10, 2019

A few weeks ago, a colleague mentioned two things he likes about me. One of them is my ability to say, “No.”

My response?

Flattered. If you know me, you would know how much I like compliments, but then again, which girl doesn’t?
Although flattered, I wasn’t really sure if that was a good thing, of course in other people’s opinions, not mine. I know I do say “No” when I want to say “No” and it does come easily to me. Perhaps it’s because I like to put myself first. Some people call that “selfish”, but if my well-being is “selfish” then be it.

While I know I can say “No”, I witness a lot of people who say “No” with all their body and heart, but yet, still do whatever someone else has asked them to do. In some negotiations, from the bottom of their hearts, they don’t want to do it, yet they do.

The scenario below may sound familiar.