REAL ESTATE
NEGOTIATION INSTITUTE

Different cultures enter into negotiation with different expectations. Therefore, when dealing with negotiations across cultures, you will find that the steps you need to take will be different. Look for clues that help you understand how the other party views sense of time, appropriateness of places, significance of gender and body language, and patterns of communication. Being aware of these differences and adjusting your negotiation expectations will provide the best environment for a successful negotiation.

In part 1 of this 2 part post, we will examine the factors of time and place.

Sense of Time
Some cultures run rigidly by the clock, while others are more fluid when interpreting a start and end time for meetings or deadlines. Try to be as flexible as possible with time constraints. Beginning a meeting later than planned is a minor inconvenience if the outcome is favorable for you. While you may be ingrained with the idea that a late start is a snub or rude statement, other cultures may simply view time as an inconsequential factor to preparedness or convenience.

Settings or Places
Various cultures view the setting and location of negotiations as critical. Some will not want to discuss business during refreshments or meals, while others will come directly to the point while giving you a hug or hoisting a beverage. Be open to either launching in directly or waiting until invited to discuss the matter at hand. Allow your host to dictate the pace. Or if you are the host, try to discern the other party’s expectations beforehand.

Negotiation with different cultures provides an interesting challenge and a new facet in your professional experience. In part 2 of Cultural Factors in Negotiations, we will elaborate on gender, body language, and communication patterns that may affect negotiations with cultural variations.

We know that one of the master techniques in negotiating is to understand who you are negotiating with. In the case of younger adults – those born between 1980 and early 2000’s known as Generation Y – there are some shared general characteristics that can help you understand their negotiation style. Utilizing these characteristics may in turn help smooth the negotiation to a successful outcome for all parties.

Gen Y are the children of the Baby Boomers. They will make up almost as formidable a demographic force as their Boomer parents. By and large, these adults were raised with positive feedback, lots of choices, and reward for accomplishments. They are also technology savvy and accustomed to on-demand interaction. Creating these circumstances in your negotiation expertise should help to keep the negotiation process moving forward.

Positive Feedback
Gen Y thrives on positive feedback and bristles more than usual at negative feedback. Find reasons to applaud their efforts of researching on the internet or addressing property repairs in a timely manner.

Lots of Choices
The more choices you can offer Gen Y, the better participation you should receive. If there is a particular negotiation point that is important to you, offer a choice for how to reach that outcome. For example, “We can either lower the price or raise the amount of repairs that we offer. Which seems better to you?”

Reward for Accomplishments
If there is something that the Gen Y feel strongly about, offer that as a trade-off or reward for something equally valuable to the other party. “I know that you want the appliances included. How about if we let them ____________.”

On-Demand Interaction
As much as reasonable, be available by text, email, and phone. Promptly return any missed texts or calls, and check email several times each day. Gen Y wants to collaborate as quickly as possible.

With these negotiation techniques in play, Negotiating with Gen Y should move quickly forward to a win-win conclusion.

Negotiation is a business skill as well as a life skill. It is a complex skill involving multiple sub-skills and the use of various techniques, tactics, and approaches depending on the situation at hand. It is now taught at virtually every major business and/or law school in the country. Programs and courses vary in length (and cost) from a one-day topical course (e.g. “Dealing with Difficult People”) to full degree programs (e.g. U. of Notre Dame, Creighton). Net, it is a skill that requires ongoing training and practice to increase competency, which leads to better results.

In the corporate world, those tasked with handling important negotiations typically attend multiple negotiation training sessions over an extended period of time to gain expertise. When I worked at Procter & Gamble, I attended various negotiation training sessions at different companies and universities to broaden my knowledge. The combination of those sessions resulted in a more thorough knowledge of negotiation and led to significantly better results for my company. At the Real Estate Negotiation Institute, we have developed a real estate specific series of courses that will equip real estate professionals with advanced negotiation knowledge to better protect clients while helping them to achieve better results. As managing brokers well know, this will also help agents and brokers achieve better results (e.g. higher profit, greater retention, better recruiting).

Our 2-day CNE course is, we believe, an excellent start to understanding negotiation skills and applying them to real estate negotiation situations. Our two advanced courses (one for listing agents and one for buyer’s agents) introduce new concepts and tools not taught in the CNE course while expanding on some of the areas introduced in the CNE® course. For example, we introduce the concepts of ZOPA (Zone of Possible Agreement) and Anchoring along with new Offer / Counter Offer Worksheets to help buyers and sellers develop more credible and defensible negotiation positions. We also greatly expand on the concept of Power in a negotiation and discuss 11 sources of Power and how to use them judiciously in a negotiation. Our “Mastering Email Negotiations in Real Estate” course is designed to address the most difficult way to negotiate – in writing – and how to manage the increased hostility inherent in this negotiation medium. In addition, our shorter (3 hours) classes on “Negotiating Across Generations in Real Estate” and “Cultural Factors in Real Estate Negotiations” are designed to round out our program for real estate professionals in two areas that can often make or break negotiations if not properly addressed.

New to all of our courses in the MCNE program is our “ACCE” Negotiation Methodology that supplements the CNE Model. The ACCE Negotiation Methodology provides a simple yet powerful process for negotiation that can be used in any negotiation situation. Additionally, we are now incorporating more “accelerated learning” techniques into our training. These techniques – such as group discussions, case studies, skill practice, and “teach backs” – help increase comprehension and retention of the material being taught.

Our MCNE program is designed to take negotiation skills in the real estate industry to a new level. As with the CNE course, the real estate professionals who continue to advance their negotiation skills will be able to out-perform other agents in the important areas of gaining more clients, achieving better results for clients, and achieving better results for themselves.

Tom Hayman
CEO and Co-Founder of the Real Estate Negotiation Institute

The Seattle-King County Association of Realtors (SKCAR) in Bellevue, Washington, recently named Tom Hayman of the Real Estate Negotiation Institute their 2010 Instructor of the Year. Hayman was invited to the SKCAR year-end banquet in December to accept the award, which he attended with family members.

Claudia Crowell, Business Director for SKCAR, noted that Hayman was the first instructor outside the state of Washington to receive this honor.

Tom Hayman, co-founder of the Real Estate Negotiation Institute, offers his experience and insight in 6 Ways to Craft an Offer a Seller Can’t Refuse by Marilyn Lewis of MSN Real Estate.

The article explains that, “If you sweeten your offer with intangibles, your bid will stand out in neon lights, say three noted real-estate experts,” of which Tom Hayman is one.

In today’s tough real estate climate, the better the offer the better the chances of success.

Tom Hayman, principle for the Real Estate Negotiation Institute and Negotiation Expertise, was interviewed for ABC News 15 in Phoenix, Arizona, and asked for negotiation tips that every consumer can use. View the news segment here.

Negotiation Expertise on ABC  News 15