Every year millions of dollars change hands on mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, alliances, management buyouts, share issues and financial restructuring. The high stakes, extreme time pressure and psychological stress involved in these negotiations can and does cause mistakes as misunderstandings kill potential deals, deadlocks stifle opportunities and money is left on the table.
This programme aims to provide insights into the methods adopted by outstanding negotiators, so risks of failure are reduced and the chance of signing win/win agreements are greatly enhanced.
Over 3-days you will:
- Gain insight into the key psychological principles involved in achieving win/win financial negotiations
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Discover a simple powerful seven-step method for planning financial negotiations
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Learn how to use the power of suggestion to set a positive tone for face-to-face meetings
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Acquire a ‘toolbox’ of tried and tested skills to break deadlocks
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Understand the ‘dirty tricks’ used by unscrupulous negotiators and how to deal with them
Methodology
This highly practical and accessible three-day course will reveal the secrets of successful negotiation in financial markets. Using research from the fields of social psychology and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), lectures, case studies and practical exercises, this couse will enhance your skills to make an immediate impact on your business dealings.
Who should attend?
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Investment bankers, project financiers and syndicators
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Traders and sales directors / managers
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Board directors
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Heads of business divisions
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Business development executives
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M&A strategic planning executives
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Lawyers, corporate financiers and consultants
Day 1
Values and integrity in a negotiation
Understanding how the parties’ behaviour and actions during a deal is driven by their underlying patterns of motivation.Having a sense of the other sides’ mindset is crucial to interpreting what is happening during the deal.
- The ‘zero sum’ fallacy
- Values alignment, self confidence and psychological congruence
- Ten fundamental principles of effective negotiation
Pairs exercise: values alignment exercise
Persuasion strategies
‘Social compliance’ is the ability to get the negotiation partner to agree to a proposal as a result of the way that it is presented rather than on the basis of the content alone. A set of tools designed to influence the other side will be applied to the planning and the face-to-face meeting process.
The power of friendship
People do things for people they like and who they believe are ‘on their side’. By acting in a cooperative manner we can persuade people to make far more concessions and to be much more open.
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The three components of liking
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Interests versus positions to develop a win/win approach
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Hierarchy of ideas to generate understanding and cooperation
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Reading body language to assesses the other party’s reactions
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Mirroring values (the power of empathy)
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Summarising to create rapport
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Bonding through ‘small talk’
Pairs exercise: practising question skills to develop a hierarchy of ideas.
The reciprocity principle
There is a strong in-built desire in human beings to repay a debt. This ‘debt’ can take the form of matching a concession that we make or reciprocating a ‘favour’ that we do for the other party.
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Valuing trades and the position perception model
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Formulating trades using conditional language
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The persuasion pattern
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Tag questions
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Advance and retreat proposals
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The power of ‘because’
Pairs exercise: formulating and presenting possible trades.
Scarcity
People are more anxious to have things that they think are rare or are in short supply; as opposed to those things they think are plentiful and easy to come by. This means that by focusing our negotiation partner on what they might lose can increase our chances of doing a deal.
Pairs exercise: developing negative consequences patterns.
The power of expertise
These ‘tools’ are concerned with demonstrating our technical authority and expertise in a particular area because people are naturally inclined to believe what an expert tells them.
Pairs exercise: conducting self-introduction and refusal pattern drills.
Commitment and consistency
People like to act in a way that is logically consistent with their previously stated arguments and commitments. By encouraging people to take small steps in a particular direction we can lead them to agree to proposals that match those public commitments.
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Behaviour labelling
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Directional language
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Written records
Pairs exercise: gaining commitment with behaviour labelling.
Social proof
Our negotiation partner will feel inclined to accept our suggestions if they feel that our solutions are tried and tested. By demonstrating that an option or proposal is something that many people have adopted leads to the greater likelihood of them buying into it.
Pairs exercise: practising the 4 F’s objection handling method.
Day 2
The seven step negotiation planning process
Successful deal making involves thinking through all the key issues before we get to the negotiation table. Proper planning and preparation in advance of a face-to-face meeting can make sure that we are ready, willing and able to handle each topic as it arises.
Here we adopt a simple, powerful process for capturing the principal aspects of the planning.
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Setting clear outcomes
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Putting yourself in the other person’s shoes
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The power of synergy
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Being in charge of your language and where it takes you both in planning and the actual negotiation session
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Batna’s and their role in understanding who has the most power
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Identifying the settlement range
Case study: planning a fee negotiation between an investment banker and a client.
Developing a team approach and agreeing the meeting format
Being aware of how to start the negotiation before arriving at the actual meeting.
Setting the tone in advance of the meeting (understanding the power of suggestion).
Case study: getting the agenda approved and setting the tone for a fee negotiation between an investment banker and a client.
Running the face to face meeting
Using the information developed in the planning phase and the key persuasion strategies to manage the face-to-face session in a way that maintains momentum and control.
Case study: conducting a fee negotiation.
Case study: putting it all together. Planning and running a meeting to deal with a negotiation concerning an acquisition.
Day 3
Handling ‘tricks and ‘gambits’
Understanding some of the more common ‘dirty tricks’ that are used by unscrupulous negotiators. Assessing how persuasion strategies can be used to defend against manipulation.
Group exercise: sharing scenarios and discussing solutions.
Spotting the ‘deal killers’
Realising the mistakes and behaviours that can destroy a deal and having a sense of how to avoid them.
Case study: finding the deal killer and advising on the remedy.
Breaking deadlocks
What to do if meeting pace becomes slow or grinds to a halt over a particular issue or concern.
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Two ways to gain more time for thought and reflection
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Three ways to change their mind
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Two ways to alter the nature of the negotiation
Pairs exercise: discussing how to apply the tools to ‘real life’ investment banking issues.
Case study: developing a deeper understanding of the process. Planning and running a meeting to deal with a negotiation concerning a rights issue.