Tag Archives: negotiation

Avoid “Yes” and “No” Questions

When it comes to trying to move your customers and clients toward making a purchase or signing a contract, it is important to consider “how” you communicate as well as what you actually say. One thing to remember is that “Yes” and “No” questions—those questions that invite the other party to simply answer yes or no can give the customer or client an out. It is better to avoiding asking “yes” or “no” questions unless you really are prepared to hear the “no.” One of the basics in sales, of course, is to try to get the other person nodding … Continue reading →

Disagreements With Vendors and Suppliers

Things are not always a rosy walk in the park and even if we have good working relationships with our vendors, suppliers, and colleagues, disagreements and conflicts can arise. How do you handle them with tact and grace, however, in order to preserve both your company’s reputation and your working relationships with those vendors? Let us say that you have ordered some printing work done for a project you are completing. The final product is NOT what you expected, or what you wanted. The color might be off or you think that a mistake has been made by the vendor. … Continue reading →

Figuring Out the Right Questions to Ask

I have written about how asking questions and being a great listener can be the cornerstones of successful business communication and negotiations, but how do you know the right questions to ask? Is asking about the weather and the local college football team going to be enough to close an important sale? As a guideline, you want to learn to ask questions that are going to help you see where the other person is coming from—what he or she wants and needs, what the motivators and values are. This is how you will be able to figure out what you … Continue reading →

Updating Contracts

We have talked before here in the home business blog about the importance of using contracts in our home businesses. Even though you may be getting used to drawing up contracts when you begin a business relationship or project, it is also important to make sure that you update those contracts periodically to make sure they still apply. There are natural places and times when it becomes obviously necessary to update a contract. If a contract expires (many will be for a specific period of time or for the duration of a specific project), or if details change in the … Continue reading →

The Marriage Blog Week in Review: April 30 – May 4

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It’s the weekend and we’re spending the weekend handling yard work, repairing a damaged fence so that we can keep our dogs contained and sharing the responsibility of looking after our daughter who came down with a bout of stomach flu. Marriage is a great deal about sharing responsibility, sharing commitment, sharing good times and sharing bad. So let’s take a look at our Marriage Blog week in review: Monday, April 30 Negotiation is the Key to a Successful Relationship and whether you are struggling with financial problems, chores or making decisions about what to have for dinner. When one … Continue reading →

Negotiation is the Key to a Successful Relationship

Communication, empathy, and intimacy – these are all important qualities that you need in a relationship. We’ve also talked about flexibility being an important component in creating a successful relationship. You need a key to blend all of these qualities together and that key is negotiation. Life is Fluid & Demands Change When we meet new people, we play roles – whether they are roles created by our culture or roles created by who we want to be. The role may be that of the young urban professional, the dedicated volunteer or something else. We play these roles because we … Continue reading →

Relationship Dynamics: 5 Tips on Compromise

Married life requires compromise, whether you learn it from the get go or you achieve it after years of butting heads – compromise is something we all eventually have to discover. Compromise without resentment is the ideal, of course and it comes with its own benefits and those benefits are numerous. There are many ways to compromise without resentment and the following 5 tips will help you discover compromise in your own marriage: Always talk, even when you disagree, don’t shut down those lines of communication because that’s where resentment builds Take a step back when you need to, you … Continue reading →