A Negotiating Lesson from Tonight's Celebrity Apprentice

Be sure to watch Celebrity Apprentice tonight. There are some terrific lessons to be learned. One of my favorites reveals the power of taking your time when negotiating. I can’t reveal the details until after the show airs, but I can say that during a negotiating session, two of the male celebrities are trying to pressure two of the women to make a snap decision. The women stall, and that allows them to get exactly what they want out of the deal.

That reveals one of the fundamental principles of powerful negotiating that Donald J. Trump often writes about . . .

When you control the pace of negotiations, you stand a much better chance of winning.

But that’s only one of the fundamental principles of strong, Trump-style negotiating. Here are a dozen more to think about:

1. Be patient. Sometimes you have to wait weeks, months or even years to get the agreement you want. So take the long view.

2. Remember, you can’t overpower the other side by talking loud or fast. Every negotiation requires a different approach. If you are in doubt about how to behave, listen well and show respect.

3. Aim for win/win outcomes, like all the books on negotiating say. But don’t forget that you sometimes get to win more than the other side.

4. Only negotiate with people who have the power to come to an agreement with you on behalf of their  organizations.

5. Learn something new every day. You never know when a piece of information will transfer into a powerful advantage when you are negotiating.

6. Be willing to walk out. It will often move you towards your goals more quickly than agreeing to the wrong terms.

7. Put a dollar value on your objective - the most you will pay, or the least you will accept. Your opponent will sense when negotiations are nearing that line and will back off.

8. Understand what the other side really wants. (If you don’t know that that is, ask.) If you can’t offer it, negotiations are going to be harder - but not necessarily impossible. At least you will know what you are up against.

9. Identify bargaining chips that you will be willing to give away. Example: You might be willing put a new roof on a property that you are trying to sell.  But guard your chips closely and don’t offer them unless you have to.

10. Know the most important thing you want to gain from negotiations, but don’t reveal it too early. Once all the other issues are on the table, you will have a better chance of getting it.

11. When negotiations stall, ask “What would it take for us to come to an agreement about this today?” If you cannot offer what the other side asks for, call off negotiations temporarily to give the other side time to rethink its position.

12. Don’t hold grudges or badmouth the other side if you are unable to come to agreement. Today’s opponents can be tomorrow’s allies.

Again, be sure to watch tonight, because it is one terrific episode that features what I consider to be the most unusual firing in Apprentice history. Hope to see you there!