To win more negotiations, you should focus your thoughts. That’s to say, you should be very thoughtful of what you’re thinking during the negotiation, why you have such thoughts, and where those thoughts might lead. To do otherwise could mean you’re led haphazardly towards a negotiation outcome that doesn’t serve your goals of the negotiation. Observe the following to increase the focus of your thoughts in a negotiation.

Breaking News: Do you take note of how and when TV News organizations flash that moniker across/on the screen? At that moment they’re attempting to grab your attention from what you were focusing on and directing it to what they want you to focus on. In most cases, the breaking news is nothing that would really demand you lend your attention to, but they’ve captured your focus, which was their intent. If you raise your awareness to what’s being attempted by such ploys in a negotiation, you’ll focus your thoughts on not losing your focus per what’s important to your negotiation effort.

Be mindful of when timeouts are called:

When timeouts are called in a negotiation, note the reason cited for the timeout and assess the reasoning validity. As an example, if you happen to be winning the negotiation or a point in that process, and the opposing negotiator asks to take a break, he could be doing so to slow your momentum, take the time to gather additional insights/thoughts, and/or to refresh himself. All such insights will give you guidance per what may be occurring in his mind, as to the reasoning he called a timeout. Thus, it may or may not behoove you to grant his request, depending on how hard you wish to push at that time and/or what your next move is intended to achieve. The point is, be aware when there’s a shift in the negotiation and what may have occurred to cause it.

Diversions – Sizzlin’ Korean BBQ:

Take note of what the opposing negotiator is asking you to focus on. Question yourself, and possibly her, why she’s asking you to lend your attention to the point she’s highlighting. Note the same when you make a point and attempts are made to divert it. Ask yourself, why was my point given less credence? Why doesn’t she want to address my point and what implications does that have?

In a negotiation, the other negotiator may not tell you how to think, but he may attempt to direct your thoughts by suggesting what you should think about. In so doing, he’s controlling you and the negotiation. To the degree that you think of what you’re thinking about, why you have such thoughts and how those thoughts are aligned with the goals you seek for the negotiation, you’ll combat his efforts while promoting the outcome you seek.

By focusing on what you think about and why you have such thoughts, you’ll be in more control of the negotiation, which will allow you to win more negotiations… and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

Let’s make business reporting simple again. In the age of information, many of us are experiencing information overload. There is such a thing as gathering and presenting too much data, and the business world struggles to present information in a rich, powerful, and stimulating manner without crossing the information overload threshold. Remember when you were young and just conquering the skill of reading. Sure reading was fun, and our minds processed a lot of information from the words that we read, but didn’t the illustrations in the books have a more lasting affect? The old saying reminds us a picture is worth a thousands words. We can use words to describe a situation, but a picture really encapsulates the ideas we are trying to get across.

We can apply this lesson to the business world. When presenting information to a conference room full of business professionals we are eager to first obtain, and then retain their attention. This can be achieved through pictures. Now, I am not suggesting that you take your doodling and add it to your presentation, but what I am suggesting is that you make better use of custom charts such as bar graphs and bar charts in your presentation.

Bar charts and bar graphs can offer a simple, but meaningful representation of the information you are trying to relay to your audience. Bar graphs can leave a more lasting impression in the minds of your audience members than a slide offering a comparison of quantified data. For instance, when you see a bar chart, what jumps out at you first? For most people the tallest bar is the bar that is noticed first. You might also notice the shortest bar rather quickly as it stands out as well. In all likelihood, as a presenter you are hoping the eyes of your audience members will gravitate to the extreme ends of the spectrum, either the tall bar or the short bar on the bar chart. Now that you have captured the audiences’ attention and directed it towards the information you wanted to discuss, you are free to continue with your presentation.

Or perhaps you want to use your bar graphs in another manner. Rather than emphasize really high sales or really low variable costs, you wish to show an increasing sales trend. In this scenario, your bar chart would represent your monthly sales across a certain time period. Upon presenting the bar chart, it would be clear to the audience that sales had increased substantially each month from January to August. Again, by using bar graphs you have painlessly grabbed the attention of the audience, directed it toward the topic you wanted to discuss and now you can make the points that are important to you.

When using bar graphs in your presentation, be sure to keep a few things in mind. Label the bar chart clearly so the audience doesn’t spend all its time trying to figure out what the bars represent. Make your bar charts vibrant – use strong colors to make bars of interest standout and soft subdued colors to make the other bars less conspicuous. Keep the information represented by the bar graphs as relevant as possible. Just because you have a beautiful bar chart doesn’t mean it should be used in your presentation. If you have created bar charts that will enhance your presentation then incorporate them into the presentation, otherwise leave them alone. Most importantly, be creative with your visualizations and have fun. Your audience will enjoy your presentation more and come away having learned everything you hoped they would.

There’s a lot that can be said for real estate negotiating techniques as far as how much of a powerful skill it can be in the arsenal of the real estate investor. In fact, it may be the very most important skill you’ll employ to build wealth in real estate. Here are some tried and true real estate negotiating techniques I’ve used and observed (and had used on me).

91. “Yes”. Just say “yes”. Don’t elaborate once you answer and concede a point. Go right back into questioning THEM. Regain control.

92. “If you and I can’t do business today, what will you do with the house?” Learn to find the problem and remind them of it.

93. Understand perceived value. Use it. This is a powerful negotiating technique. Just because it’s not important to you doesn’t mean it’s not important to THEM. Find out where their perceived value lies and offer it to them- at a price.

94. There is no such thing as a non-negotiable anything in business (with few exceptions). Always ask. Always push.

95. Know when to use LEVERAGE and how. For just one example, I use leverage in one way by working with a BUYING GROUP that negotiates with developers to buy properties in bulk, at a discount, and with terms no one else gets. Why? Leverage. Well, and negotiations…;) But I repeat myself…

96. My definition of “negotiations”: “the strategic application of leverage in conversations that s value to translate into action by bringing about an agreement in principle among two or more parties, the objective of which is to gain more than you give (while having the other party believe the same)”.

97. Write “FIRM” after a cash offer you make as a buyer. People are less likely to challenge this in real estate negotiations.

98. Always follow-up. Circumstances change. Your rejected offer of three months ago could look great today. Follow-up. Follow-up. Follow-up can be key if you want to build wealth in real estate.

99. Strive to let the other guy believe he got the best of the deal (or at least as good of a deal as you did). No one likes to think they lost.

100. STOP taking what others- brokers, realtors, buyers, tenants, investors, businesspeople etc.- say as if it is a fact. Do your own due diligence and analyze independently.

101. Learn to use the “verbal flinch”…and follow it up with “Is that the best/least/most you can do?” I can attest that asking this one question makes thousands of dollars out of thin air. But, alas, you have to HEAR it to really understand…

102. If you get an answer on price or terms you don’t like, LAUGH and say “Funny…what’s your second choice?” This is a fun real estate negotiating technique.

103. Learn to verbally pace people’s language patterns (fast/slow, high/low, mellow/intense) to build rapport and trust- people like doing business with people who are like them and talk like them. That’s some Jedi-level verbal judo I’ve yet to meet anyone master…but even just becoming consciously aware of it can make you a better negotiator.

104. Remember that knowledge is not power. APPLIED knowledge is power. Apply what you know.

105. Use “If I could do X, would you do Y?” Use it at every opportunity.