Negotiating tips – NRF march 2013 – presented by Peter Cosgrove

1. Negotiation Training
By Peter
Cosgrove
March 2013

2. Objectives
 Introduction
 Selling
 Negotiating

3. Anchoring
How many islands a
the in Indonesia?

4. The anchoring effect
Please can you write down how many separate islands
there are in Indonesia, but please do not give me a round
number, so for instance I would prefer rather than 140, you
said 131 or 143.
Please can you write down how many separate islands
there are in Indonesia, but please do not give me a round
number, so for instance I would prefer rather than 28,800,
you said 27,192 or 28,182.
Does your answer change
if you are given an
“anchor” – think of that
when you are giving a
price

5. Recruitment is a people business
• Here is €20 you can keep it under one condition, you
have to share some of it with a friend, it is up to you how
much, your friend has no say. If your friend rejects your
offer you both get nothing, if he accepts you both keep
your share.
• How much will you offer your friend

6. Selling
 Before we can negotiate we need to understand a little about selling and
what the other person is doing

7. Many people don’t like the word selling
If do not believe in
what you are selling –
you will never be able
to negotiate well

8. Selling Recruitment Consultancy
A good recruiter can give:
Advice
Knowledge
Perspective

9. Selling
 Now sell me your company and why a corporate who would want you to
recruit for them

10. Recruitment “features”
Specialist We have highly skilled We are experts in
recruiters Linkedin
Innovative
We deliver We are professional,
We run events end to end recruiters
We won an NRF agency We have great clients
The biggest in the world award
We have an outsourcing
The best recruitment business
brand We have 80% repeat
business
We work across all
We have a great disciplines
database We are niche
SO WHAT !!!

11. Buying a phone
Imagine they sold the
features of the
company when you
wanted a phone– you
would walk out – sell
the benefits

12. Selling Recruiter benefits
• We can find out the best candidates, those hard to find candidates,
those passive candidates etc
• Speed: We find the candidates quicker than any other source
• We are great value for money
• We save you time and money
• We are good/ professional to deal with

13. Role play - open job
• You work for ABC Recruitment. I am a client and have called in
regarding a role that I currently have on, the role is a sales manager,
I am open to giving you as much info you need, can you ask me the
questions that you want to ask. You have just picked up the phone
 “In or out”
 You don’t have a strategy if you cannot say no to a client

14. Sales is emotive...
The indifference of their current supplier.

15. Think about what
you can negotiate
on – its not all
What to negotiate on? about price
Write down 5 reasons that you would reduce your rates?
Reduced rate Increased Rate
Exclusivity •Job already open
Multiple roles •Advertised directly or already
Working with other parts of your using other agencies
business •Rebate period wanted
Agreed timeframes and •Invoicing terms wanted
interview slots •Scarcity of the skill-set
Part payment upfront •No client visit
Client visit •No Job spec
No rebate •No answers to questions on job
Charity client spec

16. Your first reaction to a
statement should be to
Client says ask more questions – not
react to the statement
• Everyone else is at 10% why are you not
• Market rate for this role is… Do you know how difficult this skill-set is
• We have no money, can you just send us 1/2 cvs for a flat fee
• Let me explain what we have to do for any role we fill
• We have never paid more than 12%
• You pay nothing until you hire, if our candidates are twice as good you wont
mind paying 50% more
• Its either 10% or we cannot do business with you
• No problem come back to me when you need cvs, I can give you the name of
a recruiter who will do it at 1%
• All you do is send me a cv, you must be joking if you think that is worth
10,000
• If the person we send you makes you 1 million in sales over 5 years is 10,000
still high?
Can you answer these questions?

17. Using Data
• I have 5 clients all paying 20% fees and I still cannot find the cvs that
they want, why would I go lower for you
• There is only about 20 people in the marketplace fot the skills you
want – what is attractive about your company
• You can get a recruitment service for 650 euro (1%) if it is the cheapest
price that you are looking for
• MESSAGE: its not what the client wants to pay it is what the market
rate is

18. Negotiation
Exercise – University Books
Courtesy of Robert McKernan

19. Negotiation Tips
1 No round numbers
2 Negotiate in Small steps
3 Stretch your targets
4 Don’t split the difference
5 The other side has to move
6 Insult if insulted
7 Summarize the deal at the end
8 Before surrendering look at the difference
9 Don’t go first
10 Don’t Show triumph
11 Show enthusiasm
12 Write things down
13 Have excuses ready
14 Don’t lie
15 Assess the relationship level

20. Persistence
 Most people don’t like negotiation
 Most people like to get things done
 Be more persistent than the other person
Don’t feel like you have to
finish the negotiation quickly –
draw it out as it can work to
your advantage

21. Persistence
Most people don’t like negotiation
Most people like to get things done
Be more persistent than the other person

22. The Negotiator
 Many times you may not be speaking to the best person
 Don’t presume the person you are talking to is the right person

23. Language and Silence and Walk away
“We can’t” is not the same as “we won’t”
Leave silence – sales people don’t like long pauses – get comfortable
with them
If you don’t get what you want – feel free to walk away

24. Write it down
 Don’t agree everything and then forget to document it
 Don’t assume what was agreed before
 Its not a fee until its collected – so understand the payment process

25. The nibble
When the deal is done you ask for more

26. Actions
• Understand the selling process
• Remember the other person – what do they want to achieve
• Know the market rate for everything
• Ask lots of open question – research will improve decisions
• The more time you take the better your price
• Be respectful and professional – no one deal will make the difference
your reputation will

27. Questions &
Thank You
president@nrf.ie
@petercosgrove