Recently I was negotiating a deal with a company I’ve been doing business with for a long time. It became obvious that we had reached an impasse and we each settled on our “final” offers. A note about my negotiating philosophy: while I consider myself a strong negotiator, I’m not one to bluff very often in a business setting. I save my bluffing for poker games with my twin brother Vince (don’t tell him that’s how I won that last jackpot from him, LOL). I pride myself in creating and maintaining strong business relationships and always coming from a place of fairness and integrity in my dealings with other people – that’s why many of my vendor and business relationships are long-standing.
In this situation though, I got the impression that the other party was bluffing and was holding back more than they had put on the table. It wasn’t a “put up so you don’t have so much” moment; it was a “you can do better than you’re telling me” moment.
So in my own words, I let the other party know that I was willing to walk away from the deal if they didn’t step up to the bar. I made my case and offer and signed off from the negotiation. The other party had never experienced that from me before, so they knew I was serious. They waited, but I waited longer; they finally came back with an offer that was fair to both of us.
That reminded me of one of the most pivotal days in my legal nurse consulting business – the day I realized that if one attorney wasn’t willing to play according to my terms (terms that were favorable not to just one of us, but to both of us), there were more than a million others who might. As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, you’ve got to learn when to walk away from a deal because it isn’t meeting the needs or goals you’ve set for your CLNC® business.
When that moment arrives, pull out your iPod®, crank up Kenny Roger’s song “The Gambler,” sing along with the words, “you got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away and know when to run” and give yourself the courage to make the decision that’s best for you.
Success Is Inside!
P.S. Comment and share your most difficult “hold ’em or fold ’em” moment and how you handled it.