Hear from The Renegotiator

Mortgage Renegotiation

With today's mortgage crisis, many of us will be renegotiating our current mortgages with mortgage company. I have been helping some to renegotiate their mortgages so I have a little idea of how the mortgage companies are handling their customers.

Each mortgage and each situation is quite different based on equity, loan and your individual financial situation. I would say that if you are in the position to pay some of your mortgage payment even if you have not paid for months you are in a good position to renegotiate.

Many mortgage companies will allow you to take the payments you have missed and just put them on the back end of your loan and then you can begin paying monthly a payment that is more feasible for your financial situation. You can renegotiate your rate and the length of your loan.

If you are in a pickle call me and I will help you to work it out. Remember don't be afraid to ask for what you want. Be respectful but you are in control of the orange ball if you can afford some kind of monthly payment. Mortgage companies would rather work it out with you then have to foreclose on your property and have to try and resell it in this difficult market.

Renegoitating the facts

I gave a speech yesterday up in Iowa City. At the end one gentleman asked a very interesting question. How do you deal with someone who is lying about the facts of the situation? My question is are the facts that important to creating a solution. My third principle of Renegotiating is to Transcend the Details. Here is a perfect example of where that principle is effective.

In these kinds of situations you have two choices, you can continue to argue the facts or you can just ignore the facts and put your attention on the needs of each side. If you focus on the needs of each the facts are not really important.

I would love to hear your opinions on this subject.

Listening

I am in the middle of a renegotiation of a friend of mine who in a dispute with a company that he represents. He is one of their top performers and for several years has been trying to get them to renegotiate his contract. He was not getting anywhere with the President of the company and asked me to represent him which I have been doing for several months.

The main issue I am finding is that this President likes to talk. He does not like to listen. This is basically good because I like to listen and talk less, to a point. The problem here is I never get to talk. I understand that I cannot learn anything while I am talking. I already know the things I am saying so it is important to listen. In listening you will find out the needs of the other party. Unfortunately, in this situation I already understand his needs but he won't be quiet long enough to allow me to even respond.

The best technique is stone silence. Don't say anything. Just let him talk, he will finally realize and question if you are even there. Continue the silence and then say I just wanted to make sure you were finished. Then only talk if you have a commitment from him that he will not interupt you.

Let me know what you think.

Business Week online

I had the privilage of being interviewed by Michelle Nichols for her Business Week pod cast. She has a weekly pod cast called Savvy Selling. I have put in the link so you can listen to the interview. She is a terrific lady and encourage all of you to go to her sight every week for up to date interviews on more than just selling.

http://www.businessweek.com/mediacenter/podcasts/savvy_selling/savvy_selling_08_31_07.htm

I had a conversation with my brother about the coach of the Warriors basketball team wanting to renegotiate his contract because he had such a good year. My brother feels that the coach does not have a lot of integrity because he wants more money, evidently almost double, just because he had a good year. I am not sure that is true. I can look at it both ways. Shouldn't the team preempt his desire for more money by coming to him and saying that you had such a great year we want to show our appreciation and support by giving you a better contract? Too often companies and organizations don't show a lot of loyalty for a job well done by coming forth and offering more money, incentives or job security. It is a two way street. Both sides need to walk it.

I look forward to your comments.

Being in Control

Yesterday I did a talk at for a Speakers Showcase. I only spoke for 15 minutes but I spoke a little bit about being in control and wanted to speak to all of you about that. I think a lot of us worry about what people will think if we take control. We don't want people to think that we are control freaks and we certainly don't want to seem egotistical or arrogant. But the fact is that if any of us are involved in a negotiation or renegotiation we need to be in control if we want to get our needs fulfilled. This point is incredibly important. I use the image of the Orange Ball to know who is in control. If you are in control, you have the Orange Ball if someone else is in Control they have the Orange Ball. The secret of the Orange Ball is to know who has it and how to get it back if we lose it.

The idea here is to always show respect to those you are dealing with. Be courteous and listen. Address their needs so they know you are not only concerned with what you want. Several people came up to me after the talk and told me that they did not like taking control. I asked them how do they ever get what they want. They admitted it was a problem. I said if you treat people well they will help you get what you want and it is not your responsibility to protect them.

I look forward to your comments and let me know if any of you have similar problems or situations that you would like me to address.

All the best,

Marc

Renegoitating for Innovation

Renegotiating and Corporate Innovation, 1 of 2
An overview of renegotiation and the need for change

No company can exist long without innovation. In a fast-changing world, customers are looking for the newest and the best. Those companies that don’t reinvent themselves or their product will lose market share quickly to those that do.

Ask any executive of any company that is looking to innovate and they will tell you that it is a company-wide effort. It must be built into the corporate culture. This means constant change and renegotiation.

Renegotiating is the art of revising, altering or changing a previously negotiated relationship. Every desire for a new product and every need for a new procedure requires the renegotiation of a previously negotiated relationship.

In too many companies employees are afraid to voice their ideas for fear of being ridiculed, either because there is no one to go to with a new idea, or because they know from experience that their superior will take credit for good ideas and blame them for bad ideas. This is an example of unsuccessful renegotiation.

If the corporate culture supports innovation, employees won’t be afraid to contribute their ideas and efforts to helping changes happen smoothly. They will be empowered in the process of renegotiation, and change will create an atmosphere of excitement and innovation.

About the Author:
Marc Freeman, author of the upcoming book “Renegotiating with Integrity: It’s Not Business, It’s Personal,” has worked with companies all over the world, helping them to renegotiate hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts. A recognized expert in his field, Marc has developed a unique, practical approach to renegotiating based on the simple principles of respect, honesty, creativity and clear communications. For more information, please contact Marc at marc@marcfreeman.us or at 641-472-2727.

Transcend the Details

Getting past the little things to get what you want 3:45 to 4:
BLOG By: Marc Freeman

You can’t make a deal without considering the details. Each one is important to somebody.  But how to take the deal from their details to yours without either party getting bogged down in the middle is like running a relay race through an obstacle course.

Here are my techniques for clearing the hurdles:

1)    Make a list
Know what the issues are, and what you would ideally like to get out of each one.  You don’t have to be practical at this stage—what may seem far-fetched to you could be a walk in the park for the other side. Make sure to include what concessions you have to get in order to reach your goal—your deal-breakers. Walking into any negotiation without this list is like going into a race handicapped.  You will be unprepared and won’t be able to accomplish everything you need to do to be successful.  A list gives you a path to follow so you don’t forget anything.

2)    Rate your list
Number your list based on the importance, keeping in mind that the order may change as the negotiations progress.  Realize that you might have to concede some points in order to gain others. If you don’t rank your list, you won’t know which details can be sacrificed to achieve the more important goals. Be sure to listen to the other party so you know what their concerns and details are.  As they outline theirs, it might make some of yours irrelevant.  You need to be prepared to reassess your ratings as you go.

3)    Start small
Don’t jump into negotiations with the biggest item on your list.  You will only decrease the likelihood of getting what you want.  Start with a few of the easy things on your list to create a common ground and as you reach agreement on those, each subsequent discussion will go more smoothly.  But only a few--if you bring up too many details first, by the time you get to the more important items on your list the other party will feel like they have already given too much and will be much less likely to want to help you achieve your larger goals.

4)    Don’t just focus on yourself
Remember to listen to the other side as you go.  This is an opportunity for you to find out what their big issues are and to create an environment of give and take.  If you don’t identify and address their main goals, you will run into roadblocks for your own list of goals. You never know, their big issue may be very easy for you to accommodate and this will make them much easier to deal with.

5)    Come back to some of the smaller issues
After you wrap up some of the larger issues, you can go back to the smaller unresolved issues on your list.  After reaching an agreement on each party’s main goal, the smaller objectives won’t present a problem.  Many times, the other party is so invested at this stage that they will be willing to concede the smaller issues just to wrap up the deal.

Don’t forget to constantly reassess your list as you progress through the negotiation. Each agreement you reach will have an affect on the remaining items on your list.  It may even make some irrelevant.  Stay focused on the bigger picture.  Walking into any negotiation with a clear plan and a flexible mindset can help form the partnership that you envisioned when you first started the negotiation process.

Transcend the details!

Renegotiating for Corporate Innovation

Renegotiating for Corporate Innovation
By: Marc Freeman

No company can exist without innovation. Those companies that don’t reinvent themselves or their product will begin to lose market share quickly. This includes financial institutions. Let’s specifically speak about companies in the investment industry. There are as many opinions of how to invest as there are in any other industry. But I believe that these companies need to constantly reinvent themselves. Markets change, industries come and go and some companies succeed while other fail. If you take the top 100 companies to day 50% were not on that list 20 years ago and 30% of them did not even exist 20 years ago. I am not sure that my numbers are exact but they are pretty close. This means that in 20 years from now on 20% of today’s top 100 companies will still remain on the list. Do you know which 20%, do you know what companies will replace them or in what industry they will be replaced by? I don’t. If I did I wouldn’t be writing this article. This is the dilemma of the investment world. This is why they must continually innovate and this is why they are constantly renegotiating.

The executives of these investment houses must be able to reinvent their companies constantly. And if you as any one of them, they will tell you that it is a company wide effort. Renegotiating is that tool used to create company wide innovation. Renegotiating gives those pushing any innovation the ability to get others on board.

Renegotiating is the art of revising, altering or changing a previously negotiated relationship. Every new idea, every desire for a new direction, every need for a new procedure, and every request for a new innovation creates the change in a previously negotiated relationship that now has to be renegotiated. This is where our behavior counts most. If the corporate culture supports innovation, then employees won’t be afraid to give their ideas. They will look forward to giving them and will feel empowered. In too many companies, employees are afraid to voice their ideas for fear of being ridiculed, because there is no one to go to with a new idea, or they know that their superior will take credit if it is a good idea and blame the employee if it is a bad idea.

Constant change will create an atmosphere of excitement and innovation. Remember that change has to come and be executed in an organized manner. Change without organization is called chaos and that is worse then never changing at all. Here are eight key steps to create and encourage innovation in any company:

1. Take Control of the Process
Since someone needs to be in control of the process, then you need to understand a major principal of renegotiation, “The Secret of the Orange Ball.” Whether we like it or not someone has to be in control for any change or renegotiation to move forward. Otherwise, there is chaos and disorganization or even worse stagnation. Use the image of the Orange Ball to recognize who is in control. If the process is not going in a direction that you want or need then you must know who is in control of the Orange Ball and how to get control of it back. How else can a renegotiation be monitored for progress?

2. Listening

In order to keep in control of the Orange Ball or to get control back you need to get everyone involved to “Hit the Refresh Button.” This is another important principle of renegotiating. The main technique here is listening. Listening is such an important skill when change needs to occur that without it there will be certain failure. The executives need to be listening to the market, brokers need to be listening to the companies that they invest in and too their customers. These companies but also listen for new technologies that will enable them to analyze companies better and more accurately. Remember listening is a verb not a noun. Listening is a learned skill, and doesn’t necessarily come naturally. Listening means being silent while someone else is speaking. It means not thinking about how you are going to respond while someone else it talking. It means no interrupting. In that silence you will find all of the answers. Proper listening will give you the skills to ask the right questions. We always learn more by asking questions rather than answering them. A great question is worth a 1000 answers.

Those firms that listen the best will innovate first. They will buy the new technology to get ahead of their competitors, they will move their strategy to a new industry before others. All this because they are listening.

3. Be Nice
Being nice does not mean being insipid or insincere. Actually, it means quite the opposite. It means, to be generous, to be respectful. Also, use humor where appropriate. Humor puts everything on a lighter note. It allows those involved to have fun during the process. Sarcasm is not humor and belittlement of others is not funny.

4. Create a Corporate Culture That Encourages Organized Change
Every employee must understand, how these changes are going to affect them personally, in a positive way, immediately and in the long term. Then develop a process where every employee is expected to participate in making the company more innovative through creating excellence in every aspect of the company.

5. Promote Employee Involvement
Create a culture where every employee is encouraged to speak up at specific times and express constructive ways to make the company more efficient and products and services better. Once this process is in place, create teams to look at every aspect of the operations of the company and create ways to make each part better. Constantly trying to improve and fine tune how the company functions.

6. Show Respect to All Employees
Employees will only come along for the journey if the executives show them respect. Do not pay lip service to changes that the employees come up with and that the executives agree to implement. Only commit to changes that the leaders of the organization are willing to have the company execute. Being honest with the employees will show them respect. Management also needs to make some of the changes that the employees are giving otherwise the employees won’t take the process seriously.

7. Make Realistic Time Frames, Don’t Rush Changes
Giving people a proper amount of time to create changes within any organization is the best way to show respect. Allow those who are making the changes to create the time lines and then help them to keep to those commitments. If you rush a change, more times than not, everyone will be disappointed. You can move quickly without rushing.

8. Create a Culture of Listening From the Top Down and Act on What You Hear
Take all ideas seriously and set up a team with employees from every part of the company to look at all new ideas. Get back to those that offered the idea and let them know how their idea will or will not be implemented.

Innovation is the key to success in any business. It is what pushes each one of us, and forces our companies and even our society to move ahead and be better to be excellent in what services or products we represent. Competition forces innovation. The US auto industry can regain it’s market share and leadership in the industry but they must go beyond what their competition is doing. If they only try and emulate what their competition is doing they will never exceed them. By the time they get to where their competition is today their competition will have already moved forward. A great sage once said, ‘Competition is for the competent.’ Renegotiating properly will move the process of change and therefore all innovations ahead that much quicker.

About the Author:
Marc Freeman, author of the upcoming book “Renegotiating with Integrity: It’s Not Business, It’s Personal,” has worked with companies all over the world, helping them to renegotiate hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts. A recognized expert in his field, Marc has developed a unique, practical approach to renegotiating based on the simple principles of respect, honesty, creativity and clear communications. For more information, please contact Marc at marc@marcfreeman.us or at 641-472-2727.

Renegotiating Customer Service

We are all customers at one time or another; it is simply not possible to go through life not being a customer. As a customer, you want to be treated a certain way. You want to be treated with respect and kindness, and you want to be taken care of.

Customer service is greatly lacking in this country. You can count on one hand the companies that provide great customer service, and you continue to do business with those same companies over and over again. A person never knows how good or bad a company’s customer service is until something goes wrong. This is usually a person’s first experience in renegotiating as a customer with a particular company.

Unfortunately, people are constantly renegotiating as customers. Renegotiating is the art of changing, revising or altering a previously negotiated contract or relationship. Every time you have to return an item back to a store. Each time you call a company because you need help with one of their products. This is all renegotiating.

The key to reaching an agreement in a renegotiation lies in how you handle the situation. Here are four points on how to resolve the issue as quickly and as amicably as possible.

1. Always be prepared
Before you pick up the phone or venture back to the store, make sure that you have everything you will need. This includes all the information on the product or service available, such as when and where you bought it, how you paid for it, the account number if needed and what went wrong. Also make sure that you have your receipt handy. It usually helps to know who you had been dealing with previously.

If you try to deal with a customer service rep while unprepared, it makes it more difficult for everyone involved in the transaction. By making the experience as easy as possible for the rep, you are far more likely to see the results you want.

2. Know who is in control of the situation at all times
This is referred to as The Secret of the Orange Ball. The person in control of any renegotiation is the one holding The Orange Ball. Someone has to be in control in order for the renegotiation to move foreword. If you don’t know who has the Orange Ball, it will be difficult to drive the renegotiation in your direction.

When you call the customer service department of any company about a problem or issue you are having, they control the Orange Ball. In this situation you don’t mind if they are in control as long as they are solving your problem or taking care of your issue.

3. Know who you need to talk with to get an issue resolved
What happens if the person you are speaking with cannot solve your problem? You have several options and it all depends on the nature of your problem. Many times the customer service associate is only allowed to help so much, as they are limited in what they can do. At this point, if you feel you are in the right, request to speak to a supervisor. Thank the customer service associate for all he has done for you but you need to speak to a supervisor to see if the supervisor has more tools to help you.

Another option is if you get frustrated with the associate you are speaking with, you can always thank them and end the conversation. Then call back and speak to another associate. Explain what happened with the last associate and let them know how frustrated you are.

Keep in mind that company policies may not allow a customer service representative to help you in the way you need. If this is the case, you will probably have to write a letter to get your issue resolved. When this occurs, be sure to include all the information that you gathered prior to the call or visit in the letter. This will ensure that whoever receives it has all the information they need.

4. Hit the Refresh Button
A surefire way to ensure that your problem does not get resolved is to loose your temper and treat the people who are trying to help you poorly. When you feel yourself beginning to get angry or are about to yell at the person you are speaking with, step back for a moment and take a deep breath. The Refresh Button techniques are used to get control of the situation. They can help keep emotions in check while gaining and keeping control of the Orange Ball. The three basic techniques of the refresh button are:

• Listen — Listening is a skill, it shows respect, and being silent and listening brings great knowledge.

• Be Nice — Being nice doesn’t mean being insipid or insincere. It means being pleasant and calm: showing understanding for the other party’s point of view, and not verbally attacking anyone.

• Use Humor — If you can laugh together then you can renegotiate almost anything. Humor is a great way to create an easier and more productive relationship.

These three techniques will help you get control of the Orange Ball. They also set a tone for how you will behave and lead the renegotiation to help both sides behave properly. If you are nice and pleasant, then most likely the person you are dealing with will be nice and pleasant. If you get an associate who seems upset, take a step back and say, “It sounds like you have had a bad day, I am so sorry. Anything I can do to make your day go better?” Understand that these associates are there to help you. Many times though they are limited by the policies of the company they represent.

Good customer service is the backbone of any society. It is indicative of how people treat each other. The art of good customer service has been lost, and we desperately need to get it back. It starts though behavior. Customers can set the tone. If you are not satisfied, don’t get angry. Take it up the ladder. Thank the person you are dealing with and ask to speak to their supervisor. Even when they tell you that their supervisor with tell you the same thing. Ask a lot of questions. Attack the problem or issue from every angle until the person you are dealing with becomes your partner in trying to figure out a way to help you.

You can only control one aspect of every relationship and that is the way you behave. Good behavior will rub off on those you deal with. Ultimately, customers, control the Orange Ball because they get to choose where they take their business.

Your comments are welcome.

Best,

Marc

Renegotiating Customer Service

Download customer_renegotiation.doc