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.