Mladen D. Kresic is President and Chief Executive of K&R Negotiations, a consulting firm specializing in structuring and negotiating business transactions in the computer, software, Internet and other industries. Mladen has over 31 years experience negotiating business transactions both as a lawyer and a businessman.
Negotiating with integrity is central to the Win Wisely™ approach; after all, if we are in search of positive leverage to artfully move the other side closer to our way of thinking, we must have integrity. Integrity gives us the foundation to make value arguments that are believable. When we are perceived as people who […]
Successful businesspeople like to think of themselves as rational beings that apply thorough analysis to get optimal outcomes. Of course, this is not always the case. We’re humans, not optimizing machines: We’re biased towards doing business with people we like and trust; we succumb to pride when a calmer perspective would have yielded a better […]
Spot Them, Avoid Them and Close Faster Unprincipled concessions are concessions not tied to a credible business rationale. Years of research show us that this simple business negotiation mistake costs companies between 9 and 18% of their gross operating revenue.
One of our tools for helping clients prepare a winning negotiations strategy is the Negotiation Success Range (NSR)™, which identifies the conditions under which both parties will be satisfied. And if those conditions satisfy both sides, but our side likes them more than theirs? That’s OK: A winning deal is never perfectly even. In business, […]
In 2013, CSO Insights published an industry survey summarizing deals won and lost—in this instance, how often forecasts lined up with actual closed deals. Of the number of total forecasted deals, 26% were lost due to “no decision.” Many “no decisions” can be traced to a seller’s inability to address how their potential client sees […]
Just as you don’t want to take to the field with a football team of 11 quarterbacks (or 11 goalkeepers, if you’re playing the more globally known form of football), you would not want a negotiation team that only represents one discipline or perspective. Although Peyton Manning or Cristiano Ronaldo each has enviable skills, other […]
We have had the privilege of assisting major companies all over the world with our Win Wisely™ approach to negotiation. The principles we teach are far from theoretical: they were forged from practical experience gained in all kinds of negotiations involving all types of participants. This includes everything from basic buy-sell transactions to complex, high-stakes […]
Even with a well-crafted value argument and solid customer motivation to get a deal done, the whole process can unravel if negotiation leadership and teamwork are absent. The most effective “tactic” in your arsenal is a unified team. Selecting your team, involving all key players in planning, and maintaining group discipline begin the teamwork that […]
Do repeat business assumptions count in your business plan? If so, the way you conduct your negotiations takes on much greater importance. Some view negotiation as a series of devious games and ego contests conducted to gain advantage by keeping the other side continuously off balance, intimidated or flustered. We find this approach to negotiation […]
Leadership in negotiations is critical. The leader is responsible for setting expectations and parameters for your side in regards to pricing, strategy, deadlines, process management and more. Failing to define this opens the door to many potential deal-ending difficulties, and is likely to erode your position on the way to closing. There are many moving […]
