Dear Reader,Emails are POWERFUL. Almost
all of the deals we have made started with an
initial contact by email. Most of the
negotiations were handled entirely over email,
some over phone, and some on personal meetings.
But everything started with an email. Emails are
one of today's absolute most important tools of
communication. The better you can use it, the
more successful you will be. Know when to use it,
and use it well.
Always
practice and improve your email skills. Each
email you send should have a purpose and a goal.
Always make the email personalized so the
receiver really gets it and reads it. Keep it
short, crystal clear, and VERY interesting. It
should be worth reading. Be specific. Be
consistent. Be persistent. Be smart. Avoid
complicated words. Impress the receiver with the
content instead. Always test and notice what
works.
When
contacting someone for the first time, divide the
email into these three parts: 1. start with a
quick Introduction of who you are and what you
represent, then 2. present the Proposal and the
Benefits the receiver will get, and then 3. end
the email with a Call of Action (i.e. to click a
link or reply the email). Keep it sharp. Let the
email reflect your personality. Read the email
before you send it to make sure it is
understandable and interesting. Does it make
sense? Would you like to do business with
yourself if you received your email? Rewrite your
email until you are perfectly happy with it, then
send it. Send a follow-up email if necessary.
So use
the power of emails to your benefit. Be
different. Be polite. Show respect. Be sincere.
Be helpful. Be kind. Be generous. Give more than
you have to but do not promise more than you can
keep. Walk the extra mile and you will receive
more than you can possibly imagine. Not only by
email but in all aspects of life. Email is just
like the telephone or your mouth... a terrific
tool of communication. Use it well and use it
wisely. And don't forget to listen.
*Smile*
and the world will smile back at you!
Be
positive. Think big. Enjoy life! :-)
Have a
wonderful day.
All the
best,
Erik G. Olsson, Editor
eolsson@redtienda.com
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Top 7 Ways To Get
The Most From Negotiating Via Email
-- by Christopher M. Knight, http://www.top7business.com
-- http://www.redtienda.com/english/newsletter75.htm#1Every day, more
and more business folks are using email to help
speed up the negotiation process. This creates
new conflicts and challenges the traditional ways
of face to face or over the telephone
negotiating. In today's Top7Business article, I'm
going to cover what I've learned after
negotiating several contracts that ranged into
the millions of dollars over the lifetime of
these agreements, using Email as my primary
communication method:
1. The
most important strategy, is to know WHEN to use
Email, and WHEN to pick up the phone or arrange a
face to face negotiation. Email negotiating can
be very powerful when you work with someone who
can relate and communicate effectively via email,
and it can be a disaster if the other party isn't
comfortable with this medium. Also, if your email
negotiating even begins to get a hint of
negativity, or that you feel that you're being
misunderstood or you can't understand the end
outcome of the person you're negotiating with, by
all means, pick up the phone, and BREAK EMAIL
SILENCE by calling them.
2. Age
range: It's been my humble experience that
business people who are between 20 to 40 years
old, are able to embrace and use email
negotiating as par for the normal business day
course, whereas older folks may resist or blow
the deal off, if you're trying to use email to
negotiate. The tell tale signs: Does the person
you are negotiating with call you on the phone
after each email you send instead of replying to
it? Now, this is NOT true for all people, as I
know several folks in their 50's and 60's that do
not resist change and love email, but this is
more of a generalization I've found to be true.
3.
LEVERAGE the power of email to ask questions you
might feel squeamish to ask in real life. Dig
deeper for other areas of common interest, and
speak to the ego of the person you are
negotiating with. Praise him or her works or
efforts, and most of all, be humble via email if
you want to get the highest return on your time.
You'd be surprised at what you can draw out of a
person via email, that you might not get in a
face to face (FtoF) or telephone conversation.
We're not talking trickery here, we're talking
about taking an interest in the other person via
email. Get them to talk more about themselves,
and ASK open ended questions.
4. Use
emoticons to develop a friendly email
relationship. :-), ;-), :/, :-|, and so forth.
You can also develop a stronger rapport with
someone you've never meant, by just taking an
interest in their special interests via an email
discussion. Once you've found out their
interests, why not send them URL's or gifts of
information that might add value to their lives.
This has helped to open up folks to better
understand the kind of person you are, and be
more receptive to negotiating via email.
5. Take a
look at yourself. Are you limiting the size of
deal that you can negotiate via email? I'm here
to tell you, that you can do multi million dollar
deals nearly 95%+ via email, because I've seen it
happen. For many, negotiating via email, is not
about negotiating via email, but rather, it's
just picking the communication that is the
fastest to get the job done, with the outcome
that you're after.
6. Using
time to negotiate via Email: Sometimes, not
replying very fast can be used to indicate
dis-interest by yourself. But, don't be caught in
not replying quickly to the point where the other
party feels like you don't care, and they need to
move on. A fast response can indicate that you
are either respecting their time and want to help
move the deal along because it's important to
you, or it can also mean that you want this deal
MORE than they do, which is why you respond
within minutes instead of days...and it may
weaken your position.
7. He/She
who has the most information via Email wins rule:
Many times when negotiating via email, you can
look at the headers of the email to learn about
relationships, systems, vendors of choice and
other vital info that is the unspoken message
that your email communicates. Use this to your
advantage or to make conversation via email to
learn more of each other. Be careful not to use
this as a weapon, but more to show your interest
in the other party. Also, another hint: If the
party you are negotiating with uses one of the
free email services, they probably aren't worth
your time. Real business people do not use free
email services that tack on tacky 2-3 line email
ads at the bottom of the email.
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