The Devil in the Deal, by Kim Meredith
We all do deals, big ones, small ones, and in between. The
purchase of your house or business, the lease, raise, job, or who will look
after the kids for the weekend. I mention this only because I cannot think of
anyone who would not benefit from reading this very accessible book.
The author, Kim Meredith, spent a significant part of her
professional life doing deals and now teaches others what she has learned. “The
Devil in the Deal” is fifty such teachings.
When you run your finger down the list of the world’s
richest people you will quickly see that they are, first and foremost,
dealmakers. Lest you think that this puts them into a special category of
people who have unnatural deal making abilities, it is worth noting that every
kid appears to be a brilliant dealmaker.
Consider the following deal making traits that so many children seem to
have been born with.
Children know that if you don’t ask you don’t get. They also
seem to have a plethora of ideas and alternatives with which to close the deal.
They don’t take “no” as your final answer. They are ready to proffer
alternatives, and often with wily creativity. They are happy to link bedtime
with the trip to the Lion Park, or bathing without a fuss to an ice-cream, or
being quiet to not having to eat their vegetables. And, unlike the adults, they
don’t seem to care about the ego issues and ‘losing face’. (Meredith makes
effective use of various familiar examples and analogies that make the complex
simple and memorable.)
A full fifth of the book is devoted to preparing for a deal.
This is not “back of an envelope” work, it is the painstaking rigour of
clarifying all the issues that are involved in the deal and then to
prioritising them according to your desired outcome. This will help you address
three critical facets of the process: The identification of what you are likely
to get from the other party, what would be the lowest you could go, and what
your opening offer should be.
Sitting down and doing the hard work will also help you
identify your strengths and weaknesses as well as theirs. Your aim in a deal is
to get everything you want and can realistically expect to get, and nothing
less.
To get what you want you need to be aware of what the other
party needs from a business as well as from a personal point of view. If you
can offer them “a carrot”, something that they desire, you are more likely to
get what you require in return. Of course, “carrots” only work if they are of
value to the other party. Offer a lion a carrot and he will probably eat you
instead, offer him an impala and you may well have a deal. Mediocre dealmakers,
Meredith contends, believe that considering what your counterpart wants from
the deal at a personal level, is a waste of time. It is prudent never to forget
that you are negotiating with a person, not a company.
The section on preparation opens with the quote from
Benjamin Franklin, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” Consider only one
aspect of the process, your closing strategy. If you have not prepared you probably
only have one close, and if that is not possible it will be you thinking on
your feet against their carefully crafted strategy. No contest.
Rigorous preparation also has the advantage of allowing you
the opportunity to identify and bolster your power in the deal-making process.
This is not an inconsequential issue when you understand power as the leverage
you need to get what you want. When you cautiously and carefully consider who
needs the deal, what are all the “carrots” you can offer them to get what you
want, and how can you influence their perception of you, your power could
increases consequentially.
In the deal-making encounter what you communicate is going
to determine a great deal about the outcome. If you give away the farm you are
unlikely to get it back so you are well advised to communicate clearly and
carefully. One of the guides Meredith suggests is to use the format “If you…,
then I…” “If you do this for me, then I will do this for you.” If you are asked
for a concession, you need to determine what it is worth to them so you can get
a concession in return that is of real value to you.
One of the differences between the professional dealmakers
and the second tier is the use they make of adjournments. “It is at
middle-management level that people seem to hold the distorted view that taking
time to catch one’s breath is a weakness,” says Meredith.
The book is full of practical gems and sound guidance. It is
an accessible and entertaining way to introduce yourself to the field of
deal-making if you are new at it and a valuable refresher for the seasoned.
Readability Light +---- Serious
Insights High
--+-- Low
Practical High
+---- Low
*Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership
and strategy.