Have you ever listed to a recording of your own voice and thought it sounded strange? It’s been my experience that most people feel that way. For some reason the way I think I sound and the way I really sound can be very different. Today I learned that principle applies to negotiation as well.

I am currently in the process of buying a domain from another person. Usually, when buying a domain that I would really like, the following scene takes place: I make an offer, the other person counters with a price many times what I offered, I say no, they drop their price by 50%, I say no again, they don’t drop it anymore because they feel they have already given in and expect me to meet halfway, I still say no, and then we go our separate ways. I then find a domain that will work just as good but maybe isn’t as cool. This happens because I am usually pretty certain of what I am willing to offer. This price is always very much under the ridiculously inflated price that people place on their domains that they haven’t done anything with for years.

I am currently in a negotiation that is different. The domain that I am after doesn’t have a real good substitute. The other problem is that there is a company that is competing for the same domain. Because if this, my initial offering was much more than I have ever offered for a domain. Unfortunately, the other company offered more, so I countered offered with a price that beet theirs and was really the highest I could possibly go. They agreed to the sale (which was a huge relief) but, shortly after, the sale was threatened.

Because I wanted to get this task done and out of the way, I began to push for the transfer of the domain to move quicker than the sellers liked. I interpreted my actions as being quick and efficient, they interpreted my actions as an attempt to catch them up in something that wasn’t in their best interest. They were suspicious to the point that they even declined my offer. It was at this point that they voiced their suspicions and I learned that they felt wary of me. Fortunately, I was able to settle them down. I apologized for the bad impression and the sale went through.

Had I taken a moment and stepped outside myself to see how they might be feeling, I would have realized that they might be uncomfortable because of their inexperience.  I didn’t sound the way I thought I sounded and that almost cost me the prize. That was a great lesson learned that you don’t always sound the way you think you sound.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 23rd, 2006 and is filed under Whatever, Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.