STAGE III - LET THE NEGOTIATIONS BEGIN

1. Have you done your homework?
Do you know, and can you state clearly and concisely the risks and the advantages to you of the situation you are considering entering? Do you know, and can you state clearly and concisely the risks and the advantages to the other party of the situation you are considering entering? Do you have clearly in your mind your opening position, your leeway and your bottom line? Can you state these clearly and concisely? If your answer to any of the above questions is "no" then you haven't done your homework and you are not ready to negotiate. Go back to the first part of the article (see Issue 1). Practice what you are going to say. Talk to yourself, talk to your friends... talk to the mirror! You can't be too prepared.

2. Be organised.
"Hey man, it's rock,n,roll" is NOT the basis for successful negotiation. Remember what was said in the first part of this article: business is business. Make notes of arrangements for meetings, make sure you know how to get to the meeting place, always allow yourself plenty of time. A few minutes consulting the Melways is a great investment when compared to the embarrassing apologies you will have to make if you are late. Make sure you have all the material you might need, posters, demos, reviews etc. Always take a pen and notebook to meetings and use them to take notes of what is discussed and agreed to.

3. Politeness costs you nothing
While there is no need to grovel or "yes sir no sir three bags full sir" to everything the other party says, basic politeness is essential. Pay attention to what is being said to you, use please and thank you as appropriate, drop a few compliments about the other party's establishment or organisation. Politeness is just a formal way to not insult people and it is usually easier to negotiate with people who have not been insulted.

4. Logic is free too!
Make sense. If the other party does not understand your position clearly then they are either not likely to agree to a mutually beneficial arrangement or they will enter into an arrangement that they view differently from the way you view it. The second situation can lead to a disaster later on. When you use arguments to convince the other party that they should move their position closer to yours, the arguments must be convincing in an objective fashion. An unsupported assertion is not a logical argument. Logical arguments are statements that are supported by reasons and in negotiation the reasons must make sense to the other party and demonstrate that what you are proposing is to the other party's advantage.

5. Present yourself!
How you appear sends a very strong message but what the message is depends on the context. Most situations have an appearance norm, if your appearance is outside that norm then the message that you are sending is usually one of confrontation or craziness. If appearance is considered as a scale from 1 to 10 with outrageously casual at 1 and outrageously formal at 10, then the norm is probably best viewed as a range from about 4 to 6, anything inside this does not send an abnormal message. Notice, however, that this leaves us with two ranges at the extremes capable of sending an abnormal message. Let's consider an example to clarify this idea further. Imagine you were applying for an executive job in an insurance company. The norm would involve a suit and tie but it could vary from an off the rack suit and K-Mart tie (about 4 on the scale) to a hand made Saville Row suit with custom tailored shirt, silk handkerchief in the suit pocket and silk tie (about 6 on the scale). Jeans, a tee shirt and thongs would be about 1.5 and swimming trunks about 0.01. Both of these could be seen as insulting the company and the swimming trunks probably demonstrate that you are deranged. At the other end, a top hat, white tie, tails and a gentleman's walking stick (about 9.5) either insult because they could be interpreted as sending the company up or once again signify derangement. The 4 to 6 range in many situations in the music industry would not involve a suit and tie but the analysis remains the same. Find the 4 to 6 range and let that guide your appearance unless you have a very strong and logical reason for wanting to send a different message. A good guide is often what the other party habitually wears so if you can find that out in advance you will have useful information. (but don't shamelessly imitate, this can also insult).

6. Who has the power?
In most negotiation situations one party starts off with more power than the other. The party with the greater power is the one with the least to gain from the negotiation. If you are a band with a strong following and a venue wants to engage you because they know that you can attract a large crowd, then you are probably the power party. If you were negotiating with the same venue and your band was unknown or unpopular then the venue would be the power party. Remember that it is the individual personal perception of the parties that we a discussing, the party that THINKS they have the least to gain is the power party. This gives the subordinate party the opportunity to alter the power balance by convincing the power party that there are advantages which have not been considered. This does not necessarily mean that the roles can be reversed but the subordinate party should always be aiming to close the power gap as much as possible. The tools to use to close the gap are listed in Part 1: advantages and risks presented in a clear and logical manner.

Next issue we will continue Stage III - Let the negotiation begin! and consider some more examples.

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