customer service skills -student handout
TRANSCRIPT
“CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS” –
STUDENT HANDOUT
Contents
Customer Relationship Management (Day 28 – 2 sessions)
Customer Types or Personalities (Day 29 - 2 sessions)
Handling Difficult Customers (Day 30 – 2 sessions)
Complaint Management (Day 31 – 2 sessions)
Negotiation Skills - I (Day 32 – 2 sessions)
Negotiation Skills - I (Day 33 – 2 sessions)
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CUSTOMER SERVICE
Begin the session by playing a video on customer service
Elicit response from the participants about their learning’s from the video
Once the students start responding probe the following questions:
1. What do you think about banking industry in the Indian market?
2. What is a market?
3. Can you differentiate the types of banks like nationalized banks, foreign
banks, private banks? How about HDFC is it a ….. bank?
4. How many customers do you think does HDFC bank has?
5. How do you think HDFC bank is trying to acuire customers, develop and
maintain these many millions of customers in India?
6. So do you think that HDFC bank should have a plan/ strategy to do this?
After getting a response from the participants explain that CRM is a business
philosophy which helps the bank to acquire new customers, develop and
maintain relationship with the customer and this is termed as CRM Customer
relationship management.
Explain that to maintain the details of the customers- customer data base,
complaints, transactions its necessary for the bank to have IT support functions
in maintaining, therefore CRM is also defined as an IT enabled tool
Determinants of CRM
Probe a question to the large group about what is the most important thing in a
relationship ---- a long term relationship, elicit response and then try to connect
to the relationship between the bank and the customers, explain trust as an
implicit/ explicit emotion the customer and the bank having towards each other,
continue explaining what is customer value as the ability of the bank to satisfy
the needs of the customer at a comparatively lower cost and higher benefit than
offered by the competitor banks
Functions of CRM:
Probe a question to the participants about what makes an organization/ bank to
grow in terms of profit, clarify the meaning of profit, volume, safeguard
Profit- monetary terms
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Volume- Number of customers (customer acquisition)
Safe guard- Not allowing the customers to let go with respect to different
products and services offered by the competitor banks, pull the slide and then
explain that direct functions are basic requirements for an organization/ banks to
grow
And indirect functions are actions necessary to achieve the objective which is
growth of the bank
Interaction-explain terms innovation wrt products & services, market wrt
products & services offered by different banks, scouting the customers and
safeguarding them to retain them on a longer perspective, making the products
& services as accessible as possible to focus on CSAT customer satisfaction
Why CRM necessary?
Show the participants the slide and elicit response on what the customer actually
needed and what was finally delivery?
Explain the importance of understanding the needs and expectations of the
customers before and after providing the products and services
Show the slide and then lead them to the 5 stages explaining each one of them
Pre relationship stage- Time to do some home work as in market analysis,
financial status of the customers in the particular location, how many of them
are eligible to go with the product that you are offering
Early stage- Now that you know that your potential customers in the particular
location its time to approach them for the first time and explain your product
Development stage- some customers after you have interacted with them for the
first time may be interested, some not interested, some may be interested but
not eligible
Long term stage- Is the stage where you interact with the existing customers
checking if they are satisfied with the products/ services (complaint
management) focusing on customer retention strategies to retain loyal
customers(safe guard)
Final stage- Is the stage where the number of interactions with the bank and the
customers gets institutionalized/ no more transactions with the bank (concept of
satisfied/ dissatisfied customers
If satisfied – The customer goes with other products offered by the bank and the
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cycle continues
If the customer unhappy with the services- no more transactions or interactions
with the bank reaches the final stage
Customer Identification
Probe- Who is a customer according to you? Is he the one who is interested in
your products & services? Is he an existing customer? Is he a potential customer
you have met for the first time?
Elicit response from the participants and then explain the definition of a
customer
Ask- how would you identify different types of customers? How do we categories
them?
Explain the learning objective of the session
To classify the types of customer based on
1. Different communication styles of the customers
2. Different personalities of the customers
The group has to portray the recommendations to handle this type of customer
Who is a customer?
Case study 1:
Go through the situation, discuss with your team and answer the
following questions:
Sheetal’s mother wants to buy a present for her niece Mandira, who will be
getting married in a week’s time. Sheetal’s mother gives Sheetal Rs. 1,500 and
asks her to buy an electric rice cooker for Mandira. Sheetal finds a nice one and
gets it gift wrapped. The gift of course is give to Mandira on her wedding day.
1. (a) Who is the owner of the electric rice cooker and why?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
1. (b) Whom should the electric rice cooker company treat as the customer and
why?
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______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
After participants complete the exercise ask a representative from each team to
present the group’s opinion. After this summarize covering the following points:
The owner of the rice cooker is the person who finally keeps it. In this case it is
Mandira.
All three are customers in their own way:
The person who pays for the product at the counter – Sheetal
The person who induced/influenced the buying – Sheetal’s mother
The person who is the consumer of the product – Mandira
A customer is the one who directly or indirectly buys or uses a product or a
service.
Good and bad customer service:
Create interest as follows:
All of us have bought goods or services at some point of time or the other. We
are all consumers and thus customers of some goods or services.
Activity:
I am a customer of the following
products:
I am a customer of the following
services:
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Activity:
Write a good customer service experience you had:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________
Write a bad customer service experience you had:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
As customers we have certain expectations
If those expectations are met – we ignore the service
If what we get goes below our expectations – we complain
If what we get goes beyond our expectations – we are happy and remain
loyal
A company’s business thus depends on its customers.
If the customer is happy with the product or service they buy more and may
also refer more customers.
Case study 2:
“Chocolate chips” is a cake shop. They make delicious cakes. Until recently, at
any given point of time you would find that the place was full. There are still a lot
of people going there but business seems to be decreasing everyday.
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Go through the following events that occurred at “Chocolate Chips” and find the
reason for decrease in business.
1. The chief pastry chef took ill for 2 days and could not overlook the production
2. One customer had a big order and packed almost all pastries available in the
shop and many others had to return disappointed
3. The place was declared a no parking zone
4. The shop has had a change in policies and have introduced a token system.
Where customers decide what they want, pay cash at the cashier’s desk,
collect coupons, present them at the counters, where the pastries are packed
or served. The management thought this will help them attend to customer’s
needs faster as there is no interaction between counter staff and customers.
Make a note of your points here:
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
After participants finish the discussion, explain as follows:
Customers decide the business of any organization. Be it a cake shop or a
telephone service provider. In the case we just discussed, all factors in some way
contributed to the depression in business. Customers can be very sensitive to
what they get and how they are treated. Finally it amounts to “is it worth the
price I pay for it?”
Notice this:
Increase in price + no change in attitude/ quality = Decreased business
Increase in price + freebies = business remains constant
Decrease in price + bad attitude = constancy or decrease in business
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Decrease in price + good attitude = slight increase in business
Decrease in price + freebies + good attitude = remarkable increase in business
Constant price + Freebies + good attitude = increase in business
Constant price + great attitude = increase in business
A customer is the lifeblood of any business.
All businesses have to ensure that the customer is kept happy all the time
One happy customer may either return or refer more customers
One unhappy customer will discourage many others and either stop more
people from buying the product or service or may even reduce the number of
existing customers
It is therefore important for us to understand our customers and strive at
exceeding their expectations
Explain that in the next few sessions we would understand different types of
customers, and learn ways of dealing with them in order to exceed their
expectations thus improve business of the organization.
Exercise:
In this section I learnt
__________________________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Following this session my action plan is
__________________________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
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Types of customers:
Types of customers:
Ask participants to complete the following exercise:
Exercise:
List at least 5 types of customers you think you could come across in a business:
1. ____________________________________
2. ____________________________________
3. ____________________________________
4. ____________________________________
5. ____________________________________
Exercise:
How would you react in the following situations?
1. You buy 3 packets of noodles from the grocery store and return home to find
that the store keeper has given you only 2 packets.
____________________________________________________________________
2. You discover that you were supposed to have got a boomerang free with your
box of expensive cookies and that you have not been given it
____________________________________________________________________
3. You have taken a phone connection only for local calls and you have been
billed Rs. 300 worth of STD and ISD calls which you never made
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____________________________________________________________________
4. You discover that your credit card has been misused and the company does
not waiver the amount of Rs 20,000 that has been wrongly charged to your
account.
____________________________________________________________________
5. You forget to pay your telephone bill and your connection gets terminated
____________________________________________________________________
Customer types:
Customers are of different types. We could classify them based on their attitudes
and personalities:
Based on attitudes:
First ask participants how they would classify customers based on their attitudes.
After participants respond, explain as following using the slide:
Aggressive: people displaying such behavior seem to get triggered at the
slightest opportunity. They display an behavior of enmity or eagerness to fight or
argue for the silliest of reasons.
Passive: these seem to be lacking in energy or will. They accept anything that is
said to them. they are peacefully resistant in response to injustice and will not
express their resentment or discomfort correctly.
Assertive: these show their true feelings with confidence. They know what they
want and will ask for it without hurting the other person. They are aggressive
about their needs but put it across in a non aggressive but bold manner.
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Based on personalities:
First ask participants how they would classify customers based on their
personalities. After participants respond, explain as following using the slide:
Knowledgeable: these customers could be highly educated or could have an
extensive information or understanding of the subject. They will be alert and fully
informed about the product/ service/ procedures involved. They seem to be very
aware of their situation and the solutions that can be provided through a
thorough study or a prior experience of being in the situation.
Ignorant: quite contrary to the knowledgeable customers, the ignorant ones
lack in the knowledge of the subject or may in general be uneducated in the
specific field. They could be unaware because of lack of relevant information or
knowledge.
Nervous: such customers may seem to be very uneasy and low in confidence.
They rely a lot on the customer service personnel to assist them with their
concern. They show anxiety and could get agitated with small things.
Irate: These kinds of people are very non-trusting and display an angry exterior.
They get irritated and show extreme anger. They sound loud and may
sometimes get abusive as well as they cannot control their anger.
Complaining: These kinds of customers express dissatisfaction, discontent,
displeasure, or unhappiness by complaining about or criticizing some part of the
product or the service all the time.
Fussy: This kind of customer can be especially irritating as they can find faults
with the smallest detail. They could also be identified by their complaining
characteristics.
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Hysterical / melodramatic: This kind of customer could display excessive or
uncontrollable emotions. They could display their hysteria in their painful voice.
They could over do their emotions like in a stage performance.
Celebrity: these are known personalities. They expect to be recognized and
treated with more importance than the others. Not all of them are humble. They
expect special treatment, and discounts. They often give you the “don’t you
know who I am?” line.
After explaining the above, also explain as follows:
Customers may be of different personalities or may show different behaviors.
They do this because of a previous experience, the situation they are in or
because of their natural selves. We too as customers behave in one of these
manners. What is important is not the kind of customer you are but how well you
are handled. We need to understand the different types of customers so that we
are prepared to face them and so that we face them with the right attitude so as
to deliver exceptional customer service.
Understanding customers and handling them:
Despite how people would react, they would do so in a specific manner based on
their personalities. The aggressive people would make a rude comment and
sound loud and angry. There passive people would try to make their point in
different was such as not return to the shop at all, or perhaps tell a lot of people
not to ever go to that store. Or perhaps very politely make their point at the
store. Passive people could also get hysterical and melodramatic. While the
assertive ones may sound reasonable they could get quite aggressive and irate if
not handled properly.
Handling customers:
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As we learnt so far different customers have different needs and different
personalities. In order to retain customers we need to be able to cater to the
varied needs and personalities of our customers.
We must learn to handle customers because of the following reasons:
1. When we face the situation, we will be well prepared to judge the customer’s
personality and decide in what manner we must react to handle them
efficiently thus avoid making the situation worse.
2. Customers are the lifeblood of any organization. To retain customers and
keep them happy one has to know how to handle them in different
circumstances.
3. In order to avoid mistakes from happening, we must know what makes a
customer react in a particular manner. And when the customer reacts in a
particular manner we should be able to empathize with the customer and
target the root cause and handle that so that the customer feels that the
service was exemplary and not just a good effort.
Handling different types of customers efficiently:
Ask participants to do the following activity:
Type of
customer
Reason for behavior Manner of handling
Knowledgeabl
e
Has good product
knowledge and is
confident about the
solution to the problem.
Has approached you only
because he/she does not
have the authority to do
anything about it
Respect customer’s knowledge of
subject.
Complement customer on his/her
knowledge of the subject.
Accept suggestion and advice if a
better solution can be achieved.
Not doing so may irritate customer
and things may become more
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himself/herself difficult to handle
Ignorant Has no knowledge what so
ever about the product or
service. Relies entirely on
the CSR fir assistance
Be helpful.
Understand and respect the fact
that customer does not have as
much knowledge.
Be patient and educate customer
at every step about what you are
doing to assist
Never…ever…treat the customer
as dumb
Nervous May have a weak
personality.
Must have gone through
an experience which will
have consequences – ex:
not made payment etc.
Speak politely.
Talk to customer respectfully
Be patient with customer
Resolve concern with care,
constantly educating customer
about how to avoid situation
Reassure customer that things will
be okay
Irate Must have had one or a
series of bad experiences
which according to the
customer is unacceptable.
Must have been pushed to
the limits
CSR must have said
something that has pushed
customer to anger
Listen to customer until customer
has let off all steam.
Apologize politely and take
ownership.
Recognize root cause of the
problem and resolve step by step
Be cautious with choice of words
Give customer options and allow to
choose solution
Ensure customer is satisfied with
resolution before ending the
conversation.
Complaining Must have had bad
experiences in the past
Hear the customer out.
Make notes of all complaints
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Bad experience must have
recurred
Does not feel satisfied with
the efforts put in
Feels that the CSR takes
him/her for granted
Apologize and summarize
complaints
Target one complaint at a time and
inform customer on how resolution
is arrived at.
Ensure customer satisfaction at the
end of the conversation.
Fussy Believes in high standards
Needs value for money
Do not compromise service quality
at any cost.
Remind customer of the privileges
he/she has got and ensure you
thank him/her for giving you the
opportunity to serve
Treat them with importance
Check for customer satisfaction at
every step
Hysterical Does not know how to
control emotions
Feels taken advantage of
every time something goes
wrong
Be patient.
Be empathetic – remind customer
that you understand
Listen and make notes. Let
customer let off steam.
Gain trust of the customer while
speaking to him/her
Assure customer of continued
service
Celebrity Has always got attention
Has been treated as a
special person everywhere
and is used to it
Like to keep themselves a
level higher to avoid
people from getting
Treat with respect as you would
any other customer
Do not try to invade privacy by
being inquisitive
Give the best customer service…as
you would to any other customer
Follow prescribed procedure
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personal
FINAL ASSESSMENT
1. Our attitude is the outcome of our_________________
a) behavior
b) Mindset
c) Customer
b) Boss
2. Understanding the problems of our customers is called as
_________________
a) Sympathy
b) Listening
c) Empathy
d) positive attitude
3. The ‘A’ in LAMA methodology stands for _____________
a) Attention
b) Acquire
c) Attitude
d) Acknowledge
4. What do you understand by passive customer feedback
a) Never call customers
b) Waiting for customers’ feedback
c) Feedback given to friends
d) feedback give by email
5. The purpose of complaint recovery is __________________
a) Solve customer complaints and communicating back to them
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b) Recover faculty goods from customer
c) Recover losses from customers
d) forwarding complain to higher management
6. _______________ is one of the most important factor for customer loyalty
a) Customer satisfaction
b) Customer Value creation
c) Profit
d) Volume of business
7. The organization should maintain _______________________ for growth and
development
a) Suppliers
b) Time
c) Relationship networks
d) Profits
8. What do you mean by acting as a customer advocate?
a) Guide the customer
b) Fight for customer rights
c) Deal with consumer laws
d) Make profits for your company
9. What does the following statement signify “CUSTOMERS DON’T TALK TO
THE “COMPANY," THEY TALK TO YOU?
a) They are not interested in the company
b) You are the face of your company
c) You have good communication skills
d) You know more than your managers
10. How can one identify people with good Interpersonal skills
a) Giving free gifts
b) Good personality
c) Genuine concern for others
d) Selling quality products
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COMPLAINTS
C&R CYCLE
1. Internal capacity and scope:
Necessary resources are allocated
Possible effects are considered
Written policy
2. Complaint filing:
Information on C&R is user-friendly and accessible.
Procedure is accessible and safe to use
Non-retaliation and confidentiality are guaranteed
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Response to
complainant
Complaint investigatio
nResolution
Internal action
Complaint filing
Appeal
Complaint recorded and filed into a database
3. Processing the complaint:
Impartial and independent process
Clear time frames for the investigation
Complaints processed by qualified individuals
Complainant informed of procedures/appeal
4. Response:
Clear decision on the type of response and remedy offered; ensure
consistency
Ensure that complainant receives a clear response and acknowledges the
receipt
Complaints feed into learning process
Future planning takes into account necessary corrections
COMPLAINING
When making your complaint, remember to:
Be polite but firm.
You may feel angry, but an effective complaint is based how well
one can present themselves.
Explain your problem, keep to the facts and know your rights.
Tell them what you want them to do for your complaint to be
resolved.
For example, specify whether you are looking for a replacement.
Remember that while these are only all options.
Sarcasm or rudeness won’t help your cause. How one presents one self as a
reasonable person rather than an unreasonable person. Focus on the action you
want the supplier to take rather than on your anger or disappointment. A repair,
a refund, completion of an unfinished service, or simply and apology. The law
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does not specify who chooses the form of redress. Therefore it is up to you to
negotiate this with the supplier.
USEFUL LANGUAGE
MAKING THE COMPLAINT
• I’m ringing to complain about..
INSISTING
• I’m afraid that is not good enough
EXPLAINING THE PROBLEM
• The MP3 player doesn’t work
THREATENING
• I’m afraid unless the product is replaced I’ll have to …
• If you don’t replace the product, I’ll have to report to….
I’m sorry, but I’m not satisfied with,
Unfortunately, there is a problem with…
I’d like to know why, ..
I must insist…
Could I speak to your superior?
Could you put me through to the person in charge?
There seems to be a problem with...
We haven’t received the... I’m …… is missing.
DEALING WITH COMPLAINTS
SHOWING UNDERSTANDING
• I’m sorry to hear that
• Mmmmm, I see what you mean
MAKING EXCUSES
• I’m afraid I can’t help you there since it is not our fault…
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I’m sorry about the delay/problem,
I can see what the matter is..
It’s not our policy to replace items..
I’m afraid it is not quite right
GETTING THE FACTS
• Could you give me some details, please?
• What happens to your MP3 player exactly?
PROMISING ACTION
• Ok, I’ll look into it straight away
• I promise you I’ll check the details and get back to you.
What’s the problem exactly?
What seems to be the problem?
Could you explain exactly what the problem is ?
I promise you I’ll check the details and get back to you.
What I’ll do is… And… I’ll get back to you shortly.
As soon as I’ve…. I’ll call you back.
FINAL ASSESSMENT
1. Explain the C&R cycle of complaints.
2. What should you remember while making complaints?
3. Give examples of useful language that can be used while making
complaints
4. How do you deal with complaints?
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NEGOTIATION SKILLS
TOPICS AT A GLANCE
NEGOTIATION
CHARACTERISTICS OF NEGOTIATION
TYPES OF NEGOTIATION
PHASES OF NEGOTIATION
PREPARATION
OBJECTIVES
CONCESSIONS
OPENING THE NEGOTIATION
BARGAIN AND BUILD A SOLUTION
CLOSING
PITFALLS
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QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE NEGOTIATORS
COMPARITIVE OF DISTRIBUTIVE AND INTEGRATED NEGOTIATION
ACTIVITY
Training Objectives:
Evaluate participant's current negotiation skills
Demonstrate behaviors characteristics of successful negotiators
Find creative new ways to approach problems
Assess how participants deal with conflict
Explore boundary role concept and its implications
Negotiation:
Negotiation is a dialogue intended to resolve disputes, to produce an
agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective
advantage, or to craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. It is the primary
method of alternative dispute resolution.
Negotiation occurs in business, non-profit organizations, government branches,
legal proceedings, among nations and in personal situations such as marriage,
divorce, parenting, and everyday life. The study of the subject is called
negotiation theory. Those who work in negotiation professionally are called
negotiators. Professional negotiators are often specialized, such as union
negotiators, leverage buyout negotiators, peace negotiators, hostage
negotiators, or may work under other titles, such as diplomats, legislators, or
brokers.
Characteristics of a negotiation:
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Bear in mind that each person in a negotiation is there because they want a
solution. Not everyone wants the same solution, which is why a negotiation
takes place.
History can be a strong component – not only history between the two people
but between departments, directorates or teams. Remember, history is not
always correct and if you believe it is getting in the way then bring it to the
surface.
A preference to search for a solution rather than have a fight
Depends on:
– Personalities of the people involved
– History that exists between them
– The persuasive ability of each
Two types of negotiation
Negotiation is a complex communication process. This slide indicates the two
most common types of negotiation. You really have to strive to want a co-
operative negotiation. The note that accompanies this presentation goes into a
lot of detail on this point.
Co-operative = win/win
Empathetic
partnership agreements
Adversarial = win/lose
maximise own gain and other’s loss
unstable agreements
Phases of Negotiation:
Preparation
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Opening
Bargaining
Closing
Preparation:
Things to think about before starting the conversation.
These should mould your own strategy on entering the negotiation. Do not let
them become too fixed or rigid, or you may not achieve your goal and appear a
dictator in embryo.
The amount of time you set aside for this self reflection will always vary. You
may also need to take advice from the chief executive, non-medical managers
and medical colleagues.
Objectives:
This should help crystallise precisely what you want to achieve.
What exactly do I wish to achieve?
Which of my objectives:
must I achieve?
do I intend to achieve?
would I like to achieve?
What other options are acceptable to me?
BATNA
How might this fit with what the client wants?
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Concessions:
This is how you think through the bargaining process that you will use.
Agreements are usually reached by concessions being given and received.
Concessions have two elements: cost and value. It is best to give away a
concession with little cost to you but high value to the consultant.
Know your limits, and the limits of your authority. You cannot obligate the
employer to a course of events that runs counter to the health boards’ direction.
You may have a limit on the financial deals you can strike.
Once you have reached any of your limits and lost bargaining power you have to
do the most difficult thing in a negotiation – stop it. Walk away. Find a good
reason to do so. It is worse to agree a concession which then gets removed by a
higher authority than not to agree it in the first instance. Your own pride and
status takes a big fall.
What is the best deal I can realistically get?
What concessions do I have; their cost to me and value to the consultant?
What is the limit of my authority?
When should I walk away; and at what cost to the outcome? (FEP)
Opening the negotiation:
Establish the issues
Gather information
Successful negotiators have thought out the way ahead. They are well prepared,
self-confident and structure the negotiation so that they remain in control.
Establish the issues:
Agree an agenda
what needs to be discussed and agreed
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what are the major issues
what are the timescales
Keep everything general at the beginning
Gain commitment early on, but only once all the negotiable items
are identified
Gather information:
You will already have gathered information, but you may now find out more.
This is a two way sharing of information. Now it is about listening and probing to
find out as much as you can, first hand. You may find out items you didn’t
expect, so you are advised to go through this step.
Bargain and build a solution:
In a negotiation you can start from a defensible extreme and give ground. You
may gain more than you expected to. If so, do not be surprised and don’t ever
let it be known that you have gained more.
If an impasse looks likely then seek alternative solutions.
Start should be ambitious but defensible
Bargain
ask questions and seek alternatives
Concessions traded
don’t give away for free
Agreement reached
Closing stages:
The closing stages are vital. Appearing over eager is bad in closing deals – think
about the extra concessions you have gained from car salesmen. You may want
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to do it deliberately in order to ‘give’ away a concession to prevent others you
can see coming over the horizon, but only do so if you are experienced.
Vital to overall success
Do not be over eager as may make the client hold back for more
concessions
Beware ‘one sided’ concessions at end of negotiation - the majority of
concessions are given or traded in last 5% of total time.
Review position to date and agree it
Record the details
Define and timetable outstanding issues
Agree with the consultant that you both have the same interpretation
It is vitally important that you both record and agree the position at the end.
It is very easy to “remember” later. Doesn’t need to be just factual -
emotions and expectations can be recorded.
Some pitfalls:
Failing to prepare effectively
Being intimidated by status
Forgetting the client has things to gain
Making assumptions about what the client wants
Talking too much and failing to listen effectively
Giving away concessions for nothing
Conceding on important issues too quickly
Assuming deadlock means agreement is not possible
Being inflexible
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Taking things personally
Last point is very important.
A good note to end on:
These can be difficult discussions but the anger or other emotions are being
directed at the post you hold, not at you as an individual.
Qualities of effective negotiators:
Listen more than talk
Build trust / relationship
Use empathy
Communicate honestly and openly
Understand their needs and expectation
Ask right questions
Look for occasion when to say YES
Make I statement and not YOU
Invite opponents criticism
(Be Flexible. Use pauses (to summarize). Keep emotions away.)
Distributive / Win – Lose:
• One side win and one side loses
• False promises and misinformation
• Poor communication
• Fixed resources, one get more
• Opposing interest
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• Maximizing one’s own interests
• Manipulating and forcing strategies
• Claiming value – destroy values and make relationship bitter
Integrated / Win – Win:
Both sides win
Ideas are verbalized, group pay attention to each other
Effective communication
Variable resources to be divided
Similar interest
Maximizing joint interests
Co-operating and sharing strategies
Creating value – create values and make relationship stronger
Tips for Win – Win negotiation:
Keep positive attitude, orient yourself to win-win approach
Be clear on strategy, what is important and why
Know your BATNA and FEP
Separate People from problem
Focus on interest, not on positions
Create options for mutual gains
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Create possibilities
Pay attention to flow of negotiation
Communicate clearly and listen carefully
Take intangibles into account
Activity 1
Bongala
You represent Bongoland, a remote and isolated community.
Below is a list of commodities you produce and need in order to have a balanced
economy
Due to your geographic location, you have no option but to negotiate with your
only near neighbour, Twitala, to obtain the commodities you need, and to offload
those of which you have a surplus.
Commodity Available Needed
Copper 10 12
Timber 20 7
Brainpower 15 9
Insurance 4 10
Shipping 12 10
Bricks 6 14
Oil* 5 11
Electricity 3 9
Cereals 16 3
Meat* 10 16
Your success will be measured in the following way. You will be awarded:
1 point for each unit needed of a commodity gained.
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1 point for each unit surplus of a commodity offloaded.
2 bonus points for each commodity when your needs are balanced by
availability.
3 points for each unit obtained of the most important commodities marked with
an asterisk.
Minus 1 point for each minute or part thereof of negotiating time.
Negotiating starts when the umpire signals, and ends when both parties have
initialled a note of the agreed exchange quantities.
Bongala
You represent Twitala, a remote and isolated community.
Below is a list of commodities you produce and need in order to have a balanced
economy
Due to your geographic location, you have no option but to negotiate with your
only near neighbour, Bongoland, to obtain the commodities you need, and to
offload those of which you have a surplus.
Commodity Available Needed
Copper 10 12
Timber 6 12
Brainpower* 9 15
Insurance 16 3
Shipping 12 10
Bricks 20 7
Oil 3 9
Electricity* 5 11
Cereals 8 16
Meat 12 6
Your success will be measured in the following way. You will be awarded:
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1 point for each unit needed of a commodity gained.
1 point for each unit surplus of a commodity offloaded.
2 bonus points for each commodity when your needs are balanced by
availability.
3 points for each unit obtained of the most important commodities marked with
an asterisk.
Minus 1 point for each minute or part thereof of negotiating time.
Negotiating starts when the umpire signals, and ends when both parties have
initialled a note of the agreed exchange quantities.
According to the group points, see how well you have negotiated.
Faculty should ensure that the Activities cover
Planning negotiation
Creative thinking
Negotiating styles
Assertiveness
Questioning Techniques
Handling difficult people
Sales negotiation
Trainer takes feedback from both the groups.
Activity 2
“Divide the loot” – A conflict management and negotiation skills activity
This is what we do:
1. Form into two groups, physically apart.
One group is to take on the role of the management negotiation
team, the other represents employees.
2. Each individual within a group pays a the same amount of their
own money to the kitty. A different amount is taken from each
group.
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It is very important that each group does not at any time know the
value of the investment made by the other.
3. The activity leader pays into the kitty a third element of his own
money – the value of this is known only to him.
4. Each group is then informed of the total value of the kitty.
Group members know their own input, and the total, but not the
value of the investment made by the other group or the activity
leader.
5. Separately, the two groups then determine the share of the total
they feel should by rights, come to them, and a rationale that
they can use to justify that split.
After 10 minutes of the above preparation, the two groups come
together to commence negotiation, and to agree on a split of the
kitty.
6. The two teams meet, adjourn, and work on a split that is
agreeable to both parties.
7. When agreement has been reached, we will debrief the learning.
Remember to record your learning as you work.
What are the things you will keep in mind while Negotiating?
FINAL ASSESSMENT
1. Define Negotiation. Explain the characteristics of Negotiation
2. What are the phases of Negotiation?
3. Explain the process of Negotiation.
4. Mention a few pitfalls of Negotiation.
5. Write 5 qualities of effective Negotiators.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY & ADDITIONAL READINGS
http://www.customerexpressions.com
Handling complaints by Angelena Boden
Negotiation Basics: Concepts, Skills and Exercises by Ralph A. Johnson
Negotiation Skills by Tim Hindle
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