PART ONE
THE FOUNDATION
MEET ALEXIS
The meeting was not going well.
âYou did what?!â Jorge shouted.
âI...may have lost the Healthcare Mountain Group account,â Alexis repeated, trying (and failing) to hold eye contact with her boss.
Jorgeâs fists clenched. âThatâs not possible. I told you everything you needed to say to them. I told you exactly what we can and canât give them. And I told you exactly how to beat that jerk, Lucas, they always send to negotiate with us. And now youâre telling me youâve lost the accountâyour biggest account, the one I gave you to as your first assignment in the leadership development program I nominated you for?â
Alexis swallowed and gave a small nod, staring at the edge of Jorgeâs desk.
Jorge threw up his hands and dropped into his chair. âOkay, start at the beginning. Tell me exactly what happened.â
âWell, I started out like you said, telling Lucas he couldnât keep paying the discounted prices from the last contract anymore. Then I said the contract was four months late for renewal and that the one-month extensions theyâd been getting since then wonât work anymore. And then I said their contract would expire at the end of this month, so unless they agree with our proposal, everything will go to list price.â
âOkay, that sounds like everything I told you to say,â said Jorge. âWhat happened next?â
âLucas asked me what the list price was, which surprised me because Iâm sure he knew it, and so I told him, and then I told him again that theyâd been getting a huge discount for four months and that they needed to either sign the contract or pay the list price.â
âMmhmm, and then?â
âWell...then Lucas kind of flipped out. He told me the deal was crap, that there was no way they would renew the contract at our proposed price, and that Iâd better go back here and sharpen my pencil if I wanted him to renew the contract at all instead of going somewhere else! He was so angry I couldnât think of anything to say. I couldnât even move!â
âOh. And so you...what? Just sat there and took that from him? Unbelievable.â Jorge threw up his hands again.
âWhat else could I do?â Alexis wailed. âItâs not like Iâve had any negotiation training, not like you and the others in this leadership development program! I had no idea what I was doing. I was just repeating what you told me to say!â
âAnd that should be enough! Everyone else Iâve mentored in this leadership development program has done just fine in situations like the one you just blew. And you have had negotiation trainingâwe covered it during your onboarding when you joined the company. You had everything you needed, and you blew it.â
Alexis sighed and dropped her eyes to the desktop again. âMaybe I could have done better,â she ventured.
âDarn right you could have. But you might get another chance. You said Lucas sent you back here to come up with a different proposal for the contract?â
âI think so,â said Alexis. âIâm pretty sure thatâs what he meant by going back and sharpening my pencil. And he didnât say he was going to go to our competitors just yet. I think Iâve got one more chance.â
âOkay,â said Jorge. âHereâs what weâre going to do. I want you to schedule another call with that moron for the week after next. Then youâll offer him five percent off the proposed price in return for a three-year contract rather than two. And this time, you will make that stick, do you understand?â
âBut what if heââ
âYes or no, Alexis? Youâve got to deliver if youâre going to stay in this leadership program, and that means youâve got to learn to be aggressive. Can you do it?â
Alexis nodded miserably. âYes, sir.â
few minutes later, Alexis left Jorgeâs office and walked back across the medical sales floor, looking at her shoes.
âMexican for lunch today?â she heard as she passed Kamalâs desk.
âSure, whatever,â she mumbled, dropping her purse and briefcase on her desk.
âWhoa, sister, hold on a sec!â Kamal said. âThat didnât sound like my favorite cheerful Alexis. You know, the one whoâs addicted to fajitas? The one who always tries to get us to do Mexican for lunch? The one who hides guacamole in her top left drawer?â
âHush, you,â Alexis grumbled. âI should never have told you about my guac stash.â She looked up at her friend and co-worker of two and a half years. âMexican is fine. In fact, itâs more than fineâI need it after the meeting I just had.â
âOh, sweetie, I hear that. I think most of the office heard it. Jorge is a tough cookie, for sure.â
âThatâs...one way to put it,â said Alexis. âItâs also the second time Iâve been yelled at today, and itâs not even lunchtime! And I only did what I was told to do in the first placeâhow is this my fault?â She sighed and put her head down on the desk.
âNegotiation isnât easy. But itâs not as hard as all that, eitherâ said Kamal. âWhat are you struggling with?â
âYou mean aside from everything?â Alexis huffed. âItâs easy for you to say itâs not that hardâyouâve been here for years and have had training and actually know what youâre doing. Same with Jonathan and Ling and Leilani and Peter and everyone in our lunch group. I mean, donât get me wrong, I love that you all have sort of adopted me, but I feel so far behind where you guys are. How am I ever supposed to get there, let alone be this aggressive dynamo Jorge wants me to be? I thought I was going to get bounced out of the leadership development program just now, if not outright fired! Donât you get it, Kamal? I have no idea what Iâm doing, and Jorgeâs so-called mentoring is making things worse, not better!â
Kamal gave Alexis a gentle smile. âDid that help? Or do you need the guac stash, too?â
Alexis managed a weak chuckle. âI always need the guac stash, and you know it. But seriously, I really do feel lost here. How do you and Jonathan and the rest do it? Youâre like the best sales reps in the company, and I donât ever hear about you being super aggressive when you negotiate! You never even get madânot even when I rant at you like I just did. Whatâs your secret? Please tell me!â
Kamal was quiet for a moment. Then he stood up and said, âLetâs take an early lunch today.â Alexis, bewildered, followed her co-worker out of the office building and down the block to Chicoâs Taqueria. Kamal said nothing as they walked, sending several text messages on his phone.
As they found a table at the restaurant, Jonathan joined them. âI got your text on my way back in from my meeting, Kamal,â he said, dropping his coat in an empty chair. âAlexis, you doing okay?â
âIâve been better. Iâm sure Kamal mentioned my epic rant in his message,â Alexis said, arching an eyebrow at Kamal.
âYou? Rant? Never,â Kamal stated, winking at her. Alexis stuck her tongue out at him.
âLook, Alexis,â said Jonathan. âKamal did tell me you had a disaster of a negotiation this morning, and that Jorge let you have it afterward. He also said you want some help with the whole negotiation thing so that you can get Jorge off your back. Does that sound about right?â
Alexis nodded, then shook her head, then nodded again. Kamal and Jonathan traded looks. âWell, that certainly clears it up,â Kamal laughed.
âNo, what I mean is that yes, I want to get better at negotiating, but no, I donât want to have to do it the way Jorge wants me to. He keeps telling me to be more aggressive and beat the other side, but when I try to do that, it blows up in my face and I just freeze. I literally couldnât move when Lucas was yelling at me this morning and dealing with Jorge wasnât much better.â
âAh,â said Jonathan, leaning forward. âThatâs what I was hoping to hear.â
Alexis blinked. âWhat? That was one of the worst mornings of my life!â
Jonathan laughed gently. âNo, not that. I meant that you donât want to do everything Jorgeâs way. Thatâs what I was hoping youâd say. I was planning on asking you that question myself in a sec, but you beat me to it.â
âBut why does that matter so much?â Alexis was getting more confused by the second.
âIt matters,â said Kamal, âfor the same reason it matters that weâre having this chat at Chicoâs rather than at our desks.â
âOkay, now Iâm really lost,â said Alexis. âSo, while I sit here and drown my morning in these delicious free tortilla chips, I need you two to drop the cryptic stuff and tell me whatâs going on here. Please?â
âAlright, Iâm sorry,â said Jonathan. âThe reason weâre talking here, and the reason I wanted to know if you were attached to Jorgeâs approach, is because I know someone who could help you get better at negotiation. But there are two catches: she doesnât work for our company, and her approach is pretty much the opposite of Jorgeâs.â
âSo, before Jonathan introduces her to anyone from our office,â continued Kamal, âHe needs to make sure that a different approach is okayâand that the person is okay with basically going behind the companyâs back.â
âI see,â said Alexis. âItâs not illegal to work with an outside coach or anything, is it?â
âNo, of course not,â said Jonathan. âBut I donât imagine Jorge would like it much, do you?â
âNo, heâd hate it,â agreed Alexis. âIf I were to do something like this, I couldnât tell him.â
âWell, you could...but Iâd suggest not doing it right away,â said Kamal. âIâve seen a few people like Jorge come and go from this company, and they care about results more than anything else. If you start making deals, he wonât care how you do it. Itâs only when you donât make them that heâll give you a hard time about doing everything his way.â
âSo...Iâd start working with this negotiation coach on my own time, but not tell Jorge about it until I start getting better results?â
âSomething like that. Use your best judgment,â said Kamal.
âAlright, letâs say Iâm interested,â said Alexis. âWho is this coach, and how can I be sure sheâs the best person to help me?â
âFirst of all, sheâs my Aunt Mia,â said Jonathan, âso Iâve literally known her all my life. More importantly, sheâs also been an executive coach specializing in negotiation for over a decade. She has her own company doing it, in fact. Works with C-suite execs all over the world. But she also has a thing for helping newbies learn the ropes. Someone taught her how to negotiate without being a total jerk when she was right where you are now, and she likes to pay it forward.â
A lightbulb went on in Alexisâs mind. âThatâs your secret, isnât it, Kamal? Youâve worked with her before, havenât you?â
Kamal grinned a very wide grin. âYou bet I have, sweetie. So has Jon here, obviously, and so has most of the rest of our little lunch group.â
âThereâs a reason we do so well at negotiating contracts, Alexis,â said Jonathan, âand it has nothing to do with people like Jorge. Mia taught us all to negotiate from the inside out, to start with the last thing the Jorges of the world tend to think about.â
âWhatâs that?â asked Alexis.
âWell, Mia does a better job of explaining it than I will, but letâs just say it starts with those emotions that paralyzed you this morning and goes from there. So, what do you think? Should I set up a lunch meeting with you and Aunt Mia?â
Alexis nodded firmly. âYes, please. Iâve got two weeks to get ready to save the HMG account, and I need all the help I can get.â
âSounds like a plan,â said Jonathan. âIâll set it up.â
INTRODUCTION
Negotiation is a lot like mountain climbing.
Climbing a mountain may sound easy if youâve never done it beforeâyou just keep going up until thereâs no more up to go to, right? Even as you do some training and start to know what to expect, you still probably feel like âIâve got this! It might be a bit of a challenge, but I know what to do, and Iâll come out on top, no problem.â
But then as you start to actually climb the mountain, you realize no amount of reading book...