How 1 Word Can Make Or Break A Deal….

Happy Monday!

I so want you to be awesome in English.
To feel like a rock star.
I’m (literally) a rock star coach, but also love working with people in many other fields.

Client In The Spotlight!

I am fortunate to be the personal English coach to some pretty incredible people. I’d like to share someone’s journey with you.

I’ve been working with the very talented Marijke Roskam recently, who is the most sought-after moderator (2 years in a row, now- wow!), via the Sprekershuys. She’s been getting so many requests to do international events, and we’ve been working intensely together during several VIP coaching days over the past few weeks to raise the bar and her confidence in English. I’m so proud to say that she rocked her last intentional event! Her natural flair, sense of humor and expertise came through brilliantly, and I know many more international events will be on her horizon. Great job, Marijke!

Ok.

Now back to you.
Let me show you how to ruin a deal with 1 word.
Let’s say you fly over to England to negotiate a Big Deal (literally and figuratively) with a new potential partner. You’ve prepared your strategy, and know what the parameters are in the session – how far you want to go in order to get what you want. You’ve thought so much about how to get the deal done, and create a win-win situation.

All good, right?
Wrong.

You’ve thought about how to get the deal sealed, but you haven’t thought about your English.

You start out with this:
‘When we agree, we would like to…..’
And then your counterpart stops listening because the deal is already made.
With your first word.

When. We. Agree.
Big. Mistake.

When you are negotiating, don’t start out with ‘when.’. This means that you have already committed, agreed, confirmed.
You don’t want to enter a negotiation situation by giving the deal away in the first sentence.
(Believe me, you don’t.)

You need to change that word to ‘if’.
‘If’ should always be used while negotiating, until you are READY TO COMMIT, and then you can use ‘when’.

It’s really that simple.
Don’t seal the deal until you’re ready.

If you’d like more information on negotiating in English, I’ve got 7 chapters on it (and so much more!) in my book ‘!00 Ways To Save Your Ass In English’. You can grab a signed copy here.

I know you can do better, and I’m here to help.
There’s a rock star in you somewhere.
Dig deep and find her/him.
Deal?
Deal.

X buffi