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Linking
Thought
2
Action
Effective
Negotiation:
The
Compatibility
Principle
National-Louis
University
Professor
Dr.
Michael
Benoliel,
author
of
Done
Deal:
Insights
from
Interviews
with the
World’s
Best
Negotiators,
describes
the
compatibility
principle--a
strategy
used by
master
negotiators.
In the
late
1970s,
Robert
Johnson
was a
Washington
lobbyist
for the
cable
industry
trade
association.
At that
time,
African-Americans
had a
lot of
buying
power,
but no
TV
outlet.
Examining
the
programming
offered
on the
cable
system
in 1979,
Johnson
quickly
realized
that
filling
the gap
–
offering
a cable
channel
devoted
to
African-Americans
– had
tremendous
business
potential.
To
become a
cable
programmer,
Johnson
needed
money,
which he
didn’t
have.
But he
knew
people
with
money.
One of
them was
John
Malone,
“the
King of
Cable,”
whom
Johnson
knew
through
industry
meetings.
Today
Johnson
says,
“The
biggest
negotiation
I did in
business
was to
convince
John
Malone
to
invest
in my
idea, in
creating
Black
Entertainment
Television
(BET).”
To
convince
Malone,
Johnson
applied
the
compatibility
principle,
which is
appealing
to the
things
that
Johnson
felt
were
important
to
Malone
as well
as to
himself.
“I knew
Malone
and what
he
believed
in,”
Johnson
says.
“Malone,
for
example,
believed
in
entrepreneurial
initiatives
and in
individuals
helping
themselves
and
relying
on the
government
to help
them.
And so
everything
that I
talked
about
with him
was
designed
to hit
these
points.
I had to
convince
him that
I shared
his
value
system
in a way
that he
would
come
into
this
deal."
When
Johnson
was
ready to
make the
pitch,
he flew
to
Denver
to meet
with
Malone
and
present
his
business
plan.
“How
much
money do
you
need?”
Malone
asked
him. “It
would
take
$500,000
to get
it
going,”
Johnson
replied.
At that
time
Malone
was
interested
not only
in
owning
the
cable
wires
(hardware)
but also
in
owning
the
programming
(the
software).
“I’ll
buy 20
percent
of your
company.…and
I’ll
loan you
the
rest,”
Malone
offered.
Johnson
said yes
and a
one-page
agreement
was
drawn up
immediately.
A few
moments
later,
Johnson
got a
check
for
$500,000.
The
deal,
which
took
less
than one
hour to
put
together,
became a
great
financial
success.
Twenty-two
years
later,
BET was
sold to
Viacom
International
for more
than two
billion
dollars.
The
compatibility
principle,
which
conveys
the
concept
that “we
are
similar,”
was used
in a
different
way and
under
different
circumstances
by
Armand
Hammer.
In the
mid-1960s,
Hammer,
the
founder
and
former
CEO of
Occidental
Petroleum,
applied
the
principle
when he
made his
first
bid for
oil
concession
from
Libya.
To win
the
competitive
bid,
Hammer
presented
his bid
in
Arabic,
written
on a
sheepskin
parchment,
rolled
up, and
tied
with
ribbons
bearing
the
Libyan
national
colors,
green
and
black.
By using
Libya’s
cultural
symbolism,
Hammer
showed
the
Libyans
that he
had
studied
their
culture
and
respected
it. It
meant a
lot to
them,
and
Hammer
won the
concession.
Inexperienced
and poor
negotiators
tend to
focus
primarily
on
incompatibilities
and are
trapped
by
differences
between
the
parties.
They,
unfortunately,
let the
differences
“take
over”
and
drive
the
negotiation
process,
which
often
lead to
deadlocks
and poor
results.
In
contrast,
Master
Negotiators,
like
Johnson
and
Hammer,
are
aware of
the
differences,
but
focus
primarily
on the
similarities
and on
how to
creatively
bridge
the
differences.
Dr.
Michael
Benoliel
is an
Associate
Professor
at
National-Louis
University’s
Northern
VirginiaWashington,
DC
Campus,
a senior
consultant
with the
Negotiation
Academy–Europe,
and a
speaker
with The
London
Speakers
Bureau,
and The
Australian
Speakers
Bureau.
Recently
he has
given
presentation
on the
profile
of
Master
Negotiators
in
Washington,
D.C.;
Cincinnati;
Paris;
Venice;
Tel-Aviv;
and
Kampala.
He has
more
than 15
years
experience
in
academic
teaching,
organizational
consulting
and
corporate
training.
In his
book
Done
Deal:
Insights
from
Interviews
with the
World's
Best
Negotiators
(Platinum
Press,
2005),
Dr.
Benoliel
reports
on personal
interviews
with
some of
the
world's
best
negotiators
in
diplomacy,
business,
politics,
law,
labor,
and
sports. Done
Deal was
selected
by The
Chicago
Tribune
as one
of 2005
best
business
books. |
