It’s not a surprise to learn that our emotions – positive or negative – have a huge impact on our day to day lives. There have been innumerable studies about how much emotions influence our buying behaviour, and emotional intelligence is a MASSIVE part of why marketing works well – or not at all.

There have also been studies that show how emotions affect selling – particularly when negotiating. According to research by Harvard Business School professor Alison Wood Brooks, “…anxious negotiators tend to make more modest first offers, have lower expectations in deal-making discussions, and exit situations early, among other pitfalls.” [italics mine]

Now, when the time comes for you to Double to Sell, are you at all interested in, “…lower expectations in deal-making discussions, and exit situations early, among other pitfalls…?”

I thought not.

Which brings me to why I’m talking about emotions and negotiating today – on this week’s episode of “I'm a Millionaire! So Now What?” I chatted with Eric Haggar, President & CEO of Axxel Inc.

Meet Another Inspirational Member of the Self-Made Nation!

Eric’s a text-book example of what it means to be a member of the Self-Made Nation. While he studied engineering, and built a successful career with Bell Canada, he always knew his endgame would be to shift eventually gears and become an entrepreneur.

 

An only child, he credits this entrepreneurial spirit to his father. Eric grew up watching his father start, grow, and sell multiple successful businesses, across many fields - a true serial entrepreneur!

So, in 2010, when his dad was about to sell his latest venture – offers on the tables and names on the deal (!) - Eric knew that the time was now or never – and he decided to buy it himself.

Cue one very happy dad.

Since then, he’s pivoted, rebranded, and successfully grown that company into one that helps entrepreneurs in all facets of their business.

But It hasn’t been all unicorns and sunshine. Running a business never is, is it?

No, running a business is tough. And running a family business is tougher – especially when a personal loss occurs.

Right when he was pivoting a part of the company – investing in another vertical, which meant selling off a current one – he suffered immeasurable loss.

Sadly, Eric’s beloved dad passed away after a three-year battle with cancer.

For Maximum ROI Leave Your Emotions (Maybe Even Yourself!) at the Door

Eric shared with me about how much his dad’s passing impacted him, how torn he was to be actively invested in selling part of his dad’s business. But more importantly, he shared the steps he took to remain in a neutral place and keep emotions at bay during negotiations.

As he says, “I've seen so many cases where entrepreneurs believe they can save a couple of bucks by not hiring an advisor or try to sell their businesses themselves. There are studies…that show emotions eat up a lot of the value you could have gotten. So, I stayed totally impartial. I stayed out of it. I let somebody else negotiate. I drew the big lines of the musts and the non- negotiable items, and I let them run with it. And you know what? Usually a transaction takes anywhere between six to eight months, [but] we finished in (almost) less than three months. So, it was really a profitable decision I made at the time.”

Obviously, everyone’s different – and everyone’s individual experiences with negotiating a huge sale and/or purchase will be unique. But I think the lesson here is to trust your instincts. Eric knew that he would be in the way – and this was a HUGE business move for the company – but he knew he wouldn’t help – in fact, he might hinder.

And he had people around him he could trust to run the deal, which says a lot about his business smarts as well.

To End…

I would love you to have a listen to that episode – because we talk so much about embracing change, finding the strength to turn your business in another direction if necessary, and why it’s so important to believe in yourself and the people around you. All things that have never been more important during these uncertain economic times.

Plus, just because I think it’s helpful – I wanted to share some tips on emotionally preparing for negotiations in general.

Here are six questions to ask yourself before you sit at that table:

1. What do you want to feel going into the negotiation?
2. Why do you want to feel that?
3. What’s the best thing you can do beforehand to feel that way?
4. What could throw you off balance in the midst of negotiation?
5. What can you do to recover your poise?
6. What do you want to feel when you’re done?

 

I would also LOVE to share YOUR story. If you’re interested, drop me a line.