Mike

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About Mike Inman

Having trained negotiators on 6 continents in 30+ countries and negotiated personally from both the sales and procurement sides of the table, Mike is uniquely qualified to offer critical real-world examples and in-depth analysis to class case studies and discussion. Mike has first hand experience working in industries including manufacturing, defense, airlines, technology, publishing, and gaming/hospitality. Adding to his depth, Mike has successfully worked deals (4 of which have been in excess of $100 million) with people ranging from entry to C-level, and from straight commodities to strategic relationship opportunities.

Terms and Conditions MATTER

Terms and Conditions MATTER A lot of people think negotiations are all, or mostly, about price. Experienced negotiators know that Terms and Conditions can matter MORE! I tend to tell a lot of business stories, but there's a lot of negotiations that happen on a personal level that may drive a point home [...]

By |2022-12-09T20:58:35-05:00June 8, 2021|

Confidence And Its Impact On Negotiation

The Impact of Confidence On Negotiations I decided to add a follow-up to my other blog on Negotiating a Better Salary, or Job Offer. This is about the impact of confidence on a negotiation. There’s a saying going around, “fake it until you make it!” WRONG. People see right through it, plus it’s [...]

By |2022-12-09T21:01:38-05:00June 3, 2021|

Receiving Bad News Early Is Good News

Receiving Bad News Early Is Good News My friend Austin recently thanked me for some advice I gave him 10 years ago that he still uses to this day. We teach it in our sessions, and I tell someone the same advice at least once a week. Receiving or finding out bad news [...]

By |2022-12-09T16:14:41-05:00June 3, 2021|

How to Negotiate Price Increases

How to negotiate price increases, both getting a price increase for sellers as well as defending against price increases for buyers, is a HOT topic at the moment. Geopolitical decisions have disrupted global supply chains and sellers have all the power right now. Buyers are often negotiating delivery dates, and quantities, sometimes price doesn’t [...]

By |2022-12-09T05:01:10-05:00April 22, 2021|

How to Become an Expert Negotiator

Let’s start by defining what it means to be an expert negotiator: Expert - a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area. I see a LOT of people refer to themselves as “experts”. In my opinion, you’re NOT an expert until someone ELSE refers to you [...]

By |2022-12-09T09:07:39-05:00April 13, 2021|

What Makes a Good Negotiator?

What makes a good negotiator??? I’ve heard and read this question answered multiple times over the years. Many times, I think the person answering is just describing themselves – or who they think they are… So, I’m going to approach the answer to this question differently. What works for me to find common ground [...]

By |2022-12-09T11:42:18-05:00April 2, 2021|

Jujutsu Negotiations

Jujutsu Negotiations Jū: gentle, supple, flexible, or yielding. Jutsu: technique of manipulating an opponent's force against themselves rather than confronting it with one's own force. One of the most common frustrations I hear from supply chain professionals across the globe is the practice of “back-door” selling to the purchaser’s internal clients. Specifically, sellers go around [...]

By |2022-12-09T09:21:04-05:00April 1, 2021|

How to Choose a Negotiation Firm

Why you should invest in negotiation training: When negotiations are conducted properly, great relationships are built while both companies increase their top lines and reduce their total cost of ownership, 1+1=3. When negotiations are conducted poorly, it often results in a lose-lose deal where relationships are destroyed. Negotiation training by TableForce helps make sure [...]

By |2022-12-09T09:25:12-05:00March 26, 2021|

A Kids Lesson in Assumptions

There’s an old saying: “Don’t assume, because it’ll make and A$$ out of U and ME!” As a professional negotiator I say: WRONG, we should make LOTS of assumptions, but we need to test them by asking great questions. A story came up in a memory on FaceBook, reminding me how impactful assumptions [...]

By |2022-12-09T20:56:31-05:00February 25, 2021|

How to Negotiate Salary or a Job Offer

How to Negotiate Salary or a Job Offer Before the “how to negotiate salary or a job offer”, thoughts on the “if”, or "why you definitely should. A lot of people are afraid to negotiate, or at least they don’t like it. Of those, many will begrudgingly negotiate for something / someone else, but [...]

By |2022-12-09T05:05:27-05:00February 1, 2021|
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