Business Rules of Thumb

http://rulesofthumb.pbworks.com/
If you don't like what you're hearing, respond with a question, even if it's no more than "Why are you saying that?" - Mark McCormack

Successful negotiations are 70% preparation, 20% implementation, and 10% acting. - Robert Olson

Email is a communications medium, not a collaboration medium. When confused as a collaboration tool, efficiency plummets. - Ben Casnocha

In dealing with community groups, you must allow the groups to have a pound of flesh in the first meeting (let them shit all over you). Once they have voiced their anger they'll be more trusting. - Kirk Hanson

Stratify suppliers into those that: a) must be paid currently, b) accept late payment occassionally, c) take late payment as a matter of informal policy. - James Wicker

Before going into a partnership with someone, spend time with them in three different kinds of situations: a relaxing one, a competitive one, and an intellectually stimulating one. - Joan Kelly

Sprinkle your sales letters or presentations with references to your subject's first name. - Mell Holloway

If you're only there to sell one thing, make a suggestion or assumption and let them tell you you're wrong. People have a need to feel smarter than you are. - Mark McCormack

"Career Networking" events are filled with people you don't want in your network. - Ben Casnocha

People don't steal ideas. Ideas are cheap. Implementation makes the difference. - Seth Godin

Rather than telling an associate, "You look good in that suit," tell the person, "That suit looks good on you." - Dale Carneigie

If you're interested in obtaining something from someone else, always preface your request with "I have a favor to ask you" as people hate turning down favors. - N. Bruce Ashwill

The best way to find good ideas is to let people tell you what the good ideas are. - Niel Robertson

Give everyone a title. Nothing pleases mankind as much and costs as little. Give everyone their own coffee cup. - Jerry Favretto

A bad reference is as hard to find as a good employee. - Robert Half

The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint: a PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points. - Guy Kawasaki

Exercising during the lunch hour makes your afternoon twice as productive. - Grant McLaren

The success of a chief executive officer is directly proportional to the length of time he has worked with his executive secretary. - Chip Conley

In a negotiation, he who cares less, wins. - Anonymous
Counter: In a negotiation, he who prepares best and knows his own and his counterpart's situation best, wins.

Don't go into a negotiation without listing every issue beforehand. Establish an aspiration level, a minimum, and an initial asking price for each issue. - Charles Karrass

If you're planning on doing business with someone again, don't be too tough in the negotiations. If you're going to skin a cat, don't keep it as a housecat. - Marvin Levin
Counter: It's hard to predict when you will run into someone again. It's always better to "leave a little money on the table" than try to "skin a cat."


Talk about price last. People have tremendous anxieties about hearing the price, so use preliminary negotiations to get all the auxiliary issues resolved first. Say "If the price is OK, would you be willing to..." - Jay Kaplan

Round numbers beg to be negotiated, usually by counteroffer round numbers. Odd numbers sound harder, firmer, less negotiable. - Mark McCormack

As a buyer approaching a negotiating meeting, be sure to trumpet any bad economic news headlines as much as possible. - Chip Conley

Throw a temper tantrum within the first ten minutes of the negotiating -- nine out of ten times it will effectively intimidate your opponent. - Mark Randall

Successful negotiations are 70% preparation, 20% implementation, and 10% acting. - Robert Olson

Never negotiate on a full stomach. - Victor Antonetti

A negotiation starts when people try to understand why they want something. As long as you don't know this, the deal will always be disapointing for both teams. - Volkan Demir

If negotiations are a regular part of your business, make sure all your negotiators have been to Karrass training. The amount of anecdotal and just plain bad information about "how to negotiate" provided by supposed experts is staggering. - S Milford

Create value before you demand it. - Gabe Rosen

You will never make more money per hour than when you are negotiating. - Stephen W. Gibson

The next best choice after Win-Win is No-Deal - Steven Covey

Offer customers a guarantee on an aspect of the business that is routinely performed. - Customer Service in Action

Read and listen for what is missing. Many advisers - in and out of government - are quite capable of telling the President how to improve what has been proposed, or what's gone wrong. Few seem capable of sensing what isn't there. - Donald Rumsfeld

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently. - Warren Buffett

Sweep your own floors. It reminds your employees that there is nothing you won't do for your business and that no task is below you as a leader. - Something my dad told me when I asked why he didn't hire a cleaning crew.

If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much. - Donald Rumsfeld

You should be suspicious of someone who nods and speaks in the affirmative, but has their arms crossed. - Dale Carnegie

Sandwich every bit of criticism between two heavy layers of praise. - Mary Kay Ash
Counter Rule: If someone is truly underperforming, don't sugarcoat it. Be direct. - Ben Casnocha

Don't cut off the early chatter and small talk of a new group -- the tendency of people to tell stories that seem irrelevant is part of the process of group integration. Don't interrupt them as irrelevancies which must be suppressed. - Harold Leavitt

You will always be associated with what you rebel against. Don't rebel against what you hate, since it will stick to your name. - Ruben Meulenberg

When you win a useless discussion, you still lost. - Ruben Meulenberg

Remember: The person you are talking to is always more important than the point you are trying to make. - Jimmy Parsons

If you need someone to write a letter on your behalf, write it for them. It's easier for them, and you have more control over what they say if you give them a finished draft.

Never, ever, ever pay compliments that contain comparatives (e.g. "than").