3 Tips to negotiate a favourable settlement
Ross Millen Founder, Lawyer shares
Common mistakes clients make when negotiating settlements.
3 hot tips to get a favourable outcome.
Before starting negotiations talk to Millens to help you set the parameters and avoid costly mistakes.
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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Ross Millen:
Hi, welcome to another video for your enjoyment from me, Ross Millen at Millens. Hey, we had a commercial matter the other week and the people on the other side kept saying, "We want at least a hundred thousand, at least a hundred thousand, can't take less than a hundred thousand." And this was miles more than they were entitled to. We couldn't work out why. Why did they have a hundred thousand dollars in their brain? Well, then we started talking to our client and they said, "Oh, well, before we came to see you about this matter, we'd offered them $80,000. And when they said that wasn't enough, we'd offered a hundred thousand dollars. But then we thought that was too much, so we came to see you to help us out." Well, there's only three simple rules when it comes to negotiating. And this client had broken all three. One, two, and three all broken.
So let me tell you today, what are the three tips, and we use this a lot when negotiating on your behalf, what are the three tips about negotiating? What's tip number one? Who wants to have a guess? I'll tell you what it is, don't go first. As soon as you make an offer, if you are first, you've either set the ceiling or you've set the floor, you've got no idea what the other person really wants. They might have thought, "Oh, my claim's worth about 30,000." And you say, "Well, I tell you what, I'm not going to pay you any more than 80." And they think, "Oh gee, this is good." So don't go first. No matter how tempted you are, no matter how much you're encouraged to name a price, let the other person go first, because whatever they say, that's either going to be the floor or the ceiling.
What's rule number two? Remember, this person had offered 80, then a hundred. Well, when you go to an auction, you don't bid against yourself, do you? You don't put your hand up and say, "Oh, maybe a million dollars wasn't enough. There aren't any other bidders. Maybe I'll bid more than a million." Well, you never do that and the same in negotiation. If the other persons not responding, doesn't help to up your offer before you hear something from them. And what's the third rule? Well, the third rule is the client tried to negotiate the deal before they came to see us, before they really understood what was the true value involved. So rule number three, get your legal advice first. Find out what your claim's worth or what the other side's claim's worth. What's a realistic number before you start the negotiations? So I hope those three rules of negotiation help. Remember, I'm Ross Millen from Millens, and if you've got any queries, give us a call. Thanks.
