Negotiating: The Power of Nice
Corrections or additions?
This article was prepared for the April 10, 2002 edition of
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Making Your Site Visible on the ‘Net
There’s a lot going on below the surface of those
placid-looking
pages of search engine results. Everyone is talking about how amazing
Google is. The search engine with the plain white home page, adorned
only by the multi-colored letters of its name, is just so intuitive.
It is so very good at returning just the information searchers seek
that it is easy to see it — and its competitors — as unpaid
servants, sort of silent personal librarians.
Dana Hutchins, founder of InForest, a Trenton-based Web design
and development company, reveals, however, that many of the most
popular
search engines have just begun an intricate advertising dance.
Charging
flat or multi-layer fees, or inviting companies to bid for placement,
the search engines are quickly changing the face of Internet
advertising,
and presenting a new, and potentially powerful, marketing tool.
“Google started offering pay-for-click just last month,” says
Hutchins. Yahoo! recently changed its pricing structure, and GoTo
has morphed into Overture, a search engine that has lined up such
an impressive array of partners that it has become an important
player.
“This is the time to get in,” Hutchins advises. Not too many
companies know about the new opportunities to buy good search engine
placement. It is now possible to come out near the top of a search
engine page for just a modest investment. As the word spreads, it
will be more difficult to buy these results — and more expensive.
Hutchins offers advice on getting in on the ground floor when he
speaks
Wednesday, April 17, at 8:15 a.m. at the Chamber of Commerce of the
Princeton Area. Cost: $21. Call 609-520-1776.
A graduate of Princeton High School, Hutchins earned a bachelor’s
in forestry from the University of Vermont (Class of 1991). He used
the Internet extensively in his class work in the late-1980s before
browsers made the exercise easy. In forestry, he says, it’s all about
measurements and forecasting “how to reap the highest gain over
multiple objectives over time.” He found the Internet the ideal
way to run these forecasts, and turned to the medium again after he
graduated and was putting out a forestry newsletter. The first website
he built was for Inforest, his newsletter. After a lack of demand
shut the newsletter down, he kept the name and started a website
design
company.
Inforest has three employees and a client roster that includes McGraw
Hill, the New Jersey Press Association, Princeton University’s
electrical
engineering department, Columbia University, and the Philadelphia
Flower Show, along with “smaller, but established, companies that
are working on developing a web presence.”
Part of the service Hutchins provides to his web development clients
is making sure that their websites come up high on a list of search
engine results. Lately, companies with established websites have been
coming to him for help in achieving these results. Figuring out the
intricacies of search engine placement is a growing part of his
business.
He explains that there are two ways to propel a website listing to
the top of the pile. One is to meticulously craft the site so that
its design, its links, and the key words it uses — particularly
on its home page — are picked up by search engines. “This
takes time,” says Hutchins. It will be about six months before
the work bears fruit. The second way is to pay for placement. This,
he says, is the wave of the future, and is well worth the money.
“Why wait the six months?” he asks. For something like $100
it is possible to buy placement that will deliver highly targeted
prospects to a website. On Yahoo!, it takes a check for $299 once
a year to get the process rolling. The fee used to be $200 for life,
says Hutchins. There are a number of grandfathered companies that
will never have to pay Yahoo! another nickel, but he thinks that even
the current rate may soon sound cheap.
Companies seeking good placement need to do more than write checks,
though. They stack up according to the descriptions they submit. So,
while the search engine’s Web-crawling bots evaluate an entire website
for unpaid placement, it uses just the descriptions to determine
placement
of paid listings. This makes it imperative, Hutchins says, that the
description be rich in the key words that will earn its site a spot
near the top of a Yahoo! search page.
On Google, the process is more complicated. There, companies bid for
position. The range of bids is now something like 50 cents to $3.
In a complicated system, the price of the bid is not the only factor
that determines where Google places a listing. Listings are weighted
according to the number of hits they receive. Where they show up is
a combination of the amount they pay, and their effectiveness.
Listings
paid for through the auction system appear along the right-hand side
of the search results page.
There is another option on Google. Websites can pay by impression
rather than by click-through. Sites that choose this option are
displayed
in a tinted box at the top of the search page.
Overture uses an auction system, too, but it works differently than
Google’s. Bids start at five cents per click-through. Websites bid
what they want, and can go in and change their bids at any time.
“With
Google, you can set up a campaign and forget it,” says Hutchins.
“With Overture, you have to check on it every day.” This is
so because a bid of, say 15 cents, that won a regional garden center
top position on a Monday, might be buried by six other,
higher-bidding,
garden centers by Tuesday.
It used to be easy to ignore GoTo, Overture’s predecessor, says
Hutchins,
but the newly-renamed search engine has now crafted agreements with
a number of high powered players, including Netscape, AOL, AltaVista,
Lycos, and Yahoo!, the mightiest search engine of all. Overture’s
paid listings appear on all of those websites.
Getting prime placement in search engine results is imperative for
all websites — except, perhaps, those belonging to secret
societies.
But that is not all there is to website success. Here are some more
tips from Hutchins.
Don’t put anything in the way of your goal.”Fundamentally,it all comes down to what the basic function of a website should bein terms of what you want your users to do,” Hutchins says. Ifyou want them to buy, make it easy. One of his clients,TaylorsTreasures,an E-tailer of sensitive skin products, has just a handful ofproducts,but made potential customers use a shopping cart. This element added5 to 10 steps to the buying process. “We put the order form onthe same page as the catalog, and cut it down to one or two,”Hutchins says.The same principle applies to sites whose purpose is increasing acompany’s contacts. Make it easy for potential clients to get in touchwith you. Many sites direct users to fill in an E-mail form to requestinformation, but “people don’t like that,” Hutchins says.The big, blank space stops them cold. “They prefer a form,”he says. “People like to be prompted, to be told what to do.”There is a tendency for website owners to think “`I’m not reallyasking that much. Just write an E-mail,’” Hutchins says. But thisapproach can be fatal. “The easier you make it,” he says.”The more response you’ll get.”Create reasonable expectations for your website.”Expectationsfor a website tend to be too high or too low,” Hutchins says.Some new website owners put the things up just because they areembarrassedwhen clients ask for their company’s web address, and they don’t haveone. They tend to expect little or nothing from the website. Othersexpect the Internet presence to create a windfall.A better approach is to consider a website to be a part of a totalmarketing plan and to measure how well it is doing in relation toother tools. It is now possible to determine how many users visita site, where they clicked to get there, what they do on the site,how often they return, and whether they make a purchase or abandona full shopping cart.Use these tools continually to evaluate how the website is doing,and to guide adjustments. “If you have a new product, but no oneis looking at it,” he says, “move it up to where it will getattention.” And if you are paying for a banner ad on another site,but few visitors are clicking over to you from that site, considerdropping the ad.Simplify to get more traffic. The best websites are clear,concise, and streamlined. The same qualities that make these websiteseasy to navigate secures them high search engine rankings.”Writingfor search engines is the same as writing for people,” Hutchinssays. Most surfers type in a company name, perhaps Discount Realty,or the name of a service and some geographical markers, somethinglike Princeton, New Jersey, real estate. If neither of these searchqueries brings up Discount Realty’s site, the company has wasted itswebsite development dollars, says Hutchins. The best way to avoidInternet anonymity, he says, is simply to put the company name inthe website’s title line and to add a description of what the companydoes. In the case of TaylorsTreasures this meant adding the words”sensitive skin” to the title line. “Some search engines go beyond the home page in figuring out what awebsite is all about, but many more just stop there. This makes thatpage critically important. The key words used on the home page mustreinforce what the company does, and thereby earn the site a highersearch engine ranking.Paying for placement is one way to get to the top of the pile, butpaid listings often appear off to the side, or in a tint box, whilemany surfers look only at listings in the main section of the searchresults page. So, even with paid listings becoming more prevalent,it is important to have a website that will secure high placementin unpaid listings.Link with your friends. While most visitors will arriveat your website through search engines, others can be brought fromlinks on other sites. Exchanging links with other sites is anexcellentway to build traffic, Hutchins says. Sites that sell products shouldhave links from the companies that manufacture those products. Sitesbelonging to accountants or architects can have links from theirprofessionalassociations.”I could exchange links with a networking company,” Hutchinssays. “We’re in the same industry, but we don’t compete.”Breaking a “real world” taboo, Hutchins says even competitorsmay benefit from linking to each other.Again, the goal is to get results from the website. That, saysHutchins, must be the guiding principle behind every decision relatingto an Internet presence. “People don’t go on your site to seethat cute animation,” he says. “You need to keep in mind whatthey’re there for, what you want to get across. It has to be fast,and it has to be flawless.”Top Of PageKey Issues in Planned GivingThe Gift Planning Council of New Jersey — of whichthe Princeton Area Planned Giving Council is a part — celebratesits 10th anniversary this year. The organization was started by asmall group of planned-giving professionals and attorneys and nowhas a membership of 157. Members are employed by universities, artsand social service organizations, hospitals, law firms, and financialinstitutions.On Thursday, April 18, at 8 a.m. the council holds its seventh annualConference on Gift Planning at the Merrill Lynch Conference andTrainingCenter. Cost: $225. Call 609-585-6871.The keynote speaker, Scott Blakesley, is a partner in KansasCity law firm Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin and is past presidentof the National Committee on Planned Giving. He speaks on “Ethicsin Gift Planning: When Do We Cross the Line?” His talk looks atconsidering more than the results — getting a big gift,accomplishingthe best deal for clients and charities, and keeping the tax liabilityas low as possible. In achieving these results, Blakesley says, thereis a delicate balance between providing a benefit to charity andachievingpersonal tax and financial benefits for the donor. He explores atwhich point the line into the realm of improper methods to achievethis result is crossed.After the keynote speech, there are several workshops in two tracks,basic and advanced. Among the speakers addressing the advanced trackare Martyn Babitz, vice president and senior estate plannerin the Wealth Management and Planning Group for PNC Advisors, whospeaks on “The IRS & Liquidity: A Charitable Solution to a TaxingProblem;” Jack Miesowitz, attorney with Summit firm Albano& Keough, who speaks on charitable bequests; and LorraineSciarra,who poses the question, “Planned Giving Officer or Attorney?”Among the speakers on the basic track are Lynn Malzone Ierardi,president of the Gift Planning Council of New Jersey, who speaks on”Gift Planning on a Shoestring Budget;” Robert Novy,who provides legal services to the Ocean County Office on Aging, andspeaks on “Smart Financial, Estate, and Gift PlanningStrategies;”and Richard Slutzky, vice president and senior philanthropicconsultant for the Merrill Lynch Center for Philanthropy and NonprofitManagement, who examines “The Nuts and Bolts of Charitable GiftAnnuities and Pooled Income Funds.”Top Of PageNegotiating: The Power of Niced>Ron Shapiro is a baseball attorney and agent,and an authority on negotiation and conflict resolution. He hasrepresentedsuch stars as Cal Ripken Jr., Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson, and KirbyPuckett. Shapiro is also a corporate trainer, motivational speaker,and founder of Maryland-based Shapiro Negotiations(www.shapironegotiations.com).In his book, The Power of Nice: How to Negotiate so Everyone Wins— Especially You, he puts forward the idea that muscling theoppositionrarely results in long-term wins. Shapiro gives a seminar on Thursday,April 18, at 8:30 a.m. at the Doral Forrestal. Cost: $495. Call800-665-4764.In winning negotiations, says Shapiro, building genuine relationshipsare key. He explores the topic in this excerpt from his book:Every negotiation takes place in an environment. Thatdoesn’t just mean the physical setting, the conference room, or theoffice. It means the feelings, sensitivities, tensions, fears, andhopes that comprise the atmosphere of the negotiation. They make upthe environment as much, or more so, than the four walls, table, andchairs. Bonding — finding what you have in common with the otherparty, rather than where you’re at odds — can create a morepositivenegotiating environment.Just as negotiation is a process, not an event, so is bonding. Bondsare built. You find a link that leads to conversation, that leadsto another link. Pretty soon, you have a chain that stretches fromone party to the other, like a bridge. The more you travel it, themore familiar you become. After enough travel, you don’t just havea bond, you have a shared set of experiences — a relationship.When you reach an impasse with someone you don’t like or simply don’tknow, you’re more likely to let the impasse stand. When the samesituationoccurs with someone whom you’ve come to know, understand, and evenlike, you’re going to look for ways to get past the deadlock. It’sjust human nature. A good negotiating environment can carry you pastbad negotiating moments.The value of relationships is immeasurable. Ask a manufacturer who’sbeen under the gun to deliver and who called on the supplier theycan always count on. Ask the giant developer who gets three bids onevery set of drawings but one bid is always from the builder thattook a chance on his company when it was starting up.Relationships can accomplish what acquaintances can’t. Relationshipsmake for not just one deal, but deals that lead to deals, repeateddeals, sub-deals, off-shoot deals, renewing deals. Why make a dealwhen you can make several?The meet-and-bond style. The opposite of the hit-and-runstyle is meet-and-bond. When you encounter the party with whom you’llbe negotiating, purposely search for things you may have in common,shared interests. After all, you already have a pretty good idea ofwhere the two of you will be opposed. Whatever your asking price,they’re likely to want a lower one. If you want cash terms, chancesare good, they’ll want to stretch out the payments. The deal itselfis bound to be full of push and pull. To minimize animosity and toappreciate each of your points of view, it helps to see each otheras people, not just positions.Bonding is finding links between two parties. The link may befamilial,social, business, political, or recreational. It’s anything you andthe other person share, from the most common such as both having youngchildren, to the most specific, such as being collectors of vintageFrench wines. The bonds you discover may have to do with the dealdirectly, indirectly, or seemingly, not at all. Both of you may havebeen charged by your respective CEOs to come back with deals thatwill impress the board of directors, not cost much, have low risk,and high return — all goals in which you can sympathize with eachother’s pressures. The bond may appear to have nothing to do withthe deal and yet everything to do with getting it done. Perhaps youboth do have young children and you’ve both promised your familiesa vacation if you can get the deal done by spring break. In eithercase, if you don’t bond, you’ll never know.Gathering information. Before you actually meet with theother side, look back at the research you did on them. Chances are,within that data are clues about the background, interests, and habitsof the person or people you’re facing. Chances are, you have somethingin common.Observation. Bonding clues will be all around you. Ifyou meet in the other side’s office, look at what’s on the desk,floor,and walls: vacation pictures, inspirational quotations, thoseyarn-wrappedpencil holders made by a kid in arts and crafts, running shoes tuckedunder a credenza, a paperweight made from a sailboat pulley, collegedegrees, honorary certificates, fraternity mugs, celebrity photos,family pictures, a doubles team trophy.Talk. Ask questions. Make the first gesture. Bonding isthe difference between “Hello, here are my five key issues. Whatare yours?” and “Hi. Judging by your tan line that ends wherea glove would go, I’d say you’re a golfer. Me, too.”Use the cues and clues you observe to start the conversation thatcreates bonds:”I have a pencil holder like that only mine is in green and orangeyarn. How old is your artist?””What island are you on in this photo? I’m looking for a getawaythis winter.”Lasting bonds. Once you make the gesture of building thebond, it’s likely to build on itself. Ask about a vacation, a child,a college, or a hobby, and you’ll get a response. You’re asking themto tell you about something they like. If you have similar interests,you two may not be arch rivals after all. You may be two people whocould be friends and happen to have a job to do. You now havesomethingnegotiators need but rarely recognize, empathy.It’s easier for strangers to practice win-lose negotiation. Onceyou’vebonded, you have a better chance to achieve WIN-win results. Here’sa bond I built at the 11th hour, just in time to turn the deal around.School ties. I had been working long and hard on a dealto get multimillion dollar funding for a biotech project. We had foundour investor. We had a commitment for the money. We had gotten tothe last step, drafting of the contract. At that point, the chairmanof the board of the investing company told me to deal directly withtheir lawyer. “You’re a lawyer. He’s a lawyer. You two get itdone:”It sounded good to me. After all, the hard part was done. We had thefunding committed. Then I got the first draft of the contract. Itwas 95 pages. I got on the phone with the lawyer. We talked aboutthe preambles for almost three hours. That was not the first realpage of substance, just the “whereas” clauses that precedethe substance. He was rock-hard, immovable, and anything but human.Three hours later, I knew his position. He knew ours. We had gottennowhere.I hung up and sat there thinking. I have to find a way to bond withthis guy. If there’s a way. There’s bound to be a way. Maybe not thistime. Everybody has something. Maybe not this guy.We had another telephone call scheduled for the next day. Instead,I got up early and drove two hours to Philadelphia to meet with himface to face. I figured, if we’re going to bond, we’re going to doit in person.I walked into his office and it was as if the connection between usjumped off his wall. There was a framed diploma from a small, Easterncollege. It just so happened to be the same small, Eastern collegefrom which I had graduated. I said, “You went to Haverford?”He said, “Yes, I did. Where did you go to school?” I said,”Haverford.” There we were, two Haverford grads. We’d hadnothing in common the day before and today we had four years incommon.We finished the negotiation in less than a week. Bonding didn’t changethe basic issues. It changed the tone with which we approached theissues.Rebonding. Bonds are like muscles. If you don’t keep themactive, they weaken. Often people do a great job of bonding rightup to the time they close the deal. Once the deal is done and thecheck has cleared, many people forget the power of bonding. Severalyears later, when it’s time to renew the contract, the customer can’ttell the incumbent vendor from the rest of the competition. Bondingwas allowed to disintegrate — relationship was not established.Even long-term relationships need to rebond from time to time.Remember,”It’s not the sale, it’s the relationship that counts.” Wemake it a practice to keep track of the people with whom we negotiateduring the times when we aren’t negotiating. A phone call to say,hello. A holiday card. A congratulations on a promotion. There arecountless, simple and sincere ways to bond once the relationship hasbeen established.When negotiations break down, or appear that they might, look foropportunities to rebond. Get away from the negotiation table. Bringin new parties, spouses, other partners, people who share personalinterests, not just business interests. Of course, the best approachis to keep bonds active and they will always be strong when you needthem most.Top Of PageMercer & PhoenixMercer County Community College may now transfer themaximum number of credits to pursue a degree at the University ofPhoenix, which has extensive online enrollment. Online or in its 110campuses or learning centers, Phoenix has more than 110,000 studentsin undergraduate or graduate programs in business, management,technology,education, and nursing. Students must be working adults at least 23years old, and the average age is 34.When second-year Mercer students pre-apply to a baccalaureate programat Phoenix University, they can tap its online library and proficiencyassessment system. They will also be eligible for scholarships. Call609-586-4800 or visit www.phoenix.edu.Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
