Special offer

Two Sister's and a Orange

By
Real Estate Agent with Real Estate Practices Class 3:30-5:55
You might, ask what do two sisters and an orange have to do with negotiationTo explain: there is a story of two sisters who lived together.  One sister, saw the other in the kitchen and asked what she was doing.  Sister 2 replied, I need an orange.  Sister one laughed and said....me too!  Unfortunately, upon looking in the fruit basket, both sisters saw only one orange.  They were not laughing anymore.
 
"What should we do?" asked sister 2.  Sister one quickly responded, "let's split it."  They agreed. 
 
Seems like a good negotiation, yes?  But, was it?
 
Later that day, sister one, now curious, asked sis 2 why she needed an orange.  Sis 2 stated: "I wasn't feeling well and wanted to make some juice and get the vitamin C.  "Oh" said sister , I didn't know."  Why did you need it asked sister 2?  Sister one replied, "Well, I was baking and I needed the rind."  Oh, said sister 2...and once again they started laughing because they realized if they simply found out WHY they needed the orange, they would both have had 100% of what they needed instead of splitting it.
 
IN negotiation, we often focus on a person's position.  Such things as their price, their YES or NO etc.  What we don't often do however is focus on the interests behind their position, or WHY they want what they want.  To do this, we have to become curious and instead of stating what we want, inquire and ask about what they say they want and why they want it.
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
<!--[endif]-->

Comments (1)

Russ Ravary ~ Metro Detroit Realtor call (248) 310-6239
Real Estate One - Commerce, MI
Michigan homes for sale ~ yesmyrealtor@gmail.com
Very good parable.  You are right.  If you know the motivation of the opposite party and your clients it makes negotiation and getting the deal done much easier. 
Feb 01, 2008 10:28 PM