Three Negotiation Skills That Can Jumpstart The Economy
  By Keld Jensen
We live in an era characterized by jarring market volatility, single-digit profit margins, vaporizing trust, and unstable resource allocation. In a commercial environment laden with these challenges, negotiation skills are a key skill set to getting the economy back on track... Continue Reading Article
 
Negotiating Iran: Can U.S. End the Standoff?
  By Keld Jensen
"U.S. Not Keen On Negotiating With Iran"
That's the headline of a recent news clip that featured a panel of experts discussing the economic sanctions against Iran and the Iranian threat to block the Strait of Hormuz, a key passage way for oil tankers. While each of the three experts had different opinions on the matter, the sentiment seemed to be same: negotiations are nowhere on the horizon... Continue Reading Article
 
 

Soft skills all great leaders should have

  By Rachel Farrell
 
"It all starts with the ability to build trust. Oftentimes the greatest leaders, regardless of social or professional status, are remembered for inspiring others to buy in to a vision. This skill has less to do with focusing solely on business strategy and more to do with consistently showing others that 'I've got your back.'" -- Keld Jensen, managing director, MarketWatch Management, a consulting firm... Continue Reading Article
 
 

Wading Through the Talent Pool

  By Jordan Brandes
 
CM&P> What actions can end a partnership with a contract manufacturer?
 
Jensen: From an internal perspective, there are a number of factors that can contribute to a partnership falling apart. These include dishonesty, lack of communication, failure to meet contractual obligations, distrust, the inability to collaborate and work together creatively, changing the rules midstream, withholding important information, creating an imbalance of rights and responsibilities, issuing threats and indulging in other combative or unfair tactics, and being greedy when the benefits begin to roll in. In the end, it is the human factor which matters the most to the success or failure of the business relationship... Continue Reading Article
 
 

What CEOs Need to Know About Hardball Negotiating

  By George Nicholas
 
"Always, always, always ask for something in return if you are going to make a concession," stresses Keld Jensen, managing director of the MarketWatch Centre for Negotiation, at the University of Copenhagen, who has written 16 books on negotiating. If you're faced with a last-minute demand, he favors using silence to make the other party explain its rationale. "The first thing to do is nothing," he says... Continue Reading Article
 
 

Seven Communication Rules For The Debt Super Committee

  By Stephanie Nora White and Rebecca Theim
 
By stressing rhetoric over substance, it’s no wonder that so little was achieved from the initial debt ceiling debate,” said Keld Jensen, an associate professor at the Copenhagen Business School and managing director of MarketWatch Centre for Negotiation. The two sides of the debt super committee need to have “an accurate understanding of their starting points, targets, overall objectives and thresholds for pain"... Continue Reading Article
 
 

Bargain Hunting Is the New Bootstrapping

  By Keld Jensen
 
Thinking about starting a new business with no immediate sales channel or sources of revenue? Start polishing up your negotiating skills—you're going to need them... Continue Reading Article
 
 


Power Up Negotiations By Power Bargaining
  By Keld Jensen
Today's high-risk negotiation climate calls for a new style of negotiation called "power bargaining" — one in which cooperation builds powerful partnerships that allow hidden value to be found. Once uncovered, the extra value is skillfully debated and divided... Continue Reading Article
 
Negotiating for Mutual Benefit
  By Keld Jensen
Seven tried-and-true strategies can help your organization - and your suppliers - get more of what you both want from procurement negotiations... Continue Reading Article
 
 

Your Move

Negotiating is a skill often practiced badly, as the recent debt-ceiling showdown demonstrated. Heed the lessons.
  By Dawn Klingensmith
 
Before getting down to business in a negotiation, "Know your starting point, target and threshold of pain," says Keld Jensen, chairman of the Centre for Negotiation at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. "One of the biggest barriers to cooperation in the debt ceiling deal was the lack of specific budgetary numbers. Stressing rhetoric over substance, it's no surprise it was difficult to find a suitable agreement"... Continue Reading Article
 
 

How To Power Bargain When Negotiations Get Tough

  By Keld Jensen
 
It's no longer enough for industry leaders to follow the footsteps that the traditional procurement process takes. When negotiations get tough, procurement masters must take the road less traveled and learn to Power Bargain... Continue Reading Article
 
 

Be Assertive to Get What You Want
  By Keld Jensen
Assertiveness is the ability to be aware of your personal strength, advocate your point of view, and take responsibility for your actions. It is this trait that allows business pros to find the perfect balance between being the overly aggressive used-car dealer stereotype and being introverted, too polite, and easily persuaded... Continue Reading Article
 
Engage Your Website Viewers
  By Keld Jensen
People's opinions and memories are controlled by representational systems or the use of their most preferred sense to interpret the world around them... Here are three tips to keep in mind to maximize your website's engagement potential... Continue Reading Article
 
Get Face-to-Face to See Eye-to-Eye
  By Keld Jensen
Only 20 percent of a message's impact actually comes from the content of words. Another 25 percent comes from the use of your voice, and a resounding 55 percent comes from the impression made by your physical presence and surroundings... Continue Reading Article
 
How to Sell More of Everything
  By Keld Jensen
Whether you're selling products, services, or ideas, every small business owner wants to sell more. The three most effective ways to do this are... Continue Reading Article
Also published in The Atlanta Post.
 
Win Over Difficult or Combative Customers
  By Keld Jensen
Eventually, all small business owners are faced with a customer who's ready for conversational battle... Continue Reading Article
 
Boost Your Emotional Intelligence
  By Keld Jensen
You could have a high intellect and prestigious education. Without emotional intelligence, however, your business will fail... Continue Reading Article
 
Use Body Language to Build Rapport
  By Keld Jensen
People don't buy your products, your services, or your brand. They buy you. Whether you're negotiating with suppliers, managing staff, or speaking directly with customers, it's vital that you create congruency between your words, your body language, and your message... Continue Reading Article
 
 

Globalizing Your Moral Compass

  By Keld Jensen
 
"Relativity applies to physics, not ethics."
It's quite possible that when Albert Einstein first made this statement he intended to refer only to personal ethics. At the time he said it, most people probably would have agreed that the principle applied to business as well. However, times have changed. As businesses operate in an increasingly globalized world, ethical conduct is no longer an absolute standard... Continue Reading Article
 
 

Four Ways Advisors Can Build Trust
  By Keld Jensen
Think your clients trust you? Statistically speaking, they probably don't. In a recent study by Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) looking at over 1,800 adults with household incomes of $50,000 or more, 85 percent said they find it more difficult to trust financial professionals than they did five years ago... Continue Reading Article
 
When It Comes to Planning with Annuities, Trust Is Money
  By Keld Jensen
In today's shaken financial services industry, the one phrase that should be on your mind is: "Trust is money." The financial crisis left a lot of investors with deep wounds and empty pockets. But as the market shows signs of recovery, a major roadblock will be investors' unease with putting their faith - or dollars - back in your hands... Continue Reading Article
 
 

Pro football bargaining show how not to deal

  By Keld Jensen
 
Amid mounting distrust, this year's negotiation between the NFL and the players' union is set to make the Super Bowl look like a Pop Warner exhibition match... Continue Reading Article
 
 

In Denmark We Trust: What Leaders Can Learn From The Nation
With The World's Confidence
  By Keld Jensen
The global perception of the image of the United States has slid into further decline according to recent results reported by Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. This year's index, which surveys global perceptions of corruption throughout the world, showed that the image of the United States deteriorated to a score of 7.3 (the lowest score since the survey began in 1995). Denmark retained the top score of 9.3...
The results raise a number of questions. How did Denmark achieve such a high rating? Why did the U.S. score drop? Continue Reading Article
 
It All Starts With You: Closing the Wounds of Distrust
  By Keld Jensen
In the aftermath of the financial panic of 2008, Congress recently passed the Dodd-Frank bill to overhaul financial regulations and prevent future crises from developing. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), one of the bill's architects, said a primary objective was to "rebuild...trust and confidence" in the American financial system. It will take more than legislation to restore trust in the marketplace... Continue Reading Article
 
 

Top 5 business deals of 2010 that hit your pocketbook

  By Keld Jensen
 
The past year has produced some of the most intriguing business deals of the decade, which boosted (or sunk) the fortunes of CEOs and shareholders alike. Perhaps the most relevant question, however, is what impact these transactions will have on consumers? Here are the Top 5 deals of 2010 that, for better or worse, will change the way you spend your money... Continue Reading Article
 
 

Trust is money

The "X" factor in producer performance

  By Keld Jensen
The financial crisis left a lot of investors with deep wounds and empty pockets. But as the market flirts with signs of recovery, a major roadblock for the financial advisor is investor unwillingness to put their faith, or their dollars, back in the hands of the professional... Continue Reading Article
 
 

Capping the Leak of Faith

The devastating economic effects of corporate irresponsibility

  By Keld Jensen
In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, hundreds of millions of gallons of crude oil have leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. But that is not the only thing leaking right now; the business community is watching trust and credibility slowly seep away... Continue Reading Article (appears on page 7)
 
 
   Corp! Magazine

Two Plus Two Equals Forty-Two

Driving Your Bargain on the Road Less Traveled

  By Keld Jensen
You enter the conference room and take your seat across the table from a guy who has something you want. It could be money, or services, or widgets. Based on past experience you have an expectation of the probable outcome; you’re pretty clear as to what you will leave the table with, give or take a percentage point or two... Continue Reading Article
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