Module of " NEGOTIATION "
Topic : Five "No"s

You are required to do series of REAL negotiations in your REAL daily world in the next few days or so
Life is full of negotiations, so you are free to choose the topics that you feel like negotiating about. From the very common case on buying/selling things, at work, changing your apartment/house rules, pushing the office building management to do fire drill, to asking your spouse(s?) to change religion. Whatever!
You must do your negotiations in a genuine and maximum effort to get a "YES" or what you want
For EVERY case resulting in "NO" (even after your real all-out effort to get a "YES"), please write a brief note highlighting your experience:
?STORY: What is the negotiation all about, how did it happen
?CHALLENGE: What are the things you found difficult to handle, the challenges
?WHAT WORKED WELL: What did you do which you would consider a wise or good act
?WHAT TO DO DIFFERENTLY: What should you do differently which might result in a "YES"
Get a total of 3 short cases where you still eventually got "NO" as the negotiation result
As a conclusion. please write your 3 most important lessons learned at the end of your write-up
Total write-up (the 3 short cases below of getting a "NO" and 3 most important lessons learned) should be no more than 3 pages msWord A4 using Arial 11, double space.


CASE #1: Asking taxi driver to use the meter

I landed in Jakarta airport past midnight, took the taxi, and presumed that the driver would use the meter. When I asked him to turn the meter on, he said, "it's past midnight so we no longer use the meter." I insisted him to use the meter and he said, "it's okay, I will charge you only Rp150k," while I knew that it usually cost Rp80k. I refused and said, "you didn't tell me earlier that you're not going to use the meter. This is unfair." He then responded, "I waited for hours before finally getting you. Please have pity on me." I said, "yeah, but I feel that you tricked me. How can I sympathize on you? I wouldn't have taken you if I knew it. Please drop me back to the terminal." He drove faster and said it was already too far from the terminal. I knew I was weakened and definitely not getting a Yes. I changed gear to then lower the Rp150k charge.
CHALLENGE: The setup that: 1) I was already in the car leaving the terminal and 2) it was midnight gave so much power to the driver. He knew I had limited space to negotiate. He used his power even more when he drove faster, making my BATNA (Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement) even weaker that he could drop me far from where other taxis were.
WHAT WORKED WELL: Even when the driver used power, I avoid confronting him so that I didn't burn the relationship. This allowed the negotiation afterward reached reasonable outcome of Rp110k, not Rp150k.
WHAT TO DO DIFFERENTLY: Knowing how important a setup is, I can decide to walk away as early as possible because delaying it means farther from the terminal, stronger counterpart's power, and weaker BATNA of mine. Alternatively, it will be even better if I can anticipate such situation of power imbalance by not getting into the taxi before negotiating to get the driver use the meter.


CASE #2: Getting SeaWorld Fun-Dive student ticket for a non-student

"Discount 50% by showing your student id card" was the ads inn the SeaWorld Fun-Dive's website. I arrived at SeaWorld with my (hope-soon-to-be) girlfriend, showed my student id card hoping to get the discount for both of us. But the officer said, "the discount only applies to your ticket." I asked why. He continued, "only the student can get the discount." I tried to negotiate by saying, "but the info on the website only says that basically there will be discount by showing a student id card. If that's not the case, then the website has definitely misled me." I continued, "I respect the regulation, but look, my friend is younger than me. We both want to dive and without the discount it will be very expensive for us." The officer coldly said, "sorry, that's the regulation. I wish I could help, but I don't have the authority to make an exception." I guessed he knew that having come so far to the SeaWorld, I had no choice but just paid my girlfriend's ticket in full.
CHALLENGE: It was difficult for me to find the interests that would change the officer's stance. He needed to comply with the "regulation." He didn't have the authority to make the exception. Perhaps I had the wrong party to negotiate with. In addition, it didn't really matter for the officer if I cancelled the dive plan. But for me, I was on a date! The damage for cancelling it was far bigger than just paying 1 ticket without discount.
WHAT WORKED WELL: Although didn't result in any positive outcome, I tried to explain why my proposition was reasonable, i.e., based on the website's info and younger in age, and also address the officer's interest, i.e., to respect the regulation. This had at least made the officer said "I wish I could help."
WHAT TO DO DIFFERENTLY: Before getting into a negotiation, I should ensure that the counterpart is able to give what I want as the goal. In this particular case, I should actually continue the negotiation by talking to the officer's supervisor or whoever held the authority to give the discount.


CASE #3: Paying less for not getting the vegetables

At the hawker food place nearby my house, I ordered chicken rice but something was missing. "Hey, I want the vegetables as usual." They said, "sorry, we run out of vegetables tonight." I said, "oh, but it is supposed to come with the menu, right? So it has to be there. This is incomplete." The guy was apologetic and said, "I'm very sorry." I said, "well, without the vegetables, you'd better discount the price." He said, "we can't give you discount." I asked, "but you admit that I deserve more, right? He replied, "yes. What if we give you more chicken?" I said, "no, I don't need more chicken. I need vegetables. And you didn't tell me earlier that you no longer have them. So it is fair for you to give me discount." He said, "I wish I could discount it. I really can't. My boss set it as a strict fixed price, that's why I offer you more chicken. I can do that." It was past 10PM, no other stall was open, and I was hungry. I took the No for discount.
CHALLENGE: The guy, who was not the stall owner, bought in that I deserved more. But he was apparently not someone with the capacity to reduce the price. Hence he offered another option to compensate, i.e., more chicken. It was a good deal, but I didn't get what I initially wanted because the counterpart basically was not capable of fulfilling it.
WHAT WORKED WELL: Having been able to build a strong negotiation basis enabled me to relatively easily make the guy agree that he should give me something. In doing that, I stressed that I rightfully deserve the complete menu and he was obliged to fulfill that.
WHAT TO DO DIFFERENTLY: I would only get the discount if I negotiated with the owner. Hence with the guy in the stall, I should focus on getting my preferred compensation other than discount. Having said this, I learned that before getting into a negotiation, it will be useful if I could design a range of preferred outcome as a backup if my initial request could not be fulfilled by the counterpart.


...and by the way, students in the past testified that they had fascinating experience and learnings when they took this assignment genuinely and seriously. They negotiated things that really matter and which need some negotiation to make them better off
ENJOY NEGOTIATING!