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My 14 years’ experience of growing a business from £0-£100m as well as the life that goes with it.

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Simon Says

Winformation This Week...

A few years ago I paid £12k for an americano coffee, and before you start thinking this is a flashy flex. It’s not. I just wasn’t concentrating. That mistake taught me quite a bit about negotiation, but not as much as Gordon Hall (one of the UK’s top negotiation experts) taught me this week. Gordon came into the company for a half day master class on how to become an expert negotiator.  

For the story on the world’s most expensive cup of coffee and what the best 3 lessons Gordon taught me, you’ll want to read today’s One Idea to Win in Business.  

Do you get to Friday afternoon, been busy all week, but feel no further forward?

Ever reach Sunday night and look at your upcoming calendar for the next 7 days and wonder “where is the one time slot where I’m going to do something I enjoy?”

Then you will be one of the big beneficiaries of this week’s One Idea to Win in Life’s 3 Bucket Rule. See below for the full explanation...

One Idea to Win in Business

Something to Sharpen Your Negotiating

The Most Expensive Coffee I Ever Bought: How to Negotiate Properly

Picture the scene...I had recently bought our current family home and we were preparing to move in. I was just about to list the one we were moving from on the market, when I got a call from a well-known local cafe owner close to where we lived.  

He wanted to buy it for his sister who was coming to Britain to help him run his expanding hospitality business. 

I told him the price I was about to list if for and he responded...“don’t list the house”, I will buy it. Come into the cafe next week and we will chat.  

Sold. That was easy. Or so, I thought. 

I went into the cafe one afternoon the following week after they had closed. I was already very distracted from what I thought was a quick meeting about how and when he was going to pay the funds for the house.  

My dad (who has since passed) had a scan earlier that day, and I had WhatsApped him to ask what the results were. Anyone who’s had a loved one with poor health, knows what the wait for any scan results can be like. Horrible.  

Dad was 75 and his WhatsApp skills weren't the best. “Dad is typing...” seemed to drag on for what seemed like ages, even after the meeting about the sale of the house had started.  

“Come in, he said, sit down. Do you want a coffee?” 

“Americano” I muttered, not really concentrating.  

“So...the price” he continued. “We like the house, but I was thinking maybe there is some work to do.” 

I didn't really respond, I was waiting with bated breath for this message to pop up on the screen to tell me if my old man had any real time left...or not. 

“I was thinking maybe we pay £12k less.” At this point, not only wasn’t I listening, but I also actually just wanted him to not talk at all. “Yeah, whatever” I replied.  

Finally, dad’s message appeared. The news was good. Well as good as it could have been given his circumstances. Time enough to book a holiday or two anyway. I breathed a sigh of relief. 

...only to realise, that I had agreed to £12k less for the house without actually considering the offer and the reasons for it.  

My free coffee just cost me £12k because I wasn't engaged in the conversation…and I actually thought my negotiation skills were pretty good. 

Big lesson. Big, expensive lesson. 

Thankfully, therefore last week we had Gordon Hall (negotiation expert) through the doors at Carrington West, and he spent half a day with our management team upskilling us all in the art of negotiating. 

When entering any negotiation whether it be for business or just in life...please remember Gordon’s top 3 tips.  

1. Stop playing fair – Most people split the difference in negotiations. Think about it. You see a car for £10k for sale, you offer £8k, the seller meets you in the middle at £9k. Most people want fairness. Gordon says, top negotiators don’t do this. They aim for the very best deal and not always a fair one.  

2. Go first! - Great negotiators make proposals first. Don’t wait for someone to make an opening offer. Make yours first. This anchors the conversation closer to your opening position and not theirs. And if they do go first? Don’t respond to their opening offer. Ignore it and make yours. This will act as the new opening offer. Best way to beat a proposal? Make a new proposal.  

3. Options - Great negotiators do one of 3 things during negations.

   1. Make a proposal

   2. Ask questions

   3. Say nothing 

Keep it very simple. Every word that comes out of your mouth should justify its own position. There is never a 4^th option that says, “babble away and give away your position”. Make a proposal, ask questions, or say nothing.  

Add these 3 to my tip of “listening during the negotiation itself” (ha!) and you won’t go too far wrong! 

One Idea to Win in Life

Something to Organise Your Week

Time for Some Life Order: The 3 Bucket Rule Explained

We’ve all been there. Too many goals, too many fires to put out, everything feels “important”. Or you’ve worked so long and so hard on one particular thing you look in the mirror and wonder why you look and feel terrible, half a stone heavier (or maybe the weight gain is just me).  

Your effort is sky high, that’s clear. But your focus is lacking, as was mine...until I was introduced to the 3 Bucket Rule many years ago.  

So many things in nature, literature, science and the way our brains process information comes in 3s.  

Your brain prefers simplicity. Three is easier to hold, track and act on.  

When I write my goals for the year or half year, I put them under their own heading...or in this case into their own bucket.  

Either... 

Health, Wealth or Self.  

Health is anything movement, sleep or training related. Wealth is business progress and financial management. Self is family holidays, learning, time spent with friends or my wife. 

When I plan my week and juggle my calendar each of the tasks that relate to a goal or a project from each “bucket” gets the “colour” of that bucket in my outlook. 

Some weeks my calendar looks heavy blue, which means I am mostly all in on wealth and work-related tasks. Time off is going to be green tasks, family trips and social events. Health is purple and needs to be littered throughout the week where possible. 

Every week needs each colour to show up somewhere, and the best well-planned weeks have a decent 3 way split between the buckets. 

...and yes simple “downtime” does count for my “self” bucket. 

This simple, repeatable system has allowed me to swerve that flat, hopeless Friday “busy but not effective feeling” as I have tangible evidence of the tasks I have moved forward in each area of my life. That Sunday night dread of thinking you are in total service to others for the next 5 days straight also doesn't show up. 

Actionable Step – write down your 3 Buckets. List your tasks under each, give each “bucket” a colour in your preferred calendar. Schedule each task sensibly without giving yourself a 60 hour work week.  

Watch how you start to feel more balanced and energised knowing you are looking after you as well as your business.  

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Until next week! 

Let’s win, together!