India Negotiation Tactics

There are no prices in India, anywhere, and everything is up for negotiation. Having negotiated in various countries, with various levels of success, here's a contrast to Switzerland and the US.



Switzerland: The price on the sticker is the price you pay. Swiss salesmen will always insist there is no room for negotiation. Not always true. Sometimes they'll throw in a goodie for free. Some companies will give you a "Neukundenrabatt" of 10-20% for new customers if you promise more business and insist long enough.

US: Before any prices are named, salesmen will go for minutes, if not hours about why their product is the best, and try to get you to connect emotionally to what they're selling. Only then are prices named, once you're predisposed to saying "yes". Price drops happen only after they've talked to their "manager" or some other - possibly imaginary - higher authority. Insist, assert yourself, set a limit, and be prepared to walk out.

India: A price is named quickly, but it can be a long way to go from there: My guidebook suggests to counteroffer one-third of the price they name. I'm often not brave enough to go that low and counteroffer one-half, then listen to them drop the price by 10%, and then pretend to walk away. Usually, this results in another price drop and puts be at around 75% of the original price tag.

I Want Your .com For New Startup

My new startup needs a name and the corresponding .com domain. I've spent hours and hours trying to come up with something good. Why not crowdsource it? My blog now has over 400 subscribers. Thus, there must be someone in my audience who owns the perfect domain name for a new email / communications startup.

Here's my "wishlist":

• It has to be a .com as people have difficulties with domains like del.icio.us


• If possible, I'd like to closely follow Guy Kawasaki's naming guidelines.


• Unambiguous spelling: It should be easy to map from how it's pronounced to how it's spelled.


• I like alliterations such as FriendFeed, they really stick to your mind. Not a must, though.


• Either a name that has something to do with communications ... (good examples are PostPath, TellMe, Gmail, or Twitter);


• ... Or a word that sounds good and can be used for any type of business, such as Google, Skype, Yahoo, Zimbra, Groove.

To give you some more inspiration, I like these words: shine, glow, joy, happy, dream, sky, light, utopia, drum, jet, jam, fun, run, hop, leap, fly, flow, fast, now, right, easy, wow, zap, clean, and fresh. (Yes, I've tried combinations of these and ones domains I liked were taken.)

Do you have a .com that fits these criteria? Let's chat! My email address is here.

If you don't have a stack of .com domains piled up, please send a link to this post to your friend who does. Thanks for your help!

Re-Reading Built to Last

I'm re-reading Built to Last, the one book I keep referencing when talking about my startup. For one, it's one of the business books that's backed solid comparison studies, and its claims are backed by evidence. But it also emphasizes a style of building a company that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It promotes building your company such that it has:

• Core Values, out of which profits are not the #1 goal, but in balance with interests of employees, customers, and investors. A great example of this is Johnson & Johnson’s Credo.
• Big Hairy Audacious Goals - clear-cut, compelling, cutting edge goals the company sets to progress forward. An example is Boeing’s BHAG of building the 747.
• Cult-like Cultures: A cohesive staff of people who share company’s core ideology, are indoctrinated into the company culture, and develop a tight fit with others in the company, Nordstrom's sales teams operate in this manner.
• No charismatic figurehead leader, but leadership that focuses on building the organization instead of investing their time in extensive PR work. Sam Walton is this kind of guy.
• Constant experimentation that quickly addresses emerging market opportunities. While this is especially true for technology companies, a great example in the book is how Marriott invented the highly profitable flight catering business after seeing its customers buy lunch boxes for flights.

As an entrepreneur, if you haven’t read this book, you should.

P.S.: Here's a great article about the book's validity today.