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š ETA Friday: When negotiations fail
The power of public accountability
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Welcome to ETA (Edited to Add) Friday. Every Friday morning weāll rehash a previous newsletter. Why? Thereās always more to learn, and leadership practices are ever-evolving.
My take:
As my public callout of Zendesk's contract issues gained traction, it felt fitting to discuss the delicate balance between private negotiations and public accountability in business relationships.
I previously shared how I approach effective contract negotiations, emphasizing clear communication and firm but fair tactics. Last weekās experience with Zendesk provides a real-world case study on what to do when those strategies fall short.
Letās dive in.
A negotiation nightmare
If you follow me on Twitter, you know I recently had some challenges with a particular customer support company.
They misled us about our contract renewal date - twice.
They acknowledged their mistake but refused to correct it.
They were charging us over $2,000/month for a service we explicitly canceled.
I don't typically like putting companies on blast given my large audience here, but wow does @Zendesk deserve it.
The longer version will be shared later, but the short version is they:
1) Misled us twice on our contract renewal date
2) Refuse to accept that their mistakeā¦ x.com/i/web/status/1ā¦ā Kelly Vaughn (@kvlly)
7:23 PM ā¢ Aug 2, 2024
You want real-world examples in my newsletter? Iāve got them! This example shows just how critical effective negotiation and clear communication are - and how challenging it can be when the other party isn't playing fair.
Why it matters for tech leaders
Anyone who knows me knows I really donāt like putting companies on blast on social media. With over 118k followers thereās a huge responsibility to keep the peace, whether or not I agree with this. But the reality is we sometimes have to escalate things when theyāre clearly not going to resolve on their own.
In Tuesday's newsletter, I focused on proactive strategies. But what happens when, despite your best efforts, you find yourself in an unfair situation?
Expanding your negotiation toolkit
Letās recap where we started on Tuesday:
Do your homework
Understand the vendor's position
Leverage your position
Propose alternatives where applicable
Be willing to walk away
Be firm with your language
In a perfect world this would be enough. But capitalism is going to capitalism and businesses sometimes need a little reality check when they forget theyāre serving real people on the other side. So letās expand on this negotiation toolkit a bit more.
Document everything. Keep meticulous records of all communications. If you donāt have a copy of the contract, get it from someone who does. Save all conversations via support. If you have a phone conversation with their team, note down the date and time and a recap of the conversation.
Escalate strategically. Know when to take your case up the chain of command. āCan I speak to your managerā is something Iām sure weāve all heard someone say, but itās often forgotten when dealing with B2B contracts and corresponding via email. If youāre not getting a realistic answer, ask to escalate.
Know your legal rights. Iām not going to dive into this one because Iām not an attorney, but all Iāll say here is understand your contract before signing it and know when itās time to seek legal advice.
Leverage public accountability. I put this one last for a reason. As stated before, I donāt like dragging a company through the mud, but unfortunately it does work.
Social media and customer complaints
Leveraging social media to complain about a brand isnāt going anywhere; if it works, why would customers stop? 84% of customers who complained on social media got a response from the company, and generally quickly too! Depending on the platform, between 27% and 33% of customers expect a response within an hour. I even said internally when I posted about Zendesk āIāll give them an hourā.
In reality, they responded in two. In fact, within about 2 hours, I heard back from a Zendesk VP. While I was out to dinner (an hour later), they proceeded to cancel the contract as requested. And then approximately a week later, the refund for a little over $7,000 was processed.
This resolution underscores the power of public accountability. What had been months of frustrating private negotiations and silence was resolved in a matter of hours once the issue was made public.
What should you take away from this?
Public accountability can be remarkably effective when other methods fail.
The speed of resolution (2 hours vs. months) highlights how companies prioritize public-facing issues.
While effective, this should still be viewed as a last resort after exhausting private channels.
This experience reinforces the importance of having a full toolkit of negotiation strategies. While we can always hope for fair and straightforward negotiations, it's crucial to be prepared for all scenarios.
As leaders in the tech industry, we need to push our organization create an environment where such measures aren't necessary. However, when faced with continued blockers, it's important to know how and when to escalate effectively.
I hope sharing this experience provides valuable insights for your own negotiations and vendor relationships. Again, I donāt love that this is what I had to resort to, but itās the last tool in your toolbox and does serve a purpose.
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