Becoming The Value Negotiator

It's not just what you do, it's who you become.

If you had asked me 10 years ago, or heck even 4 years ago, whether I thought I’d be running a negotiation training and consulting business, I’d have laughed.

But here I am - Glin Bayley, Founder of The Value Negotiator. I work with sales, procurement, and commercial buying teams (including property) of large corporates in Australia.

As many of you are new subscribers, I thought I’d take the opportunity to introduce myself and thank you for joining me on the journey of becoming ‘The Value Negotiator’ in your own life and business.

Perhaps you didn’t realise it was a journey of ‘becoming’, perhaps you thought value negotiation is just something you do?

I hope through our time together I can show you why it’s a journey of becoming and why it’s so incredibly powerful.

I've been 'The Value Negotiator' for most of my life, I just didn't connect the dots before. As Steve Jobs once said, “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.”

While the brand identity is relatively new (my business is just over a year old), this way of being is not.

Over the years, my career has evolved from commercial finance (I was the commercially savvy management accountant negotiating value for large multinationals) to heart-led leadership and executive coaching (helping senior and C-suite execs overcome their mental blocks to step into their superpowers and realise their value), and later to commercial negotiation consulting (ah, the place where all of my superpowers came together)!

The constant I discovered in my career journey has been a deep need to create meaningful value, and to be valued in return.

Isn’t the need to be valued and to know we’re adding value in all of us?

Through my own journey of self-discovery, through the different roles I’ve held, and through all of the delegates I’ve trained in negotiation skills these last three years, I've learned that as humans we ALL have a deeper need to feel valued.

I’ve also learned that the better you get at understanding yourself, the greater the power you have in understanding others.

And it's this power that unlocks value.

If you’re here, I hope it’s because you’re ready to discover the power that unlocks value for you, your business, and those around you.

Negotiation may be universal, but mastery certainly isn’t.

And it’s a combination of skills, intelligence, and heart that will ultimately set you apart.

Here’s what you’ll get from me…

• If you’re a free subscriber, then you’ll get weekly negotiation insights from me that predominantly focus on the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of negotiation.

• If you’re a paid subscriber, then you’ll get more in-depth insights on the ‘how’ of negotiation.

Always be aware of the value exchange.

If there is one insight you take from this post, it is that people don’t always value ‘free’, and while you might think you’re being generous, you have to ask yourself if free is really helping the other person get the best outcome they can get.

Here’s an example…

My friend, who recently qualified as a personal trainer, was lacking confidence in his pricing - so he offered to train another friend for free. Frustratingly for him, every time it rained, or she didn’t feel up to it, she’d postpone the session.

Why? Because there was no value exchange. He was giving, and she was taking.

By offering sessions for free, my friend failed to recognise that the lack of value exchange only kept her further from achieving her fitness goals.

Imagine if he charged her $100 a session regardless of whether she showed up?

With the thought of losing $100 a session, she’d be more likely to show up, and if she did, she’d get much fitter. By introducing a value exchange, he would create a win-win.

He’d show up as a paid professional, and she’d show up as someone invested in getting the outcome she wanted.

In the art of negotiation, the most significant value we discover is often in ourselves.

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Until next time, remember, "Together We Create."