Hitting Hard Where it Hurts

Here Sandweip Banerje recounts for us the persuasion experience of a colleague of his in a really challenging situation. Thank you, Sandweip!

Sharma (name changed) was delighted to get an invitation from XX department, Government of India, for negotiating the price of his company’s new (2004) anti-cancer drug.  It was obvious that his company’s tender was accepted and the government team would now try to force a big discount on the quoted price. The sums were substantial because the department would be buying the drug for its hospitals and dispensaries all over the country where current and retired Central government employees could get it free if prescribed by their doctors.

Sharma’s mind was also full of tension. Although he had worked for nearly 30 years in different parts of India, and he was looking after institutional business for his employer, the Indian arm of a multinational company, he was overwhelmed by the challenge. Because the sums involved were huge, there would be several secretaries and undersecretaries from admin, finance, and procurement – all senior IAS officers – on the government team. He had never dealt with a team like that before. He was worried that they could easily browbeat him into giving major concessions to clinch the deal. After all, being members of the government team they had nothing to lose if Sharma didn’t get the order. They clearly had the upper hand.

The only person he knew on the government team was the relatively junior procurement officer, who would not be able to go against the senior officers. Sharma knew that if he didn’t strike a deal during the meeting, he could forget about it.

He had no idea what strategy he should adopt to minimize the concessions to the senior officers who didn’t care two hoots about the outcome. All he knew was that they were all men in their fifties with enormous clout and huge egos.

Of course he knew his product well. Unlike other common anti-cancer drugs available in the country then, it was built on hormone therapy and free from side-effects such as loss of hair. He also knew that this could be used to treat prostate cancer. Men in their fifties dreaded surgery to deal with prostate cancer because it would force them to say goodbye to sex.

After racking his brain for several days he decided on his strategy.

At the start of the meeting he said he wanted just two minutes to talk about something that concerned them vitally. He told them that a large number of males in their fifties and sixties had prostate cancer, but many didn’t realize it until it was too late and spread to the rest of the body because it was painless. Removal of the prostate would make the patient impotent; using standard anti-cancer therapy had tell-tale side-effects. But his company’s new drug was different because it was built on hormone therapy.

There were many questions from the senior men in the audience about symptoms of prostate cancer and prostate enlargement. Instead of two minutes, he spoke for twenty. No one seemed to mind.

They offered him coffee, which was a sign that he would get the order. They asked him what discount he would offer. They readily accepted the token 2% discount that he offered.

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Why did Sharma’s strategy work? What can we learn from his experience?

I will be happy to hear from you your stories of successful and unsuccessful attempts at persuasion.