The entertainment business has a wide array of avenues. The
gospel industry is one. I grew up watching a lot in this industry. One person
who had a major impact on me at that time was my choir director Zedric Smith.
He was over the youth choir. That may seem like a small title but I was way
more than that. My church is huge and full of talent. We often went on tour and
sung at engagements. Not only did he have to negotiate with others outside of
the church, but also his biggest works were convincing the church. For new
uniforms to contracts and rewards for tours the list goes on. I decided to
interview him on his negotiation skills. For me this was a great trip down
memory lane. Below is condensed a script of our conversation.
Q: How did you deal with your
most difficult positional bargaining situation (Haggling)?
Zedric: Well I can remember one in particular that was
tough. I know you remember when you guys finally got out of those old heavy
choir robs. That was no easy task. I had to work all kinds of hard to convince
the musical director you all needed a change. Their position on in great
concern that you guys remain discrete in your attire. She didn’t want skirts to
get short or pants to sag. To her robs where safe. So I had a presentation set
up to show her the current trends and how far behind we were as a church. If I
wasn’t for that visual I don’t think I would have won.
Me: Wow I still have that outfit. I loved the new gear. We
were so cool after that. It is great to see how you used objective criteria to
get your point across and give a benchmark to go off of instead of just your
words.
Q: Have you ever used dirty
trick? Is not why not. If so tell me more about it.
Zedric:(Laughing) I hate to tell you but I had a few tricks.
I don’t think they were that bad though. I would have to manage to produce a
great line up for Sunday service as well as manage they young kids feelings.
Mike was a great singer but Tim wasn’t kind of thing. So I would use Saturday
service to lets the less fortunate get a chance to sing.
Me: Gasp now I sung at a few Saturday services. What is up
with that?
Zedric: (laughs) You know you sung every chance you could
get. That was the only way to keep you behaved.
You were a very bright and fortunate young lady
Me: Thank you! That is also a great example of mutual
benefit. You came to a conclusion that was of great benefit to everyone.
Q: How do you prepare for
negotioations?
Zedric: I found it useful to research to whom I am dealing
with. I mean everyone from the investors to the congregation to the choir
members. This was great because I would have my plan lined up. It would be just
awful for me to go and say my students want to go to the water park after their
hard work and they actually wanted to go to the movies. I would have looked so
bad. This is also great because you can kind of get a sense of everyone’s
position before you go in for the fight. Proper preparation also allows you to
have a best option in your pocket that is great for everyone.
Me: Something like a mutual benefit?
Zedrick: Yes like the time I convinced the parents to let
you guys compete in contest. Winning those allowed me to get a raise because it
brought recognition to the church and you guys more funding for trips. Those benefits
went three ways; the church, the kids, and me.
Me: Wow! See what a little preparation can do? It allows
everyone to win.
This was a great interview. I was able to look at his
personal experiences and connect them to negotiating. It is obvious that
sometimes you have to get dirty to get the task done. Like he did. Those poor
kids that sung on Saturday thought they could sing. Including me. The biggest
lesson here would be prepare, prepare, prepare. It can make the difference from
getting things done and getting things done right.
