ASHRAE October Meeting

October 14, 2003
Shilo Inn, Richland

6:00 –6:30 PM Happy Hour
6:30 –7:30 PM Dinner (Buffet)
7:00 - 7:30 PM Announcements & Chapter Business
7:30 –8:30 PM Program

RSVP by October 13 to Bing Liu, 375-3710 or [email protected]
Cost: $20

NEGOTIATING SKILLS

MARALYNNE FLEHNER, ESQ.

The ability to negotiate is one of the most important skills engineers can develop because negotiating is how people get what they want. When you talk to a prospective client about a fee or to a customer about a price or to your boss about a raise or to a code official about a project, you're negotiating. When you talk to your spouse about how to spend money or to your kids about the size of their allowance or to your friends about where to eat, you're negotiating. The fact is engineers negotiate every day of their lives with clients, customers, employers, employees, colleagues, suppliers, subcontractors, family members and friends.

This program focuses on basic negotiating skills and how they can be applied to dealings with clients, customers and code officials. The program begins by discussing how to prepare for a negotiation, including such steps as selecting the right negotiating technique, setting goals and planning strategy. It then addresses such issues as techniques for building trust and rapport; the importance of asking questions; and how to avoid answering questions you'd prefer to avoid. Next to be discussed are three critically important negotiating skills: when to lie; how to read an opponent's body language and speech patterns; and how to project confidence. The program then covers bargaining strategies; how to counter an opponent's positions; when to make concessions; and how to close a deal. The program focuses on negotiating skills in the context of contract negotiations, discussions with code officials and regulators, negotiations to resolve disputes with clients and customers, and negotiations with family members.

About the Presenter:

Maralynne Flehner is a litigating attorney with more than 20 years experience representing corporate and individual clients in state and federal courts and arbitration proceedings. After graduating from law school first in her class, Ms. Flehner served as senior law clerk to a federal district court judge, as a member of the litigation department of a large Wall Street law firm, and as the principal of her own firm. She has also chaired numerous arbitration proceedings.

Now retired from the practice of law, Mr. Flehner has written many articles for HVAC industry publications, including the ASHRAE Journal, and is an active member of ASHRAE at the Society level.

Ms. Flehner received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with high honors, from the University of Massachusetts, and a Juris Doctor degree, with high honors, from St. John’s University School of Law in New York, where she was the recipient of many awards. Ms. Flehner is licensed to practice law in the state and federal courts of New York and Pennsylvania and in the United States Supreme Court.