Fail to prepare and you prepare to fail

As the latest episode of the Apprentice comes to our screens tonight, spare a thought for Melissa, last week’s fired contestant.

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what she did right as a negotiator, as she was a poor listener and highly confrontational throughout. But one of the things which consistently let her down was a lack of preparation. In the previous week she managed to quote a price for a bread roll which, at £1.82, was quite ridiculously high, and was clearly made-up. Last week she attempted to bludgeon Debenhams into purchasing two products which they don’t even stock. They don’t sell gardening equipment, but this didn’t stop Melissa digging a hole for herself by continuing with a futile pitch for a spade. They also don’t sell bathroom equipment, but it would have taken more than cold water to have stopped Melissa continuing to pitch her other pointless product, a shower head.

All such humiliations could have been avoided if she had only prepared for her pitches in advance. Negotiators who simply dive into the haggle, thinking they can busk it, are doomed to fail…

Let’s see who fails to prepare tonight…