Epilogue: One Year Later

Jay’s continued coaching via telephone conversations with Dr. Pat had made him a truly proficient negotiator. Just as valuable as the negotiation skills he learned was his newfound commitment to continue studying his craft. With his coach’s guidance, he was even able to get the powers that be at MGB into a collaborative posture, resulting in one of the biggest installations in XL history.

Other prospects were being advanced in more productive directions with his and his team’s ongoing use of the One Minute Drill. Jay and Cathy had turned what was a competitive beginning into an amenable working relationship, and then a highly collaborative one. Jay had even come to realize that she and he were in the correct positions at XL. While Jay liked Cathy’s title of regional sales manager, he found that there were many aspects of her job that were not so attractive to him. One of which, as Dr. Pat pointed out to him, was having her performance and income being determined by “knuckleheads” like him.

Jay’s application of his new skills was instrumental in his winning the golden trophy as top sales professional at XL. Eduardo came in a close second behind Jay in sales performance for the new year, and he vowed to work even harder to beat Jay out of that golden trophy the next time around. Jay told him to always remember that successful negotiations are “EASY,” but beating him will not be.

Jay’s dad was doing reasonably well, thanks to the timely attention Jay and his sister had paid to his health. Their collaborative relationship had worked very well once Jay had the courage to take a step back, run it through his One Minute Drill, and realize that he had been part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

Jay and Laura had just completed a fairly major renovation and expansion of their home. Jay had shared the drill with her; after agreeing to collaborate based on needs and not emotions, and looking at several options, they decided that they loved their present location. Jay had found many opportunities to use his newfound negotiation skills with the contractor they selected.

The One Minute Drill was changing the course of the lives of those who had heard and heeded the One Minute Negotiator’s words on the cruise. It was hard to believe that the guy from west Texas in the shiny cowboy boots could have had such an impact!