Tommy Cooper was one of the funniest comedians ever.
How do I know? Well partly because he has 13 of the best jokes in the top 50 gags of all time. A personal favourite being, “heard the one about two aerials meeting on a roof, falling in love, and getting married? The ceremony was rubbish but the reception was brilliant”.
Telling a good joke is not just about the content. It is also in the timing of the delivery.
The same could also be said about negotiation. Picking your time to enter into a negotiation can have a significant impact on its progression and your outcome.
Want to buy a new car, find out when the salesperson’s bonus target is due. Buy a new house, try to understand how far down the purchase chain your seller is and how badly they want the other house. Get a great deal at the Hastings fish market, get down there just before they close for business on a Saturday night.
When I woke up on Tuesday I had no idea that an election would be an immediate possibility, like most people I feel that the last few years has been nothing but polling booths and referendums.
However, by lunch time all that changed when Theresa May called a snap General Election for 8 June 2017, a mere 7 weeks away and amid polls that indicate that her party could win a huge majority in Parliament.
Many polls have the Conservatives at almost double the vote share of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party, suggesting that the most likely outcome of the election will be a landslide victory that could increase her party’s working majority of 17 in the House of Commons.
Indeed, some experts estimate that the Tories will take as many as 60 seats from Labour, leaving them with an over 200-seat lead over the current opposition party.
Yesterday afternoon MPs backed the call almost unanimously.
I for one think her timing is impeccable, and surrounded by one overarching rationale, being given the mandate to negotiate Brexit from a position of extreme strength, both within and without the country.
Next time you get the opportunity to negotiate a better deal, a favourable salary, an upgrade on a flight, just think, is time on your side.
That said it is still very early days in this election race. Given the current predictions from the pollsters and the bookies (they seem to call these things remarkably well) it seems unthinkable that the Conservatives could fail to win on June 8.
Time will tell.