By Joe B. Hewitt, Mediator

Having “been there and done that” increases the effectivness of a mediator. At age 19 I trained salesmen for Encyclopaedia Britannica. Many preliminaries worked up to the final goal, getting the prospect's signature on the dotted line and arrangements for payment. I taught trainees to stick with the prescribed sales procedure and not be sidetracked from the goal of closing the sale. Lessons learned at such a young age have stayed with me.

When I am mediating a case, I don’t lose sight of the goal: settlement. We may go around the block discussing feelings, but I always steer the parties back to the goal of settlement.

A lifetime ago Dale Carnegie designed Britannica’s sales procedure. When salesmen stuck with it without deviation, they could average 1 sale out of 5 presentations. The main ingredient was confidence. I taught them to go into the sales procedure believing in the product and our ability to sell it.

I remember these lessons too in mediation. I believe in mediation. I am confident in my ability to help iron out differences and get people together. And, gratefully, my average is much better than 20 per cent. 

On rare occasions when I have to declare an impasse, that doesn't mean I quit working on the case. I stay in touch with the parties, continuing to try to settle right up until trial date. It is not unusual for me to recess a mediation to give time to gather documents, and settle the case weeks or months later.