Negotiation is very important in the business world. Businessmen and women carry negotiations every day in order to close deals. Negotiation is also important for solving disputes that take place between different parties. Besides, it’s also used to make the other parties feel that they’ve won. Negotiators need to have a large number of skills that are achieved only after years of practice. However, their efforts pay off once they become good in what they do.
If you want to become a good negotiator, you should follow some guidelines which have turned out to be effective for negotiators all over the world. If the parties you’re negotiating with are angry, you should avoid referring to your conversation as a negotiation. This will make the other parties feel that you will eventually fail in what you’re doing. Instead, you should try using positive words such as ‘You may find this offer interesting’.
Before starting the negotiation, you are advised to take some time and analyze the parties involved. First of all, you should look for some similarities between them. Then you should think about the outcome you expect and establish which your priorities are. You will want to avoid the potential anger that can appear during the negotiation.
How to handle a problem
It’s crucial to know how to deal with potential obstacles, because this is the only way you can complete your tasks in a short amount of time. The whole point of the negotiation is to reach an agreement that pleases both parties, and in order to achieve this goal, you need to be prepared for everything.
Once you start a negotiation, you have to express your goals from the first moment. Small talk is not welcomed, as both parties came to solve the dispute between them. Besides, if you don’t start negotiating, the others may think that you aren’t very skilled. You’ll gain more confidence once you create a concise plan of what you are going to do. Here’s what you should do:
Prepare
Preparation is very important in a negotiation. You have to make sure that you’ve obtained as much information as possible on the subject. For example, if your negotiation is related to the purchase of a new car, you should try to find out the prices offered by all the dealerships in your area. If you’re negotiating a raise with your employer, you need to know more things about the wages received by other workers in the same industry.
Evaluate both your weaknesses and strengths
Most of the people believe that once they admit their own limitations, they become weaker. However, this isn’t always true; every person has their weaknesses, and they are nothing you should be ashamed of. If your negotiation is related to a raise, your weakness will be the fear that if your superior doesn’t agree to offer you a raise, there will be nothing you can do about it, so you’ll just have to accept the situation until you find a better job offer. That’s why identifying the other party’s weaknesses can come in handy.
Create a Plan
Never go into a negotiation without having made a plan. You need to establish exactly what you need to achieve through the negotiation. If the other party suggests an offer, you should think of the best counter-offer you can come up to. In case the other party suggests some terms that you simply find unacceptable, nobody stops you from walking away.
Never “bid” first
You are advised to wait until the other party bids. This means that you should take your time and let your opponent propose his terms. The main reason why you should wait is because this way you’ll get the chance to find out whether the terms suggested are more favorable than the ones you had expected. In case you’re the first to propose his terms, there’s a chance you’ll end up being forced to agree with a price lower than the one you had in mind.
Every negotiation is different, but regardless of its type, it’s your duty to hang in. Try to constantly remind yourself that all the negotiations are based on a product which has a certain price. In case you can’t accept that price, ending the negotiation may be a good option. There’s always someone else you can negotiate with.
Make your clients feel comfortable
Try to make the other parties feel as comfortable as possible. When a person feels you offer nothing to his advantage, he/she can get angry. Besides, you’ll have to inform each of the parties about the benefits of reaching to an agreement if you want to get a full cooperation. Good negotiators know that listening to each party’s points of view can help them create a good negotiating plan.
Try to be positive. It’s essential to provide the parties with positive reinforcement by mentioning some successful stories from the past. Once they know that the strategy you suggest has turned out to be successful in other occasions, they will be more interested in what you have to say.
Respect matters
Perhaps the most important rule related to negotiations is to be respectful with everybody. For example, offering a gift to each party will prove that you admire their work and you’ll manage to gain their respect in no time. Taking into account that most of the people who are hungry are cranky, bringing some small snacks could be a good idea.
In case you’re negotiating for your own business, you have to be aware of the value of your firm first. Although your business is probably a small one, it doesn’t mean it’s not valuable. Another good advice would be to pay attention when you negotiate your split. The deal split is basically the amount you’ll have to share with the vendor. This means that the deal site will charge your clients’ credit cards whenever they make a purchase. This way, they collect the whole amount of money and cut you a check for the negotiated portion of the sale.
When we evaluate both your weaknesses and strengths we can easily know about our position on which we are existing. Your shared points are very important to learn about the technicalities of business negotiations.