how to become a great negotiator.docx

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How To Become A Great Negotiator

March 02, 2014 54.753 1.214Penyuka 195Komentar

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Negotiations are a fact of life. We constantly negotiate both in personal and professional

areas of life.

Still, many people dont like negotiating, and as such try avoiding it. As a result it could

make resolving and/or progressing problematic.


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Others, often success-driven managers and businesspeople, are so competitive that only

"winning" would make them a great negotiator in their eyes. Causing, of course, the other

person to "lose." Helpful? Most likely not!

Applying below-listed four negotiation principles and executing the outlined three-phased

negotiation process will significantly increase the quality of your future negotiations.

NEGOTIATION PRINCIPLES

Often negotiations fail when the following 4 key negotiation principles are not being taken

into consideration:

Aim At Win-Win Outcomes

Those are the results which satisfy all stakeholders involved. They represent the basis for

further business and sustainable relationships.

Stay Always Open-minded

Successful negotiators look at each major aspect from multiple perspectives. Theyre

prepared for anything.

Focus On Long-Term Business Relationships

With this in mind its rather impossible to fleece the other party.

Show Respect And Appreciation

Honoring the other person as equal is crucial to any successful negotiation.

NEGOTIATION PROCESS

A professional negotiation process consists of 3 stages: The preparation phase, the

negotiation phase, and the follow-up phase. You need to excel in all three of them in order of

becoming a master of negotiation.

Preparation Stage

If you think that negotiating only starts once you meet the other party, then most likely youll

not chalk up the best possible outcome: By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

(Benjamin Franklin).

In this very first phase define your negotiation targets, strategy and objective criteria based

on which you later measure the achieved agreement. Be clear about your alternatives and fall

back positions; also known as BATNA: Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement.


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Crucial to collect all accessible information about the other party and your negotiation

counterparts: What are their objectives and potential strategy, what might be their

perspective, their motivations, and their opinion on relevant topics? Which is their interest

and their reservation price (i.e. when would they walk away)?

Negotiation Stage

During the opening phase of the negotiation stage listen well and frequently ask(open-

ended) questions. As a rule of thumb you should listen more than you talk. Use silenceas a

tactic and mimic your opponent. Sooner or later they will talk. Try to detect

commonalitiesrather than differences to generate mutual engagement and to establish a first

basis of trust. In general it is essential to separate the people from the issue. Dont take

things personal. Many people consider negotiations as a kind of game. So, stay relaxed and

enjoy playing the game!

When youre about to start the actual negotiation be brave and bring forward the first

proposal.Why should you do that? The opening offer always serves as a reference point. Its

what I call an "unconscious anchor. In other words: If youre selling, be first and start the

bidding high. And if youre buying, start the bidding low.

Often it might be appropriate making two to three equivalent, simultaneous offers. This

shows that you understand and respect the other position and possible concerns. Even more

importantly, it creates a variety of options and helps avoiding cornering the other side. You

should ask for more than what youre actually looking for. That gives you flexibility and

room to maneuver.

Dont be afraid to give in first.Its an excellent opportunity to inject an additional layer of

trust. When doing it in a pro-active manner you should be able choosing something which

has significant meaning to the other party and is of low cost to you. Usually whenever you

give you should also take.Every concession you make should involve a trade-off of some

kind. By doing so focus on interests rather than positions.

Saying that, and in order to get around cognitive dissonances of your negotiation

counterparts, you are well advised to engage in the theatrics of negotiation: e.g. when being

attacked or confronted with unreasonable proposals and demands you should look visibly putoff, or you even might want to flinch. By the way, thats the only time when you get

"emotional.

Experienced negotiators are creative solution seekers, they enjoy thinking outside of the box,

and they constantly look for ways to broaden the pieinstead of haggling over every little

detail. However, they also stand their ground, if the other party is not willing to move or if

they were to become (too) aggressive. Temporary confrontations are a normal and


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