Business Essentials

How to negotiate

How to negotiate

Wednesday, 06 November 2019

From body language to empathy and harnessing the power of silence, here are seven negotiating tips to help you clinch that deal . . .

In any negotiation, there are three basic principles: identify the problem or situation; generate a solution; agree the outcome – which will preferably be a win-win for both sides (or, at its worst, a combative, confrontational and long drawn-out process). How you handle each step is crucial to success – and hopefully, it can be fun getting there. As the late Carrie Fisher once said, “Everything is negotiable. Whether or not the negotiation is easy is another thing.”

Here are seven useful tips for negotiating deals and sales.

  1. PREPARE YOUR GOAL

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail," said Benjamin Franklin. So do as he says: before you negotiate, have the goal clear in your head – then refine it until its meaning is perfectly transparent. Write it down, too. Anticipate the stumbling blocks, but be firm on what you want to achieve, and what your unmovable bottom line is. Make an opening position, listen carefully to the response, and make a proposal. Listen carefully for any words of compromise on their part, such as “maybe”, “perhaps” and “what if?”

  1. UNDERSTAND THE OTHER PARTY

As Roger Fisher and William Ury write in their seminal book on negotiation, Getting to Yes, “An effective way for the parties to think of themselves is as partners in a hard-headed, side-by-side search for a fair agreement advantageous to each.” Successful negotiating means taking the time to understand the other person’s position, prior to the negotiation. Find the common ground – and ask questions, too. Some 93 per cent of negotiators either forget to or don’t bother. This will immediately put you ahead of the pack.

  1. KEEP YOUR OPTIONS OPEN

Unless the negotiation takes place over several meetings, think through any compromises you might be willing to make at the time, but don’t needlessly offer to be flexible. Consider making more than one offer. In Getting to Yes, Fisher and Ury coined the term Batna, which stands for ‘the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement’, and having a grasp of it may prevent you accepting an unsatisfying deal.

  1. HANDLE THE NEGOTIATION OBJECTIVELY

Try to keep emotions or ‘gut feelings’ out of the meeting, and avoid emotive language. Focus on the facts, not who has the most power in the situation from second to second. Don’t be intimidated by an impressive-looking business card, as a big job title doesn’t automatically mean they’re skilled negotiators. Try and remain calm and professional, even in the face of provocation or rudeness. If needs be, take a break; regroup another day; and don’t be pressured into agreeing something then and there. As John F Kennedy said, “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate”.

  1. USE VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Don’t underestimate the power of small talk – forge a rapport from the outset; it’ll make rejection more difficult. But also listen – arguably the most crucial negotiating skill of all. You could miss an important detail but thinking about what you’re going to say next. Body language is very important too: make eye contact, don’t look away, smile, and avoid folding your arms and crossing your legs. For extra points, try mirroring – subtly mimic their actions to create more empathy. The power of an eyebrow lift to show authority can be quite devastating too.

  1. HARNESS THE POWER OF SILENCE

Deploy a judicious pause. As negotiation expert Katie Lane says, silence in a negotiation can be interpreted as scepticism or confusion: either may work for you. It might well induce the other party to backtrack, back down out of nerves, or encourage them to give you a better deal, literally without a word spoken. As author Eoin Colfer once wrote, “The trick to negotiation was to hold all the cards going in and, even if you didn't, to try to look as though you did.”

  1. HAVE A BACK-UP PLAN

Be gracious. Remain calm and neutral. Thank the other party for their time, tell them it was a pleasure doing business with them, and leave the door open for further negotiations. It may well help your case further down the line. If on the other hand, you have cause to celebrate – do it out of earshot.

 

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