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When you enter the world of professional negotiations, there are some basic skills that you need to pick up. However, those skills don’t cover all of the negotiation styles and negotiating techniques that you are going to need in order to be successful. Among the additional skills that you’ll need are the following two tactics.
Dive Deep
When we enter into a negotiation, it can sometimes be difficult to keep in mind just exactly who we are negotiating with. It may seem as though the person who is going to be making all of the decisions is sitting across from us, but rarely is that the case.
Instead, we need to understand that the person who is sitting at the table is simply representing the interests of one or more people who are not there. That means that we have the responsibility to help them to find a way to say “yes”.
In order for this to happen, you are going to have to work to find a way to create a deal that is going to appeal to the different interests that the person at the table represents. This is not going to be easy; however, once you are able to do it then you’ll have been able to reach a deal that both sides will be able to live with.
Can’t Get No Satisfaction, Can’t Get No Deal
What’s it going to take in order to reach a deal with the other side of the table? Sure, there’s all of the things that always get discussed during a negotiation including terms, goods & services, and, of course, price. However, it turns out that there is a lot more also.
What we need to keep in mind as negotiators that what the other side of the table is really negotiating for is satisfaction. This satisfaction has nothing to do with the business terms that are being discussed and everything to do with personal issues.
The outcome of the negotiations may impact the negotiator’s career, they may have a vacation scheduled that will start once the negotiations are over, etc. You need to be looking for ways that you can provide the other side with the personal satisfaction that they are seeking in order to be able to reach a deal with them.
What All Of This Means For You
In order to be a successful negotiator you need to have a set of skills that you can bring to your next principled negotiation. Although many of these skills are the basic ones that we’ve all learned as we become negotiators, there are additional tactics that we all need to develop.
One such tactic is the ability to dive deep when negotiating. Help the other side find ways to get the people that they report to become agreeable with the deal that you’ve put together. Additionally, remember that a negotiation is all about helping the other side to become satisfied. Don’t get hung up on what’s being discussed at the negotiating table, look deeper for the personal goals that they are trying to satisfy.
Every negotiation requires you to bring a different set of skills to the table. These two tactics that we’ve discussed will provide you with the skills that you need to create better deals. Ultimately, this is what it is going to take in order to complete your next negotiation quicker and make both sides of the table happy with the deal that you’ve created.
– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Negotiating Skills™
Question For You: What’s the best way to find out what the other side’s personal goals for the negotiation are?
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What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time
How do you feel about conflict? I’m hoping that you don’t shy away from it when it shows up, because no matter what negotiation styles or negotiating techniques are being used, there is always going to be some conflict in every negotiation. It’s not the conflict that causes the problems in negotiations, but rather the way in which we choose to deal with the conflict that can cause a negotiation to become derailed.