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Whenever we go into the kitchen and decide to make a meal for ourselves, the first thing that we do is to get all of the ingredients that we’re going to need out and assembled so that we’ll be able to find them when we need them. It turns out that the strategy for conducting a successful negotiation is very similar to this. We need to have the correct ingredients if we want to be able to create a deal that both sides will be able to live with. Two of the most critical ingredients are enthusiasm and relationships.
The Power Of Genuine Enthusiasm
Let’s face it – if you are entering into a negotiation, then you are really playing the role of a salesperson. This means that no matter what negotiation styles or negotiating techniques are being used, you are going to have to get the other side of the table excited about what you have to sell to them. In order for this to happen, you’re going to have to bring your enthusiasm to the table.
The great thing about enthusiasm is that it is contagious. Just by being enthusiastic you’ll be able to cause the other side to also become enthusiastic about the deal that is being negotiated. What makes this technique even more amazing is that it works on everyone – even those people who consider themselves to be your adversaries.
Ultimately, your enthusiasm has to come from your belief in your own ideas. During any negotiation a great number of objections will probably be raised. It’s going to be up to your enthusiasm and your ability to sell your ideas to the other side in order to overcome everything that stands in the way of your reaching a deal with the other side.
Building Relationships Is What Makes A Deal Work
What is the most important part of any negotiation? A lot of people will tell you that it’s all about the money. They look at the profit that they’ll make from doing a deal and it’s their belief that if they can just negotiate the right price, then everything else associated with the deal will line up. It turns out that this is not the case.
Instead, what is really important is the type of personal relationship that you’ll be able to build with the other side of the table during the negotiations. This is going to be a critical factor in helping you to reach a successful conclusion in the current negotiation. Additionally, you will probably have future negotiations with these people and the relationship that you build today will help you tomorrow.
All too often beginning negotiators believe that they need to make promises to the other side in order to get them to agree to things. This isn’t correct. Instead, take the time to find common ground between you and the other side and then use this to convince them that they can trust you. By doing this, you won’t have to sell the other side on your ideas, instead they’ll believe what you tell them because they believe in you.
What All Of This Means For You
Every principled negotiation that you participate in is a creation that you’ve made. Just like creating a delicious meal, you’ve got to bring the right ingredients to the negotiating table if you want to create a deal that works for both sides. Two of the ingredients that every negotiation must have are enthusiasm and relationships.
Your enthusiasm is contagious. If the other side sees how committed you are to reaching a deal with them, they’ll become motivated to find a way to make the deal work. Likewise, you need to move beyond price and take the time to create a relationship with the other side of the table. You never know when you’ll be back at the negotiating table working on another deal with them.
Both of these ingredients, enthusiasm and relationships, are critical components of any negotiation that is going to produce a deal that both sides can live with. Take the time to enter a negotiation with a lot of genuine enthusiasm and work to build a solid relationship with the other side. Doing this will help you to reach the deal that you both want more quickly.
– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Negotiating Skills™
Question For You: Do you think that you should start to build a relationship with the other side before the negotiations start?
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What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time
What’s your basic approach to a negotiation? Do you slide in silently, prepared for a long drawn-out battle just hoping that through the use of the correct negotiation styles and negotiating techniques you’ll be the one who wears down the other side first in order to be able to walk away with the best deal? Or do you show up with bells on, the ultimate showman, and try to charm the other side into seeing things your way? It turns out that this second way is the way that will product the best results…