Two people are engaged in a negotiation - one succeeds in achieving his/her objective(s) and is very pleased, whilst the other walks away dissatisfied with the result. Does this scenario sound familiar?
How often have you felt displeased with an agreement that you have reached? Have you ever entered into an agreement only to feel remorse soon after sealing the deal?
SUCCESS VS FAILURE
What distinguishes success vs failure in commercial negotiations?
Most of us understand the significance of preparation to achieve success and it is therefore interesting to note that the majority of business negotiators do not spend enough time preparing for negotiations, often due to inadequate negotiation training. Professional sports people spend considerably more time preparing for a contest than they spend in competition; should it not be the same for commercial negotiators?
THE EVIDENCE
Business negotiators only spend roughly 1/3 as much time preparing for negotiation as they in reality spend in negotiation. If you were a professional sports person, this would mean that you applied only 1/3 as much time training & planning as you do in competition. The key contributor to profitable business negotiation results is the quality of your preparation for the negotiation.
As a matter of negotiation strategy, consider the following key 5 elements of preparation and at the same time you will also improve your negotiation skills:
1. Understand Yourself
Before we even apply best- and leading practice negotiation, it is important that we first invest in understanding our own strengths & weaknesses and it is key that we make use of personal profiling tools to highlight our areas of preference within the context of commercial negotiations, which enables us to have a reference point from which to plot our skills development.
2. Vision
What is the ultimate objective behind the negotiation? Is the negotiation about price or is it about the value that can be added? What are the key motivating issues behind your counterparty's position? What common ground, if any, exists between your and your counterparty's vision? It is vital to understand the interests or silent motivations behind the positions of all parties to the negotiation and it is only by asking questions that we will uncover these interests.
3. Value
What are the key deal goals being targeted in this negotiation? What are the facts and figures supporting the negotiation environment? What alternatives does each party have, if any? Once again we should try to recognise, prioritise & weigh the goals of all parties to the negotiation and only then are we in a position to highlight those objectives that are shared and at the same time deal with those objectives that are likely to result in conflict.
4. Process
Have you spent time thinking about an agenda for your forthcoming negotiation? Have you listed all the trades that you will give & receive? Do you have tools/templates at your disposal to support the effectiveness of the negotiation cycle.?
5. Relationship
It is easy to forget that we deal with people who have goals & aspirations not unlike our own and it is not always just about the contractual terms. The research is clear that people are more likely to deal with those whom they trust & like, than with those with whom they little in common. Try to focus on those elements that you share with your negotiation counterparts, and do not forget to focus on the people.
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