Building effective negotiation skills
Do you feel like you're underpaid for your work? Do you often feel taken advantage of by others? From getting a new job to making a better deal on the table, the negotiating skills one develops can be invaluable. So how do we build these skills and become more effective negotiators? Well, read on to find out!
In this blog post we will discuss what negotiation skills look like and how they translate into our lives. We'll also dive into negotiation tactics that can be used in all sorts of situations as well as some common mistakes people make when they're negotiating. It doesn't matter who you are: if your goal is to get a better deal or get what you want, then understanding negotiation is absolutely critical.
Before we jump into what negotiation skills look like, let's talk a bit about what negotiation really is...
What is Negotiation?
Negotiation is a form of conflict resolution in which the parties involved try to seek mutually acceptable terms of settlement. It usually involves an exchange of offers and counter-offers between the parties. These offer and counter-offers are agreed to by the participants with the ultimate goal being agreement on a solution that will please all parties involved. To paraphrase William Ury , there are two ways to make everyone happy: find common ground, or beat your opponent to it.
Negotiation is a form of conflict resolution in which the parties involved try to seek mutually acceptable terms of settlement. It usually involves an exchange of offers and counter-offers between the parties. These offer and counter-offers are agreed to by...
Why do we Negotiate?
There are many reasons why people might want to negotiate, and these reasons likely vary based on the specific situation being negotiated. For example, when you have an idea for a new product or service, you might want to negotiate with several parties before you get started (i.e., hire developers) since everyone has different skills and experience levels that might make them particularly interested in your idea. When you're trying to find a new job, however, you might feel underqualified for the role and might be worried about being taken advantage of in negotiations. In this case, discussions about salary might need to come up.
When negotiating for something we want or need, we are going to end up disagreeing with one or more of the other people involved. When that happens it's important not to get stuck on the terms or conditions of the deal — focus instead on what it is that you want and need from that situation. This is called "negotiating from a win-win perspective ", and it will allow us to form agreements that will lead everyone involved down the right direction.
Contracts are important too. However, a contract isn't necessarily something that happens after you've negotiated with someone. A contract can be agreed upon before you even negotiate anything. This will help keep the negotiation process clear and clean, so you don't end up having to argue about things that should already have been set in stone. The fewer things there are to argue over, the less likely disagreements will arise and the better your chances of coming to an agreeable solution become.
There are many reasons why people might want to negotiate, and these reasons likely vary based on the specific situation being negotiated. For example, when you have an idea for a new product or service,...
Types of Negotiation
Negotiation takes many forms and happens in many different contexts. In fact, negotiation is an essential part of our daily lives. Here are a few situations where you might want to consider negotiating:
Hiring someone to help with your business (i.e., freelancer, employee)
Getting a better deal on the car you want to buy or lease, or getting a better interest on your loan payments (i.e., buying/leasing vs. financing)
Working out terms with suppliers or service providers (i.e., time and materials contracts vs fixed price contracts)
Getting a new job (i.e. salaries, hiring practices)
Maintaining contact with old friends or acquaintances (i.e., asking for a favor)
Handling technical support requests with your computer (i.e., contracts, warranties)
Developing new products (i.e., product design by committee or market testing and approval of prototype vs "I want it and I want it now")
The situation we're looking at here is where there is disagreement over some issue that might arise in one of the previous situations, but the goal of the negotiation should be to come to an agreement that will address that issue as well as possible. For example, when you're talking to or interviewing for a potential new employer, you might want to negotiate what your salary will be once you're hired. In this situation, the goal is going to be to get as much money as possible in the end.
In all these situations, there are going to be some common negotiation tactics that we can use and some common mistakes that we should look out for. We'll talk about these soon, so make sure you read on!
Negotiation takes many forms and happens in many different contexts. In fact, negotiation is an essential part of our daily lives...
Common Mistakes in Negotiation There are certain errors or mistakes that people often make when they negotiate (i.e. that many people make when they're negotiating). There are certain errors or mistakes that people often make when they negotiate...
Common Negotiation Tactics In This Section We'll cover some of the common negotiation tactics and techniques that you might use when negotiating. For each tactic, we'll explain what it is and how it can be used to your advantage. We'll also discuss some situations where these tactics won't work so well, and where other techniques might be better suited to address the particular issue at hand.
This one is pretty simple: just as you would in a regular conversation, what matters in a negotiation is the idea itself. The only way for you to get strong on the idea is to understand it. How do you understand it? That's where this tactic comes into play.
Understand The Issue: What Is It?
One common mistake people often make when negotiating is that they forget what the real issue is. If we're going to take a side, or defend a specific proposal, then we need to first identify and agree on what the issue really is. If we can't agree on what the issue really is, then we're just talking past each other and arguing about things that don't actually matter.
Good negotiators spend a lot of time understanding the issue itself before they attempt to come up with a solution or an agreement. To do this, they...
1. Understand the Root Cause: The first thing we need to do when trying to understand the issue is to figure out what caused it in the first place. It's easy to just blame the problem on "poor customer service" or a "lack of foresight on our part" but that doesn't really tell us anything about what we're doing wrong or how we can fix it. Unless you want to say that poor customer service and a lack of foresight are the root cause of most problems in the world, then you're going to have to dig a little deeper than that and find out exactly why your product or service isn't working for your customers.
Conclusion: If you want to understand the real issue, then you need to figure out the root cause of it. The only way you can do that is if you spend a lot of time trying to figure out what exactly happened in the first place.
2. Who Are The Stakeholders? One important thing that we also need to do when we're doing our research and trying to understand what happened and why it happened is that we need to take into account everyone who has a stake in this issue. In other words, before we come up with a solution or a proposal for resolving the problem, we need to figure out who else might be affected by our decision.