101 Ways To Negotiate More Effectively
101 Ways to Negotiate More Effectively
DAVID OLIVER
Way 1 Know what negotiation is
There are many misconceptions about negotiation. Estate agents like to call themselves 'negotiators', yet in house sales they rarely do anything, except discount the price of the property. Many salesmen describe themselves as negotiators. So what is it? Is it a Dutch auction which starts high and goes lower? Is it another word for selling? These are very common conceptions. In fact negotiation is none of these. A simple dictionary definition describes negotiation as 'discussing or gaining in order to reach agreement'.
Negotiation is a transaction in which both parties have a veto on the final outcome. It requires voluntary consent on both sides. It is a give and take process where the actual conditions of a transaction are agreed. It is the act or process of bargaining to reach a mutually acceptable agreement or objective. It requires movement on both sides - real or perceived.
Why do we negotiate? Simply because if we don't we will not get the best deals available to us. One thing I can promise you is, if you don't negotiate, you are already losing money. In a free market economy there are only two pivots around which may deal will finally be agreed: price and value. The bulk of people in business concentrate just on price - wrongly. Negotiation is in some ways like chess. You are prepared to sacrifice particular pieces in the interests of winning the game. In chess you know the pieces but you can't see into the other person's mind. In negotiation you don't necessarily know the 'pieces'. You have to discover and develop your own pieces and find ways of uncovering your counterpart's.
Way 2 Know what it isn't
Negotiation is not selling. Negotiation begins when the sale has been adequately made. Selling skills are different and are covered in 101 Ways to Increase Your Sales in this series.
The simple test is the way buyer and seller relate to each other. In...
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