Negotiation skills

Nowadays, negotiation is part of the world we live in. As we saw in class at the beginning of the year, most of the human interactions are characterised by negotiation, and people usually try to give and take from one another. These different types of negotiation can occur at home, at school, at work but elsewhere too. This is important to know that everyone tempt to get successful negotiations. For that, good negotiating skills are necessary. However, people that are around us are all different one from another, and the person we will be negotiating with will be too. This is why we need to adapt ourselves in all of the various business negotiation situations. According to me, the most useful in a negotiation is to define first what our own objectives are, and what the other part ones’ are. We live in a globalized world which means that we all have different habits, languages, and cultures. This also means what we could have different expectations through a single negotiation deal. In order to avoid misunderstanding, it is essential to analyse the entire situation and to be well prepared before the deal discussion.

According to me, the two most important things are the preparation part and the ability to listen the other part. “Being good […] means that you reach a conclusion that is satisfactory for your business”. (Shell LiveWire). For that, the pre-negotiation is essential. Knowing your walkaway will be extremely important because it will permit to fix “the combination of price, terms and deliverables that represents the least you will accept.” (Thomas C. Keiser, November-December) So you know what you do not want for your company. This preparation step will also permit to know all of the variables you can use during the negotiation, which are all of the various options you are able to offer, for example the different services you can, or not, add in your deal. If this part is well done, it will facilitate the discussion and avoid some uncertainties during the negotiation. The most important thing you need to remember during this preparation is that you need to create and/or add value for your customer so it is really useful to be well prepared in order to encircle his real necessities.

I remember that the most difficult thing during our first negotiation case in class was the fact that we did not prepare it enough. When we were negotiating with the other part, we could not agree about an agreement because we did not think about other possibilities before and both parts were kind of stuck in their own interests. We had to “have a meeting” with our team in order to discuss more about different opportunities that we could get from the deal that we did not analyse before. It is the same in real life, even when it is not real negotiation process. We need to be prepared for any new situations we will be in. Before coming in Mexico, I did not know where I will be staying, how it was going to be or even if I was going to like it. But I knew that I had to get prepared for any kind of possibilities because it will help me to react more easily when I will arrive over here. It was also important to know what my budget was for renting a room for example, what was the maximum I was willing to pay (in negotiation we need to fix the most favorable point, the objective point and the breaking point).

All of this is about anticipation, which is extremely important in negotiation and for everything in life because “the person with the most information usually does better”. (Kelley Robertson) Another way to collect information about your customer and his real needs is the ability to listen and be attentive when he is talking to you. If you are able to understand what his real needs are, it will be easier for you to offer him what he really wants. It is important to remember that the value that is created during a deal is different for the buyer and the seller. So if you are able to know what your client really necessitates, you will probably be able to create value for both him and your company at the same time. Then, being able to satisfy both parties will be easier for you, and a better deal you will get.

On another hand, it is important to think about the “human communication” during the negotiation process. This means that you need to be extremely attentive at all of the signals from the other part, like the nonverbal communication for example. But you also need to be careful about the way you act and the way you talk. You cannot be aggressive or you cannot be too sure of yourself. This is human interactions so you need to keep in mind that you will not win anything if you do not make any concessions or if you are not open minded. It is also useful to remember that usually, “people often ask for more than they expect to get”. (Kelley Robertson). As human being is, we also know that some behaviors can be bad, like for example blackmailing or manipulation. It is something that everyone has to keep in mind before a negotiation in order to have good reactions if this happens and not be disrupted. And then, never forget that “High expectations produce the best negotiation results”. (Thomas C. Keiser, November-December 1988) so it is important to trust ourselves and keep being ambitious.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Thomas C. Keiser, November-December 1988, Negotiating with a customer you can’t afford to lose, Harvard Business Review.

Shell LiveWire, Negotiation 1: Successul negotiation, Kelley Robertson, 5 Ways To Negotiate More Effectively, Improve Your Negotiation Skills To Improve Your Bottom Line, http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/marketing/a/negotiationkr.htm