There is 1 central idea, one important concept that is very important to understand.
If you have this right, you will be compensated with profitable, enjoyable and long lasting relationships in which price is not the only factor. If you don't have this right, you will struggle with sub optimal business relationships and you will likely end up haggling about price in probably all of your negotiations.
The one thing that matters most is comprehending the interests of your counterpart in your negotiations; this is an important element taught in negotiation training.
Most of us have a good awareness of our own objectives, needs and desires. When we negotiate with others, we typically begin with trying to convince them to see the world the way that we do. We think to ourselves that because it makes sense to us, surely it must make sense to our counterparts. The problem with this approach is that it completely ignores the objectives, needs and desires of the other side.
What will it achieve trying to persuade someone to do something that they don't trust would be in line with their objectives, viewpoints and desires?
You will never persuade someone to agree with you by disagreeing with them, quite the opposite will happen. Because you tell someone that they are wrong and you are the one that is right, you will force them to defend their stance rather than listen to yours. Nobody likes to be told that they are wrong and if you express to them that they are wrong it will become very important for them to defend their position because their personal credibility is at risk.
Not often will you achieve consensus with someone after you have told them that they are wrong, you have also managed to paint yourself into a corner. If it was key for you to reach agreement and you loose the argument, then you will have to sacrifice your own credibility by departing from your 'correct' stance to embrace the argument of your counterpart.
If you want to reach consensus the easy way rather than have your negotiations spiral into a positional argument, here's what I suggest that you should do:
Start by making some enquiries, the best of which you can ask will be questions designed to expose the interests behind the positions that the other side have assumed in the negotiation. Open questions are the best kind of questions to reveal the interest or motivators that support your counterpart's positions.
Here's a great question you can use and simultaneously endorsing your negotiation skills: Why are you negotiating with me / my organisation?
This is quite possibly the best question to ask at the start of a negotiation. Follow this question by asking your counterpart to expand on and to rank the reasons offered in response to your questions. This will give you a prioritised list of their most important interests.
Sample Interests:
- Individual: Security, Recognition and Control
- Organisation: Profit, Risk Avoidance and Strategic Fit (Some key elements you would have learned in purchasing training)
Once you have an understanding of your counterparts' key interests it is a good idea to reveal your own interests. Once all the parties to the negotiation have disclosed their interests it will be much easier to recognise the areas of common ground and then it is useful to present your argument in the context of how it would serve their interests. This way, you will not have to persuade your counterpart that your stance is correct; you will only have to demonstrate that your suggested course of action would satisfy their interests.
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