The Art of Becoming a Master Negotiator
Negotiation is not an act of battle but rather a process of discovery. The whole process involves uncovering the best possible outcome for both parties. That’s where negotiation training comes in. Without a doubt, negotiation skill is a critical part of your business’ success.
Through negotiation training, you can easily hone your skill and always get the best deal out of the agreement. That said, much of our success in business comes from our ability to negotiate.
Negotiation Training: Getting Started!
As a business professional or any other expert, it’s almost certain that you’ll be required to negotiate from time to time to seal the deal. From negotiating business offers, buying or selling equipment or property, or making changes in your budget-you, name it!
What’s more, negotiation skills come in handy not only in a professional environment but also in your personal life. If you’ve gone through the negotiation courses and are still not confident about your skills, this short negation training is ideal. So let’s dive in.
⦁ What kind of a Negotiator are you?
We all have different ways in which we approach the deal on the table, but often, the end goal is to get the best out of it. Broadly, negotiators can be classified as soft and hard negotiators. So, what type of negotiator are you? Before getting to the negotiation table, understand your strong suits and how best you can get through to the other party.
Soft negotiators tend to lean more towards specific tools such as charm, logic, influence, creativity, teamwork, and persuasion. Their approach is relatively pleasant and friendly. The other party doesn’t feel coerced into altering the deal. Keep in mind that each circumstance might require you to tap into different emotions to get the job done. If the environment is a bit friendly, you can go for the soft approach.
On the other hand, a hard negotiator uses intimidation, threats, and put-downs. These are not friendly tools and could be misinterpreted in certain scenes. However, it’s always an excellent idea to understand both approaches and decide which one best works for you. Like I said earlier, it all depends on the situation. Some events will require you to be soft, while others will need a more aggressive approach.
⦁ Negotiation Training: Understand the room and the other party
It’s pretty challenging, though not impossible, to land a win on the negotiation table without doing a little background check on the other party. The first thing you need to learn about negotiation training is to know your opponent.
Preparation and research are required prior to entering the negotiation. That’s because knowing your opponent gives you an upper hand and leverage in the process. This process encompasses more than just reading their resume or having a feeling.
What’s more, strategy is always crucial in negotiating. While you might be tempted to go with a competitive approach, or aggressive move, working in your client’s best interest is a win-win for everyone. Typically, everyone should leave the negotiation table feeling pleased and even willing to negotiate with the same group later.
The most important part of this is to reduce the temptation to play hardball. Having an optimistic attitude in the negotiations will yield excellent results while understanding how the other party is willing to compromise.
⦁ Go back to the basics: The 3 Cs of Negotiation training
When it comes to negotiations, the basics will always come in handy. In our negotiation training, we take the time to walk you through some of the basics just as a refresher course for anyone who’s already in the field. If you are equally starting in negotiations as a profession, you should also learn the basics.
That said, there are three essential seeds of negotiations which include:
⦁ Connect: start by establishing common ground between you and the opponent for instance, what you both expect from the deal.
⦁ Convey: Once you’ve established a common ground, it’s time to set your terms and ensure the other party understands what you need and what they will get.
⦁ Convince: Afterward, give the other party the best deal, while at the same time ensuring the same deals works for you as well. Convince them however best you can to take the deal. That depends on the type of negotiator you are; soft or hard.
We consider these seeds as the building blocks of your negotiation strategy. This approach will immediately evoke a response in your client hence convincing them to take the deal. There’s a significant difference between the 3 Cs and the regular sales pitch that we are all used to.
More often than not, you are less likely to purchase an item because the pitch was too straightforward and the salesman was just, for the luck of a better word, ‘aggressive.’ What do I mean? Well, let’s take a quick look at a hypothetical scenario.
Imagine if someone came up to you without even introducing themselves and immediately presented a product or service? Are you more likely to purchase the item or not? Obviously, NO! But, if the salesman had incorporated the 3Cs in their approach, there’s a higher chance they would’ve landed the deal. Some of the things you need to remember include:
Quick Recap: Negotiation training basics to remember
⦁ What does the client get?
Step one is to determine what the client will expect from the product. In simple terms, what’s in it for the client? The other party will always try and hide this fact, but that’s constantly at the back of their minds. And when the reality meets their expectations, they will go for the deal. That said, find out what the client gets from this deal and use it in your approach.
⦁ What are the client’s needs?
When it comes to being an effective negotiator, forget about your needs. The idea is to fit into your client’s shoes and understand their Needs, Interests, and Concerns, in short, NIC. That will immediately help you build a deeper connection with your client, and you can use that to your advantage.
⦁ Start to think like a consultant
The best negotiation tactic will always lead you to become a consultant of some sort on the negotiation table. Start by listening to your client’s problems and concerns. Then ask questions that are open-ended and listen to their response.
Such conversations will lead to the root cause, and you can eventually help solve the problem. By the time you get to solve the client’s problems, chances are, they’ve already taken the deal. The other party will leave the negotiation table feeling satisfied and listened to.
Once you have these questions in mind, you can employ the following negotiation tactics in your strategy:
Negotiation tactics
⦁ Brinkmanship
This tactic is commonly used when one party uses an aggressive approach and puts forth all the terms for the other party. The opponent will either take the deal or walk away. Again, a background check on your opponent should help you decide on whether or not to use this tactic when entering the negotiation table. This approach is quite risky, especially if you don’t have your facts right. An excellent example is the take it or leave it type of negotiation.
⦁ Bogey
The Bogey tactic is sort of like a bluff. The goal is to give your client the illusion that almost everything in your business depends on this deal though it doesn’t. This strategy will evoke an emotional response from your client. But there’s a catch: your client could easily get wind of your strategy, or they will not go for the deal. So, as always, research is quite important here as well. For example, you can tell your client that this deal will either make or break the future of your business, so no pressure!
⦁ Snow Job
As a negotiator, you can easily distract and confuse the other party, and that’s why this strategy exploits. To easily pull this off, you need to have more information before heading to the negotiation table.
For instance, someone selling you a phone will overload you with technical information about the phone and how it’s eco-friendly. They’ll also tell you how other are dying from phones that are blow up on their faces and a batch of other information. Soon enough, you’ll easily purchase the phone.
⦁ Nibble
Once you’ve both agreed on the terms, as a negotiator, you can go the extra mile and do a little nibbling. The idea here is to get more from the deal. Additionally, when nibbling, you will be asking for something that wasn’t agreed upon on the deal. The best example here is how a mouse bites chunks of an apple. Before you know it, they’ve eaten the whole apple. The idea is to nibble into the deal bit by bit until you’ve got the best part of it.
⦁ Deadlocks
Here, you provide the other party with a deadline so they can have some pressure to force them into a decision. In most cases, negotiators prefer the deadlocks to get the job done. The idea is to ensure your opponent gives feedback as soon as possible. For instance, you can tell your client that by the end of the day, someone else will be taking the deal so it’s best to conclude at this moment.
Tips on How to Become a Master Negotiator
Becoming a master of negotiations is a crucial skill that will often enormously pay off. Negotiation skills help you reach agreements that would otherwise slip your fingers. It also enables you to get a bigger piece of the pie by creating value in your deals.
More importantly, skilled negotiators have always been able to resolve conflicts before they manifest into bigger battles. This section will therefore analyze the essential skills you need to master the art of negotiation.
⦁ Emotional Intelligence
Emotions are a crucial part of the negotiation process. While the rule of thumb is to keep your emotions from getting in the way, sometimes you can use emotions to your advantage in a negotiation. For instance, you can use positive emotions to get the other party to trust you more.
But if you want to read the other party’s emotions, you need a certain level of emotional intelligence. That will help you quickly pick up on what they imply even when they don’t say it with their words. On top of that, emotional intelligence will help you manage your emotions and utilize them in a negotiation when need be.
⦁ Communication
Proper communication at the bargaining table is the only way everyone can walk away with what they want. Good negotiation is one where everyone leaves feeling satisfied with the terms of the deal. Therefore, when negotiating, always communicate your boundaries and what you’re okay walking away with from the agreement.
Mastering the art of negotiation comes down to how effectively you can communicate with the other negotiators. That’s the only way you can come to an agreeable solution. When striking a deal, you give and take. So, you must learn how to articulate your thoughts well and actively listen to other negotiators’ needs and ideas.
⦁ Value Creation
Another powerful skill you can add to your toolkit to become a master negotiator is getting the hang of how to create value in your negotiations. In a negotiation, each party is always trying to go home with the biggest slice of the pie. That means each party is trying to maximize the portion they get. Unfortunately, some teams are forced to leave with a significantly smaller piece.
But as a master negotiator, if you learn how to create value, you will break away from maximizing your piece to growing the size of the entire pie. With this strategy, everyone will be happy. That’s because each party will get greater value from the negotiation, and the sense of rapport will improve trust between the parties hence setting the base for future negotiations.
⦁ Planning
If you’d like to nail a negotiation, you need to plan with a clear mind. That will help you identify precisely what you’d like to achieve with a specific negotiation and where your boundaries lie. Failure to adequately plan ahead of negotiation will have you overlooking crucial terms of your deal.
The first step in your planning stage is identifying the Zone of Possible Agreement between the involved parties. Some people call it the bargaining zone- the range in which the parties involved can find common ground. Sometimes, the party’s terms will overlap, creating a positive bargaining zone, whereas in some cases, they may not, leaving you in a negative bargaining zone.
In your planning, you must have the (BATNA) best alternative to the negotiated agreement, especially in a scenario where you land in a negative bargaining zone. The BATNA is often your best course of action in such a case.
Negotiation Training: Becoming a Master of Negotiation
In summary, negotiation practice is a surefire way to improve your skills no matter your strengths or weaknesses. Technically, the more you practice, the better you become at it and the more prepared you’ll be in the future.
Take this opportunity to participate in different negotiations to improve your skills. You can also check out articles to ensure that you are constantly learning new and effective ways to negotiate. Explore other resources, such as participating in negotiation training courses, to up your game.