Creating Win-Win Situations through Negotiation

(16424) Dave Lakhani says:

In theory, good negotiations are win-win. The reality is, however, superior persuaders can craft an arrangement that is not optimal for either party and yet which both sides find acceptable. It doesn’t really matter which party feels like they have “won” or “lost” as long as everyone understands and agrees with the reasons for the conclusion reached.

Ideally you want to begin the persuasive negotiation process from a position of power and authority. To do this, you need to be fully informed about:

All the hard and fast facts about what can and cannot happen

Which of your items are flexible and which are not

What trade-offs your organization would find acceptable

What the likely boundaries of the other party are

The authority of the other party to make a decision

The other person’s preferred style and persona

The key steps in negotiating persuasively are:

1. Let the other party present their proposal first and you may be pleasantly surprised to find they are offering more acceptable terms than you were going to ask for in the first place. This is great, because the negotiation is over before it even starts. It also lets you adjust your pitch to suit.

2. Test your assumption about what is truly negotiable and what is not by asking some questions and posing some scenarios for the other party to respond to. Stress that different is fine as long as both parties are fine with that.

3. Once you test something, put the idea on the back burner and agree on inconsequential items first by looking at the areas you know you will be able to agree upon. Build some momentum.

4. Don’t respond to emotional issues but acknowledge them openly and keep focused on the key issue at hand. Remember, you can always walk away if necessary so mention that if they keep dwelling on irrelevancies.

5. Lay your cards on the table openly and succinctly and make sure the other party knows precisely what you’re asking for. This is a time for clarity, not ambiguity. This often breaks an impasse. For example, if you disclose that accepting their offer would bankrupt you, obviously you’re not going to do that. They need to know where you stand.

6. When you’ve come to a tentative agreement on the best way to move forward, reiterate what the next steps will be and clarify what each party will do. Don’t assume that they view things the same way you do, but be very specific about what needs to happen next.

7. To seal the agreement, continue to persuade meaning do something tangible to follow up. Have dinner with them. Give them some kind of gift or sample. Acknowledge their contribution to your negotiation.