Some More Thoughts on Negotiation

There are a number of similarities between selling and negotiating.  The main one is how vital it is to see the situation from the other person’s point of view.  In selling a business, for example, you are trying to make the buyer realize the benefits of your proposal to them – how much profit they will make, how the merging of their current business with the new one will save costs and so on.  You find out what these benefits might be by asking probing questions on a broad base of topics; seemingly insignificant things can in fact be important.  For example, I sold a business to an entrepreneur who was looking for a job for his son to do.  If I had not found that out during our early discussions I would not have known how important the deal was to him and would probably have sold the business for a lesser sum.
In a similar way, the importance of knowing as much as possible about the other person negotiating cannot be over-estimated. 

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Tip from Shaf – Expect concessions
If both parties have agreed to negotiate they are both looking for a successful conclusion.  The other party may start from a position that they cannot move on certain issues.  In response you will have to take a determined attitude that shows that you not only expect concessions but you expect very significant ones.  Such a positive approach helps to put you into a position of strength.  Remain at all times, in preparation and negotiation, confident that you can get a much better deal than the original starting point of the other party.  You are looking for a win/win situation; but your job is to get more concessions out of them than they get out of you.  Showing weakness about your expectation of their concessions plays into their hands.
Although you are looking for an outcome that suits both sides, ideally your job is to get more concessions out of them than they get out of you.

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A successful negotiator is one that does their homework and preparation carefully.  In some cases negotiators will try to rush you into the final stages of the process.  This may well be a ploy, indeed it is one that I have used frequently, and you should deal with it in a positive and assertive way.  If, for example, they use words like “We really want this issue to be settled before the summer holidays begin,” respond in a way that protects your position.  “Yes, it would be good to achieve that, as long as we are able to analyse our situation carefully and complete our due diligence work thoroughly”.  At some point in the negotiation the two parties will have a debate about the issues, and you need to understand the logical case, from the other party’s point of view, for your solution to win the day.  By the way, only use data and statistics that you are confident are correct; nothing is worse than having the other party destroy the credibility of a piece of information you are using to back up your case.
 
So, you need to know a lot about the other party’s situation and people before you are in a position to argue your case in a negotiation