ESSENTIALS OF NEGOTIATION

If you are about to begin business or property negotiations, haven’t had previous experience and are are concerned about moving forward, here are some essentials you should consider.

1. Negotiation viewed simply is a discussion of ‘needs’. Sometimes these needs are called ‘interests’. Needs or interests are part of life. However, we often don’t take the time to examine them and take them for granted. The need for an employee to find work is really a need for income. Conversely, the interest of an employer to hire staff reflects its obligation to satisfy its customers’ needs for goods or services.
2. If you take a look at the image posted above this service piece, you will notice four critical words:    a) communication b) information c) positive and d) concessions.
3. That isn’t to say that the other words that appear are unimportant. But these four words are extremely critical.
4. ‘Communication’ is what we have to do to get a message across to another person. There are different ways of communicating. For communication to be effective it must inform the other party of the details about you and your business and it needs to do so so as to build the other party’s  confidence in you. That confidence is ‘trust’. Without trust neither of you can move forward. What you choose to communicate is vital ‘information’. Without that information once again trust building will not occur. And information is valuable only if you communicate not only what you need or want but also how you can help meet the other party’s needs. Communicating successfully cannot be a selfish exercise.
5. ‘Positivity’ is crucial to communication. To encourage the a party to consider dealing with you, you need to list your strengths and abilities. Telling the party everything you don’t know or cannot do will not make a ‘positive’ impression.
6. Lastly, if you reach the stage of deal making, both sides may need to make ‘concessions’. There is a market place for everything. Over pricing the value of goods or services will be met with a demand for ‘concessions’. So remember a good deal is a reasonable ‘win-win’ deal for both.