Attitudes and aptitudes for negotiation. Effective Negotiation

The key to success in an effective negotiation

Hello, friends. In this final installment of our effective negotiation series, we will discuss attitudes and abilities for negotiation. Effective negotiation, as the Harvard method suggests. Revisit our previous article discussing the 4 negotiation strategies. Read article

The world belongs to negotiators

As we have discussed, negotiation is not an art; it is a process learned, developed and improved daily. We negotiate all the time, every day. As people say, “The world belongs to negotiators.” However, we make various mistakes at the negotiating table, such as forgetting that our professional focus should always be on results, not people. Every negotiator's mission is to reach efficient, effective agreements that secure that “something” that will positively affect their company's indicators.

With this focus on results, there are several premises we must emphasize:

1. Negotiate a problem, and not a position:

Every good negotiator knows our persuasive power should address a problem affecting the organization. Focusing on positions only provokes confrontation. Depending on how entrenched the position is, it is like negotiating with a wall: useless.

2. Develop your persuasive power through arguments:

A basic golden rule: never enter a negotiation without being clear about your objectives, intentions, and goals, as well as the information that supports and legitimizes what you seek. Information is power; that information forms your arguments.

3. Silence is gold. Give time to listen:

People communicate more through what they do not say than what they say. Let us learn to ask thought-provoking, high-quality negotiation questions so our counterpart speaks more than we do.

4. Make and get concessions. Be flexible:

Inflexible positions cannot be negotiated; rigidity and inflexibility are not negotiation. In this case, do not rack your brains: there is no negotiation. But when openness, communication and flexibility are evident, we can reach agreements.

5. Use only constructive criticism:

Negotiation means reaching an agreement. To reach agreements, we must use words and attitudes that build relationships, setting aside value judgments, paradigms and vicious criticism whose only purpose is to hurt.

6. Use body language:

Do not underestimate a good communicator's ability and power to influence the other party. Empathy, rapport, a cordial atmosphere and influence in negotiation are powerful when we use our communication to our advantage. Keep that in mind.

Friends, this concludes our Effective Negotiation series. Negotiation is a competency we must learn, understand and master, including styles, approaches, techniques and tactics. It is a daily exercise: the more we negotiate and learn, the more effective we become.

Remember that if you want to develop this competency further, JS Training & Consulting offers an “Effective Negotiation” course that will help you become an outstanding negotiator. Know our course