How to Negotiate Properly

Important: GDPR Email Preferences

As you may already know, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be coming into effect on 25th May 2018. We take your privacy seriously and we are working hard to ensure we comply with the new data protection laws. You can find out more about how we're doing this in our privacy policy on our website.

We want to make sure you continue to receive the latest newsletters, blogs, special offers and more.

As someone who has opted-in to receive our emails in the past, we’d like to give you this opportunity to confirm what you wish to receive:

Just so you know, if you don’t let us know what kinds of emails you want to receive from us, we’ll stop emailing you on the 24th May 2018 - you'll be missing out!

You are of course free to change your mind at any time – just follow the link at the bottom of any of our emails.

How to Negotiate Properly

In order to negotiate properly, you need to identify three things:

1. Exactly what you want.
2. What the other person wants.
3. What is logically possible.

Look at the small intersection that satisfies all three sets.

This is where you will find your negotiated solution.

Notice how small the negotiated solution is, when compared to the whole model.

The negotiated solution represents a severely restricted set of circumstances; and that is why a negotiated settlement is sometimes difficult to find.

This diagram suggests three common negotiation errors:

1. Trying to get everything YOU want, without giving much regard to what the other party wants, (The "Crush your enemy" approach to negotiation).
2. Giving too much away to the other person, in the hope they will be nice to you in return, ("The Supplicant" - Theresa May's - approach to negotiation).
3. Ignore the reality of the situation; and create a fantasy, make-believe solution that pleases both parties but cannot be implemented in practice, ("The Wishful thinking", approach to negotiation).

Please note these three common errors and avoid them.

Success in negotiation requires that you make careful preparations. You will perform better in negotiations, if you are well prepared.

Preparation includes analysing the three fields listed above, starting with the first field, "what you want".

The "what you want" field can be broken into three sub-sets.

1. What you MUST have.
2. What you would like to have.
3. What is desirable, but what you could live-without and therefore could act as a "negotiable variable". (A negotiable variable is a factor that you can add to the negotiation to make your proposition more attractive to the other person, without damaging your own self-interest).

1. What you must have.

This means what it says. These are the major elements that you consider essential. You cannot agree to any situation which omits these major elements.

2. What you would like to have.

These are NOT major elements. These are factors that are important to you, but are not essential to your well-being and therefore do not fall into the first category.

3. What is desirable but what you could live without and could act as a "negotiable variable".

These are the many minor desirable items which you could forego, in exchange for a concession from the other side.

It is very important that you list all the things you want, but could live without, and therefore could trade as negotiable variables.

Prepare a list of negotiable variables.

Remember what a negotiable variable is. It is a factor that you can add into the equation (or one that you can remove) in order make your proposition more attractive to the other person without damaging your own self-interest.

The ideal is to have a nice long list of negotiable variables that are perceived as high value to the other person, but they are of low cost to you to provide.

4. To be super-successful, more preparation is required.

To the degree possible, try to predict the same three sets from your opponent's perspective. What things do you think your opponent:

1. Must have?
2. Would very much like to have?
3. Could easily give away?

If you can pre-empt their thinking in these matters, then you have a greater chance of finding a beneficial negotiated settlement.

5. Finally, identify any logical constraints.

Identify what is NOT possible.

Everything has limits, including the negotiated solution.

You need to know what are the constraints imposed upon both parties?

1. What are the practical constraints?
2. What are the legal constraints?
3. The time constraints?
4. The company-policy constraints?
5. The moral constraints? We think about the moral constraints because we want to be nice people.

Negotiation Skills Training

Learn about all the above skills and more, on our one-day Negotiation Skills Training Course which we can deliver at your premises.

About the Author: Chris Farmer

Chris Farmer is the founder of the Corporate Coach Group and has many years’ experience in training leaders and managers, in both the public and private sectors, to achieve their organisational goals, especially during tough economic times. He is also well aware of the disciplines and problems associated with running a business.

Over the years, Chris has designed and delivered thousands of training programmes and has coached and motivated many management teams, groups and individuals. His training programmes are both structured and clear, designed to help delegates organise their thinking and, wherever necessary, to improve their techniques and skills.

Blogs by Email

Do you want to receive an email whenever we post a new blog? The blogs contain article 5-10 minutes long - ideal for reading during your coffee break!

Further Reading in Communication - Persuasive Communication

• Understanding vs Agreement
  Whenever presenting ideas or negotiating with others, it is crucial to make your audience clearly understand your message. Without understanding you cannot hope to gain their agreement.
  Read Article >
• Effective communication skills
  Skills on effective communication 1. Communication is defined as "the transfer of information and emotion from one mind to another". 2. To a degree, your success depends upon being able to accurately communicate your ideas to the minds of other people. 3. If you cannot accurately communicate and explain your ideas...
  Read Article >
• Four Magic Phrases to Use Every Day
  Speech habits are those things that you say often and almost without thinking about. Some speech habits add to your credibility and air of professionalism. Try these four terrific speech habits to weave into your daily pattern.
  Read Article >
• Three Steps to Better Communication Skills
  It is important to become a good communicator, since to achieve your goals, you need to gain the willing cooperation of others around you.
  Read Article >
• How to Persuade People to Act on Your Ideas
  Having a great idea is not enough. You need to be able to get other people on board! Persuasive communication is essential if you want to take your idea off the drawing board and put it into practice. Here is how to do that.
  Read Article >

Looking for Communication Skills Training?

If you're looking to develop your Persuasive Communication Skills, you may find this Communication Skills Training Course beneficial:

Open Training Course Pricing and Availability

Next Open Course Starts in 6 days, Online - Teams, places available Book Now >