Top 10 Factors For Successful Negotiation Skills

Top 10 Factors For Successful Negotiation Skills

1. Know what you want: The clearer you are on your interests and goals, the better your chance of negotiation success increases.
2. Know the other side: Learn as much as you can about the people with whom you are going to be negotiating. Know their negotiating style (DiSC©), negotiation skills, their backgrounds, hopes, fears, aspirations, and their interests. Little things do not mean a lot, they can mean everything.
3. Consider the timing and method of negotiations: Alter the game to win-win problem solving by negotiating skilfully using interests, not positions.
4. Prepare point by point: Negotiators who prepare will outperform those that do not.
5. Offer benefits for accepting your offer: You are much more likely to close if you present the benefit…the “what’s in it for them?” test.
6. Frame your negotiation around one or two key points: Keep it as basic as possible by framing and re-framing to keep things on track and reach agreements more efficiently.
7. Know your BATNA: Your personal power comes from the ability to walk away if you are unable to reach an agreement. Effective negotiators not only know when to walk away, but also how to walk away leaving the relationship intact.
8. Prepare options for mutual gain: Be creative. Find unique ways for both sides to get their interests met. “What if we tried this?”
9. Listening is the most powerful negotiation skill: It will help you learn where your interests are shared with the other side, where they are in opposition, and get a satisfactory outcome.
10. Use the power of the draft: Always put your negotiated agreements in writing.

Changing the way you think about negotiating (joint problem solving versus a series of compromises where one party may win and one may lose) is the first step towards leveraging your negotiating skills towards enjoying better results. Recognising the reasons why people act the way they do, and having the ability to communicate to a broad range of behavioural styles offers the skilled negotiator the ability to be reach satisfactory outcomes more consistently. Following a process or strategy is fine, but understanding the styles of the people with whom you are negotiating, and changing your approach to communicate more effectively can be the key to success. Last, developing a plan in advance of the actual negotiation will give the negotiator more confidence, and lead to better and more consistent results.