Success in Business Negotiations
Few know about the importance of mastering negotiation techniques. Especially in business or sales, it doesn’t just matter if you can think on your feet. What matters more is how prepared you are for any business negotiations.
As Alan Lakein said once, “Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.”
Thus, in order to be a powerful player in the world of business, it is essential that you master the art of negotiation because that is how you can effectively close more deals and gain respect from the other parties.
The moment you recognise that there’s always a positive intention in every behaviour, the use of sales negotiation techniques in business negotiation often results in a highly desirable outcome as it tends to focus on how to create a win-win situation for both negotiating parties.
Here are some highly applicable tactics you may want to consider and enjoy far greater success from negotiating with others:
1. Avoid responding to a proposal with a counterproposal.
The reason most negotiations tend to fail is because both sides are adamant at sticking to their viewpoints. Instead of clarifying and probing to find out the position of their opponents, people will often try to respond to a proposal with a counterproposal.
2. Invent options to create a win-win situation.
Unless the conflicting party is satisfied with the outcome, winning a negotiation may just lead to temporary joy. Rather, you should always seek for the best alternative to a negotiated agreement. Feel free to browse our website stated below on this beautiful game, FreshBiz for Entrepreneurial Thinking teachings.
3. Avoid attack/defence exchanges.
Fighting fire with fire hardly ever work in a sales negotiation. Always treat your opponent’s proposal as one option and probe for the intention behind it. At the same time, you should always practice tolerance whenever your own proposal is being attacked. Very often, you will be astonished to find out that you are actually capable of brainstorming some brilliant solutions to resolve the conflict if you care enough to understand your opponent’s intention behind their behaviour.
4. Separate intent from behaviour.
As mentioned earlier, there is always likely to be a positive intention you can find in someone’s behaviour. In the most common scenario where a sales department is facing a standoff with the finance department, there’s always a likelihood of you finding a higher intention (i.e. increase the bottom line and make the business prosperous) behind their behaviour. Since the intentions of both parties are similar and positive, there will always exist a better way of achieving what you and the others want.
Essentially, mastering these effective and PROVEN sales negotiation techniques isn’t going to be an overnight effort. Be consistent in your efforts of learning the ropes, and you will no doubt become a more accomplished and successful negotiator!
About the Author
Jeffrey Williams is a speaker and an education success coach at Excellence Edge International. He has been a Toastmaster for the past 4 years and has already attained the level of Competent Communicator and a Competent Leader. He is currently serving as President for the Toastmasters Club of Singapore.
