How to successfully negotiate in business

How to successfully negotiate in business

One of the most common training and coaching requests I receive is ?help me develop and build my negotiation skills?. Negotiating involves two or more people working through alternatives and options to come to a mutual agreement and course of action. When an agreement is reached its ideal for the final decision to benefit both parties equally but this isn?t always the case. There are 5 main outcomes that can happen as a result of negotiations:

1. Lose-lose situation (neither party gets what they want)
2. Win-lose situation (both parties have the opportunity to be on either the ?winning or ?losing? side)
3. Lose-win
4. Comprise
5. Win-win situation

Businesses heading in to a negotiation should all aim for a win-win situation. This way a business? needs and wants are met while still meeting their clients? or customers? priorities. More often than not the outcome of ?comprise? is achieved when a win-win is sought after. However, accepting outcomes 1 -3 is harmful to the sales morale of a business and is unnecessary. This is not a win. Just because a deal has been ?closed? doesn?t mean the negotiation was successful.

The following points are questions that can be asked of oneself before stepping into a negotiation to help save businesses from settling for ?faux? wins:

-?????? Do you have the power? If you don?t have the ability or power to change terms and conditions you?re unable to negotiate. End of story. It?s better to walk away and invest your time and money into a negotiation that can produce real results.

-?????? Do you need to negotiate? Negotiation should be your last resort and shouldn?t be a substitute for selling. Have you really found out all there is about your client or customers priorities? Making concessions and discounts too early on in a business relationship can devalue your service to the point where it really isn?t worth it.

-?????? Do you fear conflict? Make sure when you enter a negotiation you aren?t filled with fear. Fear will see you ?cave in? too soon and miss out on business opportunities for fear of entering into a conflict.

Negotiating is a powerful skill and tool to use when making business deals. When done effectively negotiations can see you learn new things about your service offerings and find new ways of delivering them.

With the expected volatile economic conditions in store next year, Barrett has launched its? annual 12 Sales Trends Report to guide you through. See what?s in store for your business in 2012: http://www.barrett.com.au/blogs/SalesBlog/the-12-sales-trends-by-year/12-sales-trends-for-2012/

Sue Barrett is one of the leading female voices commenting on sales today. Sue is an experienced business speaker and adviser, facilitator, sales coach, training provider and entrepreneur and founded Barrett Consulting, support system where you can get access to sales assessments, sales consulting, sales coaching and sales training programs including planning, prospecting, selling skills, account management, emotional resilience and more.

Visit www.barrett.com.au

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Source: http://smallbusinessexpert.com.au/features/guides/how-to-successfully-negotiate-in-business

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