Your Insufficiently Developed Commercial Negotiation Skills Capability Could Cause Critical Negotiations To Fail Due To Inappropriate Planning

Two people are busy in a negotiation - one accomplishes his/her objective(s) and is satisfied, whilst the other walks away disappointed with the result. Does this situation sound familiar?

How often have you felt dissatisfied with an agreement that you have reached? Have you ever entered into a settlement only to feel regret soon after reaching agreement?

SUCCESS VS FAILURE

What distinguishes success vs failure in commercial negotiations?

Most of us recognise the significance of preparation to deliver success and it is therefore interesting to note that most commercial negotiators do not spend adequate time preparing for negotiations, often due to insufficient negotiation training. Professional sports people spend significantly more time preparing for competition than they spend in competition; should it be any different for commercial negotiators?

THE EVIDENCE

Business negotiators only spend more or less 1/3 as much time planning for negotiation as they actually spend in negotiation. If you were a professional sports person, this would mean that you spent only 1/3 as much time training & planning as you do competing. The main factor to profitable business negotiation outcomes is the quality of your planning for the negotiation.

As a matter of negotiation strategy, consider the following main 5 components of preparation and at the same time you will also develop your negotiation skills:

1. Understand Yourself

Before we even employ best- and leading practice negotiation, it is imperative that we first invest in understanding our own strengths & weaknesses and it is key that we make use of personal profiling tools to underline our areas of preference within the framework of business negotiations, which enables us to have a reference point from which to plot our skills development.

2. Vision

What is the fundamental aim behind the negotiation? Is the negotiation about price or is it about the value that can be added? What are the main motivating issues behind your counterparty's position? What mutual ground, if any, exists between your and your counterparty's vision? It is key to understand the drivers or silent motivations behind the positions of all parties to the negotiation and it is only by asking questions that we will expose these motivations.

3. Value

What are the most important deal goals being pursued in this negotiation? What are the facts and figures contributing to the negotiation environment? What options does each party have, if any? Once again we should try to recognise, prioritise & weigh the objectives of all parties to the negotiation and only then are we in a position to highlight those goals that are shared and at the same time deal with those objectives that are likely to produce conflict.

4. Process

Have you spent time thinking about an agenda for your forthcoming negotiation? Have you noted all the trades that you will make & receive? Do you have tools/templates at your disposal to support the effectiveness of the negotiation cycle.?

5. Relationship

It is easy to forget that we deal with individuals who have goals & aspirations similar to our own and it is not always just about the money. The research is clear that people are more likely to deal with those whom they trust & like, than with those with whom they little in common. Try to focus on those things that you share with your negotiation counterparts, and do not forget to focus on the human elements.

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