HOW TO NEGOTIATE BETTER DEALS

Every day we negotiate without even being aware, and that is why most times we don’t get the best out of deals. A typical example is an African Mom negotiating to get a better price for a foodstuff, now that is very easy to imagine if you’re from Africa.

Recently I had a clash with a trader because he wanted to sell a cloth to me and I felt he wanted to cheat me and I left in a rage, I could have negotiated better and I lost out in getting that beautiful cloth.(I’m not proud of this so that was why I decided to help someone else not make the same mistake)

What is negotiation? It is a dialogue between two or more people to reach an agreement or a resolution to a dispute.

Now one must bear in mind that negotiation isn’t bargaining but bargaining is part of the process of negotiations.

There are two types of Negotiation

✓ Integrative negotiation: in this negotiation, both parties win, one can see this in business deals, divorce cases, family members etc

✓Distributive/Distructive: in this negotiation, one party wins and the other loses, we can see this in court cases, an auction etc

There are four major steps in negotiations.

The very first is Preparation. This is very important because without good preparation, you might not get a good resolution, the reason why I had a clash with the trader was because I knew the price before coming to the market so I knew he wanted to cheat me but he wasn’t aware that I had that information prior our meeting so he tried to.

Always make research about the other party, have they had issues regarding that issue, also learn to criticize yourself from the eyes of your counterpart, because he will do that if you don’t, criticising yourself gives you an upper hand on what you will be asked and how to answer them appropriately.

Know the priority of what they (your counterpart) really need and also prioritise your needs as well.

Identify your Best Alternative To Negotiation Agreement (BATNA) this means you should arm yourself with better alternatives if the counterpart refuses to agree to your terms.

I’ll give a scenario using someone who wants to get a salary raise.

In preparation, the person has to first find out what other persons in the same position are earning, and criticize himself or herself on why they should get a higher pay, what have you brought to the company? Have you brought about an increase in revenue to merit it?

Know the priority of any business including your business is to get more profit and cut more costs,can you help them do that? Can the increase in your salary achieve their priority?

And lastly find an alternative, better ones just in case you don’t get the increase, it could be a weekly allowance, some sort of training or an insurance, or a time period to review the increase of better still walk away.

The second process is Disclosure of information in good faith.

Still using the employee in need of an increase in salary, the company could open up about it’s financial goals, as well as the Employee, or he or she could talk about a recent qualification they bagged.

After all disclosure, then it gets to the bargaining, here one should focus on shared interests, mutual resolution, some thing favorable for both parties,

Each party should try to see things from other party’s view, make use of open ended questions to get more knowledge on what the other party really wants like

✓What do you suggest I do to meet up?
✓ How do I get you to say yes?
✓What is hindering you from accepting this deal right now?

Also one should notice that before negotiation, please look approachable, make eye contacts, use small talks to break the ice (like a compliment, ask about their day, the weather or probably let them talk about themselves because it’s the easiest thing to do)

Whenever the atmosphere gets tensed, please take a break, or postpone.

There are 4 outcomes to any negotiation.

✓No agreement
✓You agree to your counterpart’s demand
✓they agree to your demand
✓ a compromise (everyone leaves happy)

Also it is good that one bears in mind that Attention should be paid to the process, not the results, the body language, tone of voice, gestures, so that you can know when to stop negotiating, give breaks.

Because when a negotiation goes bad, you might lose a good relationship and also a good deal presently and in the future.

After negotiating, it’s good to be clarified.

Ask Questions like

✓ So what did we agree on?
✓ What happens when one party doesn’t keep to their end of the bargain
✓ If there is a dispute arising, how should we resolve this?

✓ How would one be compensated for a job well done, How and when should the resolution be carried out

This is how you negotiate better, Hope you learnt something new?

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