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You cannot successfully separate negotiation from business. Every business's daily operations involve navigating a one-way street of customer-to-sales and sales to customers. If you are not pitching to a new gathering of potential partners and investors, you are talking to a customer, or you are negotiating with your staff, who is seeking a raise. Having understood how frequently we negotiate in one form or another in our business, it is paramount to fully grasp the mechanics of winning a negotiation.
Having built your company from scratch to its post-revenue phase, in a bid to become scalable, you may source for Angel investors, perhaps you just finished a course and are seeking a job in a prestigious tech company. You will come face to face with an episode or more of negotiations, with you expounding and attempting to convince the other party to yield to your proposal. The interaction between the art and science of negotiation is influenced by factors such as culture, constantly shifting circumstances, expectations, one's capacity, and one's own chemistry.
Despite the fact that negotiation arouses difficult emotions that many people try to avoid, it is essential to how business is conducted and occurs many times every day all over the world. You might start to realize the best results in your negotiations if you can gain control of yourself, your beliefs, and your biases. Meanwhile, not everything must be negotiated just because it is a negotiable topic. There is always a trade-off between the potential benefit of negotiating and the value of your time. What is the value of your 24 hours?
In negotiation, there is something called "pressure points." Pressure points are situations, or things that have an impact on the other party's position of power. This can also be termed "leverage." As a negotiator, you must concentrate on what matters to the other party, including their priorities, interests, options, deadlines, and pressure points. Try to see things from their perspective. You might be able to leverage these insights to your advantage and, ultimately, raise the value of the trade for yourself if you make an effort to comprehend them and their motivations. Your main goal, which is often to get the most value out of the agreement, will be sidetracked if you are driven to outperform the other party.
During a negotiation, people might become frustrated, emotional, and upset if they think your offers are unfair or illogical. Some people might even leave without thinking about the repercussions. That would be counted as a loss for your company or business.
If you sell goods or services, everyone likes to score a deal and purchase items for less money than they would have otherwise. To see the influence that finding a deal can have on people's behavior, all you have to do is observe the behavior of people during the Jumia Black Friday or November sales on Ali Express. When a good deal is available, a lot of people simply can't resist. In extreme situations, people will purchase something if the price is appropriate, even if they don't desire or need it.
Planning, inquiring, listening, and making suggestions are all part of the negotiation process, but you also need to be able to tell when the selling process has effectively ended and the negotiation has started. Take some time to think about the difference between selling and negotiating. During a discussion, if you find yourself downplaying the advantages of your suggestions, you are definitely showing weakness and ceding control. It implies that you don't think your ideas are compelling enough and that they need more promotion. The more you speak, the more likely it is that you will give something up.
Will keeping my values prove valuable during a negotiation? There is nothing wrong with doing this if you wish to adhere to your beliefs during a negotiation process. Others might not be as loyal to theirs, which might leave you vulnerable. Sigh of relief, right?
In other words, guess who will gain the upper hand if you choose to be open and honest with the other party, say by sharing information with them, and they choose not to do the same? And how fitting is that?
A cooperative relationship can help to create greater opportunities when people conduct business with one another as a result of natural economic laws like supply and demand, but it is not always necessary. Great corporate principles include honesty and trust because they can be defended in terms of business and even morality, especially in industries where large numbers of individuals are transacting. These values also support the development of long-lasting corporate partnerships. These ideals, however, can be the cause of complacency, familiarity, and even laziness during a negotiation, which ultimately results in financial losses for shareholders. Perhaps don't compromise, but be wise while negotiating.
