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

Two people are involved in a negotiation - one achieves his/her objective(s) and is very pleased, whilst the other walks away disappointed with the result. Does this scenario sound familiar?

Do you often feel disappointed with an agreement that you have reached? Have you ever entered into an agreement only to feel regret soon after sealing the deal?

SUCCESS VS FAILURE

What distinguishes success vs failure in commercial negotiations?

Most of us understand the importance of preparation to achieve success and it is therefore interesting to note that the majority of commercial negotiators do not spend enough time preparing for negotiations, often due to inadequate negotiation training. Professional sports people spend considerably more time preparing for a championship than they spend in competition; should it not be the same for commercial negotiators?

THE EVIDENCE

Business negotiators only spend about 1/3 as much time planning for negotiation as they in reality 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 in competition. The leading contributor to profitable business negotiation results is the quality of your planning for the negotiation.

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

1. Understand Yourself

Before we even put into operation best- and leading practice negotiation, it is key that we first invest in understanding our own strengths & weaknesses and it is key that we make use of personal profiling tools to emphasise our areas of preference within the framework of commercial 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 key motivating factors behind your counterparty's position? What common ground, if any, exists between your and your counterparty's vision? It is vital to understand the interests or silent motivations behind the positions of all parties to the negotiation and it is only by asking questions that we will discover these interests.

3. Value

What are the most important deal goals being targeted in this negotiation? What are the facts and figures strengthening the negotiation environment? What alternatives does each party have, if any? Once again we should try to recognise, prioritise & weigh the goals 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 result in conflict.

4. Process

Have you spent time thinking about an agenda for your forthcoming negotiation? Have you listed all the concessions that you will give & 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 people who have goals & aspirations similar to our own and it is not always just about the contractual terms. 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 people.

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