Improving Basic Negotiation Skills

Negotiating is a way of getting what you want by putting your point across in the most convincing way.

In this sense everyone is a negotiator, because we all have things we try to “get” from other people and from life itself.

Whether or not you are able to get these things largely depends on your negotiation skills. If you possess good negotiation skills, you are much more likely to get what you want than someone who has poor negotiation skills.

Therefore if you want to get more out of life, one of the ways you can do this is to improve your basic skills as a negotiator.

In this article, we are going to be looking at the first and most important part of any negotiation, preparation.

All Negotiators Prepare First

A key part of any negotiation is to know exactly what you want, what the other person wants and what you will be negotiating about. So let’s break down each of these now.

Know Yourself

In order to know what you want you need to analyse your situation, and if it is relevant to do so, analyse your life.

Once you know exactly what you want to achieve, your confidence will be dramatically improved once you start to negotiate.

Knowing what you want will also improve your overall negotiating skills, because if you don’t know what you want, you are likely to use weak negotiating techniques because you have nothing firm to go after.

Know Your Current Skills

It is also important to make an assessment of your current skill set. For example, are you a good listener but a weak talker?

Do you have difficultly following along with a conversation? Or can you quickly understand what people are trying to say?

All of these factors will come into play during any form of negotiation. By knowing your strengths and weaknesses, you will be able to capitalise on the skills that give you the greatest chance of concluding a successful negotiation.

Know Your Goals

As well as knowing your skill set, it is also important to know your long term goals. Sure you may want to negotiate something right now, but how will that affect you in the long term?

Will getting what you think you want now have a positive impact on your situation, or will it have a negative impact?

These are things you need to take into consideration when negotiating, because you might just decide that what you think you want isn’t really the best option for you. As a result, you may then decide to try and negotiate for something else.

Negotiation Situations

The final thing you need to be aware of are the different negotiation situations. These are simply the times when you are likely to negotiate with someone, and so ideally should occur when you are at your best.

For example, if you are a morning person then there is little advantage to holding a business negotiation in the middle of the afternoon when you normally feel very sleepy. So be aware of your bodily rhythms, and time you negotiations to those periods.

Know The Other Person

Any negotiation involves two parties. Therefore in order to improve your overall negotiation skills and the techniques you use during negotiations, you need to think about who you are trying to negotiate with.

The best way to do this is to research the person(s) beforehand, with the aim of learning as much about them as possible.

By carrying out this crucial step you will be provided with a wealth of information that you can then use to your advantage.

Building Rapport

Researching a person’s background will do more than just improve your overall skills for negotiations, as once you know a little bit about that person, you can then tailor how you try and negotiate with that person towards their likes and needs. This will help to build rapport, which will make you seem more likable to that person.

Things to look out for when researching a person’s background are any similarities you have with them.

If you share similar things to the person you are negotiating with, bring them up and use them to create conversational topics. Ideally this should be done early on, so that you can break the ice before you start to negotiate.

Knowing Which Negotiating Techniques To Use

Apart from the social benefits you get from knowing a person’s background, you will also get a feel for the type of person you are dealing.

This then will put you in a much better position to know which negotiating techniques you should use.

For example, does the person you are in negotiations with like to hear the facts and get to the bottom line? In this case it would be wise to keep negotiations short and as detailed as possible.

If the person you are in negotiations with is a very friendly and talkative person, then a different technique would be called for.

In this case, negotiations could be extended to accommodate time to discuss other unrelated issues for the purpose of rapport building.

The key point to remember is that because everyone has a slightly different character, you must always be willing and able to change the sorts of techniques you use when negotiating with someone.

If you fail to adapt to different people, your ability as a negotiator will be adversely affected.

Know Your Field Of Interest

In addition to knowing yourself and the other person, you must also have an in depth knowledge of your field of interest if you are to become a successful negotiator.

By being aware of your field of interest you will be able to use industry specific terms when you negotiate, and will also know the true value of what you are trying to negotiate for.

This will allow you to communicate your points in the best possible way, and increase your chance of an effective negotiation.

So make it your aim to become an expert in your field, and then to keep yourself constantly up to date with the latest developments.

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