Negotiation Tips For Good First Impressions

One of the most important times of a negotiation is when you first enter the negotiating room. How you enter will set the tone for the rest of the meeting, even if you are not the person who is in charge of it.

Enter in the wrong way and you may appear tired, lacking in assertiveness or as someone who has low levels of self confidence.

All of these things can then work against you during the negotiation process, thereby making it much harder for you to successfully negotiate your wants and needs.

So in this article we are going to look at a very important negotiation skill and one that is often overlooked; making a powerful first impression when negotiating.

Clear The Air Before You Negotiate

If a previous negotiating session ended on a bad note, don’t automatically expect that to be forgotten the next time you negotiate.

Otherwise there is always the risk that previous unrelated issues may disrupt your current negotiating session.

You should therefore aim to resolve previous issues upfront before you begin negotiating again, because if you can resolve those issues, then the negotiating process won’t be clouded with ill feelings from the past.

Your Negotiation Personality

Before you enter the negotiating room, or pick up the phone to negotiate, you need to have the right attitude, an attitude that is ready for the negotiation and is full of energy. You should know what you want to achieve, and be confident that you are going to get it.

In other words, before you begin negotiating you need to have an attitude that is ready for a successful negotiation. Think of this personality as your alter ego, someone who you transform into so that you can get the job done.

Entering The Negotiation Room

If you are entering a negotiation room which has other people in it, stand up straight with your chest slightly elevated.

Smile, make direct eye contact and individually greet each member of the room no matter what their position is.

Your aim is to appear as a confident, positive and friendly individual because this will increase the chances of those people liking you.

Once someone likes you, they will find it easier to trust you, will trust you sooner and feel more relaxed around you.

All of these are key ingredients for creating rapport as you negotiate, which as you probably already know, is an extremely valuable negotiation skill to have.

Good First Impressions For Phone Negotiations

If you are preparing for a negotiation on the phone, you must also make sure that you have a positive, friendly and confident negotiation attitude.

However because the other person can only hear your voice, you need to pay even more attention to how you use it.

A good tip for effective communication on the phone when negotiating is to smile. Even though the other person can’t see you, your smile will be conveyed to them through the sound of your voice.

In fact most facial expression are transmitted over the phone, as they alter how you speak.

So by animating your face during the negotiation process, you can automatically animate your voice and make it seem interesting to the listener.

Just like you would greet someone in the negotiating room, when negotiating over the phone you should also greet the other person in a friendly manner.

Try to imagine in your head that you are meeting them in real life, and the process will go a whole lot smoother for you.

Make Sure Everyone Is Ready Before Beginning To Negotiate

If someone is missing from the negotiation, you face the dilemma of whether or not to start the meeting.

If you choose to start the meeting yourself, and fill in the person who is missing later on, you will raise your perceived status within that group because you are displaying assertiveness. This can work in your favour throughout the rest of the negotiation.

However whether or not you choose to start the negotiation really depends on who is missing, and who you are in negotiations with.

If it is the boss who is missing, then starting to negotiate without them may not be the wisest move on your behalf unless they have specifically asked you to do so.

In some cultures it is considered rude be begin negotiations without everyone being present, and so in this case it would be better to wait until everyone has arrived.

Before You Negotiate State The Purpose Of Your Meeting

Before you begin negotiations it is worth briefly summarising why you are here, and the main points you will be discussing throughout the meeting.

This outline helps to set the tone for the negotiation, and will keep everyone focused on the main issues so that you can get right down to business.

Negotiation Agendas

If you are working from a set written agenda, make sure everyone has a copy of it and put a time limit on each item.

Doing so will help to prevent you from lingering too long on one issue, and then not leaving enough time to negotiate other issues.

Make Sure Everyone Is In Agreement Before Negotiating

An important part of a successful negotiation is to ensure that everyone has agreed upon the issues set out in the agenda.

You should therefore try to gauge how the other person/people feel about the agenda, so that you can ensure everyone is in agreement before you actually start negotiating.

Acknowledge Attitudes And Feelings

If you can acknowledge how people feel about your proposal and any objections they may have to it, you can help to establish empathy from the start of the meeting.

This will help you to close the deal later on, by making you appear considerate of their wants and needs.

Stick To Your Agenda When Negotiating

The purpose of having an agenda is to ensure that your negotiation stays on track, and covers the important points you want to discuss.

So start the beginning of the meeting according to your agenda, because if you deviate from it at the start, you will find it much more difficult to regain control later on when you begin to negotiate.

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