You can win at negotiation if you master required skills.
Negotiation is the process of all parties coming to an agreement and making a joint decision where everyone is in concurrence. Being able to effectively negotiate in business is a critical skill needed for many reasons such as dealing with suppliers, coming to agreement on the salary of a new employee and selling customers and agreeing on the terms of a contract. To negotiate effectively, you must have the right information, be effective at communicating, master persuasion skills and avoid common negotiation pitfalls.
Preparing with the Needed Information
Knowledge is critical before the negotiation process begins says the Negotiation Skills Company. The quality and completeness of information a negotiator has is a key determinant of the outcome. The negotiator must clearly understand what the desired ideal outcome is from the negotiation, what the other party desires and why they desire it, what the other party most likely plans to offer and what would make them happy. In addition, it is important to understand if the person you are negotiating with is truthful in his communications.
Communications
Communicating effectively and understanding the other party's communications -- both verbally and nonverbally -- is a critical element in helping a negotiator achieve his objectives. Understanding the communications style of your opponent also is important.
Persuade Others
To effectively persuade others to your point of view, you should not emphasize how you benefit, only share necessary information to support your case and test out concessions to determine how well they would assist in the negotiation process, indicates the University of Florida College of Design Construction and Planning.
Guidelines for Effective Negotiation
A negotiator should never say yes to the first offer, reports the University of Florida College of Design and Construction Planning. Emphasize and reinforce concessions you make. In addition, allocate more than enough time for the negotiation process because the person constrained more by time is less likely to win in the negotiation process.
Why Negotiation Fails
Negotiations often fail because of poor planning, assuming both parties have to same objective, not listening to the opponent well enough and acquiescing to the other party's demands too early in the negotiation process, according to the Stanford School of Business.
