HOW TO GET WHAT YOU WANT: Negotiate Your Way to Success
Jun 01, 2022
Do you ever encounter situations when you feel very strongly about how you believe
a project should be planned, carried out, or completed? Do you sometimes feel
annoyed that the others involved don’t see the situation the same as you do? Here’s
where good negotiation skills come in handy.
Regardless of the career you’ve chosen, there will be times you’ll find negotiation
necessary. Learning this critical skill will also improve your personal relationships.
Review these tips for negotiating a situation to get the results you want:
1. Know your material. Avoid in-depth discussions about topics and situations
that you’re not yet educated about. In advance of conversations or projects you
know are coming, ensure that you understand the ins and outs of the situation
at hand. Preparation is your friend in negotiation!
2. Listen. Keep an open mind to what the other person has to say. We’ve all had the
experience of rushing in and insisting on what we want, only to discover later
that it’s actually quite similar to what the other person wants (we just didn’t
know that because we weren’t listening).
3. Find areas of agreement. With a little luck, you’ll only disagree on one or two
minor points. Make a list of where you’re in concurrence and where you’re split.
This will concretely illustrate how much negotiating will actually be necessary
and how much you really do agree.
4. Talk about the issue at hand first. Avoid trying to discuss solutions until you
both see the problem similarly. You’ve got to be on the same page about the
issue before you can possibly be on the same page for the solution.
5. Keep your emotions out of it.Consider the situation as business. Remain
objective at all times. Keep your cool.
6. Avoid intimidating behaviors and manipulative comments. If you fall back on
these unsavory methods just to get your way, you lose credibility with the person
with whom you’re negotiating. Then they stop being willing to listen to you.
7. Be honest and use integrity. If you misunderstand an element of the challenge
or their proposed solution and suddenly realize it, say so. Keep your word.
Respect the other person.
8. Ask for the other person’s ideas. Solicit suggestions from them on how to
resolve the situation. Listen carefully, and be willing to implement some or all of
what you hear.
9. Remind yourself that you’re on same side. After all, you both want to resolve
the issue. If you focus on finding common threads, that will help.
10. State your ideas for a solution. Make your case, too; tell them why you believe
it’s the way to go. For example, you could say something like, “Rather than make
in-person follow-up visits once per week to new customers, I think it’s a better
idea to do them monthly and use the off-weeks to follow up by phone.”
To make your case in this example, you may follow up by saying, “This way,
we’ve got time during the off-weeks to develop new customers. We’ll be
widening our customer base while keeping contacts with customers we
already have.”
11. Show flexibility. You’re two separate people with two separate sets of ideas
and perspectives about the issue at hand. Avoid expecting to get your way 100%.
Learning to use effective negotiation skills will help you in accomplishing any goals
you have that involve others. Skillfully listen, remain non-emotional, discover points
of agreement, honestly state your ideas, and show flexibility when interfacing with
others. Get what you want by putting these excellent negotiation skills to work for
you!
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