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Two parties are engaged in a negotiation - one accomplishes his/her objective(s) and is satisfied, whilst the other walks away unhappy with the outcome. Does this situation sound familiar?

Do you often feel dissatisfied with a settlement that you have reached? Have you sometimes entered into an agreement only to feel regret soon after reaching agreement?

SUCCESS VS FAILURE

What differentiates success vs failure in business negotiations?

Most of us acknowledge the importance of preparation to deliver positive results and it is therefore remarkable to note that the majority of commercial negotiators do not spend adequate time planning for negotiations, often due to poor negotiation training. Professional sports people spend notably more time preparing for a contest than they spend in competition; should it be any different for business negotiators?

THE EVIDENCE

Commercial negotiators only spend around 1/3 as much time planning for negotiation as they actually spend in negotiation. If you were a professional sports person, this would mean that you devoted only 1/3 as much time training & preparing as you do competing. The foremost factor to successful commercial negotiation results is the quality of your planning for the negotiation.

As a matter of negotiation strategy, consider the following main 5 factors of preparation and at the same time you will simultaneously enhance your negotiation skills:

1. Understand Yourself

Before we even apply best- and leading practice negotiation, it is imperative that we first understand our own strengths & weaknesses and it is vital that we make use of personal profiling tools to emphasise our areas of preference within the framework of business negotiations, which enables us to have a reference point from which to plot our skills development.

2. Vision

What is the main objective behind the negotiation? Is the negotiation about price or is it about the value that can be added? What are the main motivating factors behind your counterparty's position? What mutual ground, if any, exists between your and your counterparty's vision? It is key to comprehend the interests or silent motivations behind the positions of all parties to the negotiation and it is only by asking questions that we will expose these motivations.

3. Value

What are the main deal objectives being pursued in this negotiation? What are the facts and figures supporting the negotiation environment? What options does each party have, if any? Once again we should try to identify, rank & 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 produce conflict.

4. Process

Have you spent time preparing an agenda for your upcoming negotiation? Have you noted all the concessions that you will make & receive? Do you have tools/templates at your disposal to support the efficiency of the negotiation process.?

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 money. The research is clear that people are more likely to agree with those whom they trust & like, than with those with whom they little in common. Try to focus on those elements that you share with your negotiation counterparts, and do not forget to focus on the human elements.

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