Another list of negotiation 'how-tos' misses the mark ? Part 1

This piece titled ?Beasely: 5 concepts for better negotiating? offers advice on how you can become better at that pre-eminent of life skills ? negotiating agreements. Though one can detect the misconception surrounding the meaning and use of the word ?negotiation? and its role and place in sales and business, its presence is not very pronounced in the article I?m referring to. (For those who are interested, I wrote about this misconception here, here and here). The author of the piece gives specific advice regarding the ?how-to? of negotiating a deal/sale/agreement. That is what I will devote my attention to, in this piece.

As I have stated previously, sales professionals use the word ?negotiation? to refer to

(i) A deal/sale/agreement in the aggregate, or

(ii) To describe the so called negotiating dance involving bargaining about price, warranties, discounts, and the myriad terms and conditions associated with each deal. Especially price.

Negotiation trainers on the other hand use it to refer to

(i) A deal/agreement in the aggregate, or

(ii) The effort to influence each and every decision enroute to the final sale.

The author uses the word ?negotiation? in both senses in which sales professionals generally use the term.

(At CNI, we teach that you are involved in a negotiation whenever and in whichever situation you require a decision from another person provided you also respect the right of that individual to make the decision ?No, I don?t agree to your idea/request/suggestion/proposal etc.? Thus every decision you require, enroute to the final agreement, will possible involve a negotiation.)

In my opinion, the author of the piece misses the mark on many counts.

Under his first point ?Opening the door?, he writes

?When a buyer makes a price demand, you should brush it off. Don?t immediately engage in a negotiation. Doing so indicates that there is room to negotiate, thus opening the door to a whittling of your profit margin.

When a buyer suggests a discount, don?t run to their rescue by asking them what you need to do to win the deal. Buyers are often just checking to see if your position is firm to make sure they aren?t leaving any easy money on the table.?

Now, I wouldn?t advice any sales professional or business person to rush and give a discount simply because you are asked, threatened, cajoled, or sweet-mouthed to do so. People who do so or who believe that is how business is done or ought to be done should either learn to negotiate or quit the business world. If they continue, they will cause their organizations to bleed valuable profits and resources. In contrast to the author?s advice, mine is ?Go ahead and start negotiating, immediately.?

What do I mean by that? I mean go ahead and discover the vision behind that request. It might very well be that the other person, as this author rightly alludes, is looking for ?easy money?. You just don?t know and cannot and should not assume. It might or might not be a legitimate demand. There might be a legitimate vision or there might be a desire to ?test? you, from the outset. Don?t assume that it is a legitimate or illegitimate request. You must find out, patiently and carefully.

Whenever you are trying to discover the vision behind a request, or the vision that brought the other party to the negotiating table, you are already negotiating. A large part of negotiation is spent discovering and building vision. The vision I refer to is the mental picture behind the other person?s request or demand. In my opinion, the master negotiator is able to discover and build two sets of vision ? the vision the other person has and the vision the person ought to have to make the decision to accept your idea, proposal, product, suggestion or request.

The master negotiator does not negotiate blindly. If he or she is unaware of the vision driving the other person, that negotiator is negotiating blindly. The best negotiators calmly, slowly, and decisively seek to discover and build a clear vision that will in turn drive each decision in a negotiation, and move the negotiation forward. Such negotiators allow nothing ? least of all assumptions and expectations ? to come between them and the vision they seek to discover or build. They understand that vision discovery and building are often so intimately intertwined that it may even be impossible to know whether a question, problem statement, use of a particular word, or silence is aimed at discovering vision, building vision, or both.

Remember that when you attempt to discover and build vision, you will very likely encounter the voice of reason, the pull of emotion, the distractions of imagination, physical tiredness, the opinions and judgments of those away from the table, and so much more. Those are not necessarily obstacles to a stable, profitable, and ethical agreement. You must deal with them as they appear.

You must realize when you are negotiating, and you must learn how to do it well. It starts long before the door is opened and may never come to an end. It might start in the elevator, at a meeting or conference, in an online forum, via the telephone or email, or as a result of an introduction through a mutual acquaintance, just to name a few possible scenarios. It will continue for as long as you interact with each other and with third parties who are influenced or impacted in one way or another as a result of your interaction.

Click here to read part 2 of this post >>

Please share your thoughts.

Santhosh

Comments

Source: http://www.campnegotiationinstitute.com/2012/10/list-negotiation-how-tos-misses-mark-part-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=list-negotiation-how-tos-misses-mark-part-1

brandon jennings channing tatum the vow review luol deng culkin wooly mammoth no child left behind