Negotiation skills are very important in our day-to-day business and also in everyday life. Three areas in particular commonly require our negotiation skills: contracting, purchasing, and licensing agreements.
Some view negotiation as confrontation, and, let’s be honest, most of us tend to avoid confrontation whenever possible. Hard as it may be to imagine, negotiation is a natural process, and should be viewed as fun, as an activity both challenging and rewarding. The simple steps and golden rules outlined below can help you achieve this attitude and start you in the right direction.
If you think you’ve never negotiated anything and have no experience, just ask yourself these three simple questions:
• Have you ever negotiated any kind of contract?
• Have you ever participated in buying a home or a car?
• Have you have ever gone out to dinner and a movie with friends or
family and swapped paying for the dinner for paying for the movie?
If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, then you do have some experience in negotiating.
To Negotiate…
Lets first define what negotiation means.
There are a numerous definitions of negotions, but the best definition I’ve heard to describe the truth about negotiation came from Robert D. Rutherford, Ph.D., author of The Twenty Five Most Common Mistakes Made in Negotiating…and What You Can Do About Them. He defines negotiation as: “…an effort to resolve a difference between two or more parties by the give-and-take process“.
Simple Steps: Preparing for the Negotiation
You must understand the issues thoroughly and go in prepared. Do your homework and know as much as you can or you’re not going to get too far in the negotiating process. Don’t try to wing anything! The old saying librarians have used for years is so true in negotiating, Knowledge is Power!
There are six steps involved in gathering your information.
1. Do a cost benefit analysis.
2. Request trial periods.
3. Develop a plan.
4. Know your strengths and weaknesses.
5. Anticipate all options.
6. Identify your best options.
The Golden Rules of Negotiation
Every process has rules. Here are the top 15 rules that can make any negotiation a successful process:
1. Seek a win-win situation.
2. Expect to win!
3. Learn from experience.
4. Everything is negotiable, even the process.
5. NEVER attack the demand, only the rationale behind the demand.
6. Don’t settle for too little.
7. Be creative…think out of the box.
8. Learn to listen.
9. Give and take.
10. Use silence as a technique.
11. Size shouldn’t matter unless you want it to.
12. Never negotiate out of fear.
13. Don’t concede much at first.
14. It ain’t over till it’s over! …
15. Maintain good relationships.
Good for You?
When you complete any negotiation, you always ask yourself, “Did I get a good deal?” No one can answer that question for you. You have to decide that based on the deal you constructed. You can ask yourself if you got more knowledge to more users for the same or lower price? If you are happy with the deal, then you got a good deal!
Remember, when you go back to renegotiate, knowledge is still power
Having deep understanding the important of contrat neogitation has brought the ensurances to our Clients, by selecting CNC partners as a memebers of the contract neogitation team, or selecting to authorize CNC as their authorized representative, actively and independently involved in contract negotiation, only for the benefit of Clients.In addition, a reasonable fee is our advantage in pursuading Clients to choose us as regular advisers to their daily operation transactions.
Legal Business & Contract 