Written By: James F Hennig, Ph.D. – As a consultant to many Fortune 500 companies and major national and international associations, his areas of expertise include Negotiations, Increased Productivity, Managing Change, Peak Performance and Presentation Skills.
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One of the quickest ways to increase your income (or bottom line) is to become a better negotiator. A review of the 12 common errors will help you become a more effective negotiator.
The only reason to negotiate in the first place is to arrive at a conclusion that is better than what could be achieved without the negotiation.
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Note from Karen Deis:
Print this article and refer to it often—especially when you find yourself in a situation where you have to negotiate! It will help you identify which tactic to use—or which one someone is using against you.
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#1 Underestimating Your Own Power or Strength
You are very aware of your own limits when it comes to negotiating, but are often unaware of the limits the power of the other party. There is a consistent tendency to underestimate your own power. Realize that their position of power is based upon “how you envision them” and making that mental compensation can provide increased confidence to make that slight edge in negotiation.
#2 Jumping to Conclusions
Jumping to conclusions or making assumptions, without getting all the facts, is one of the most common errors. Rather than “assuming”, just “play dumb” by asking probing and appropriate questions to determine the real needs and desires of the other party.
#3 Not Understanding the Other Person’s Perspective
Quite often, there are distinctly different perspectives in looking at exactly the same set of facts and figures. Rather than working from your OWN perspective, ask probing questions and learn how the other party is looking at the facts and figures so you can relate and effectively negotiate.
#4 Focus On Position—Not Interest
Two daughters were arguing over the last orange in the house and each were concerned only with their “position”. That is, “I want the orange”. The wise father, handing one of the daughters a knife, asked her to slice the orange in half, indicating that the other daughter would then select which half she wanted. A brilliant solution? Not really! Each of the daughters only got one-half of what they could have had if they had taken the time to look at the interest behind their position. One of the daughters wanted the orange for juice; the other needed the peel for baking.
Less than 20% of business people look far enough for the “interest” behind the “position” to come to a mutual win/win and end up profiting from both the juice and the peel.
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