What it Takes to be an Excellent Negotiator

Understand Negotiating Styles and the Phases Involve in Negotiation

A good negotiator understands their style as well as other people’s styles.

They understand their limitations, and how their style can work for and even against them.

They also understand how to flex their style and exhibit high levels of self-control so that they maintain composure and control through the negotiation process.

If we approach negotiating as a collaborative effort, we are more able to notice and acknowledge our partner’s use of language and body language, and we can recognize things that they value through the words they use in conversation or written drafts of an agreement.

In return, we can adapt our language to reflect their values and appeal to their understanding.

We can modify our approach to reflect their interests and values; as a result, we can increase the chances that they will take us seriously.

We are not as capable of noticing subtleties if we are in a negative or confrontational environment.

Cooperative negotiators look for a win-win situation where both parties know that they can get the best result possible.

Competitive negotiators, on the other hand, aim to win in the negotiation.

Their objective is to get as much value as possible for their objectives, whether their counterpart gets any satisfaction or not.

In combined approaches, one negotiator may be cooperative and the other competitive.

When both are cooperative, they will find a solution if there is one available.

If both negotiators are competitive, they may both dig their heels in and refuse to offer any concessions to the other side.

Phases of Negotiation Introduction

Knowing the phases of negotiation is a great asset to any service provider.

Although people often think negotiating is the same as bargaining, that is not the case.

Negotiating is a process, and bargaining is one stage of that process.

There are three other stages of negotiating, and those are tempered by timing, intuition, and flexibility in the process.

When the negotiating formula works as it is intended, the parties are more likely to work together with trust and respect in the agreement.

The First Phase is the Preparation Phase

Preparation is extremely important in negotiating.

An inexperienced negotiator who is well prepared can successfully make their argument and win their case against a seasoned negotiator.

In the preparation phase, negotiators need to review previous examples or other incidents that might have a bearing on this situation.

In this phase, parties will decide to negotiate rather than pursue court-ordered settlements as a way to control their costs or the amount of time spent in court.

When the cost of not negotiating a resolution is higher than the cost of negotiating one, negotiation can be the most desirable result.

The Second Phase is Exchanging Information

This is not a step that many negotiators consider consciously, except perhaps in legal situations (where it is referred to as disclosure).

But it plays a role even in negotiations at home, and certainly in the workplace.

Exchanging information is an extension of preparation and allows both parties the opportunity to consider all of the available information before a bargaining meeting takes place.

The Third Phase is the Bargaining

This is the meat and potatoes part of the negotiation.

Bargaining is where interested parties review their agreements and negotiate changes, sometimes one term at a time.

This is the stage where hostility and anger can become evident as the parties work on the fine details of an agreement.

Negotiators must remain calm, professional, and relaxed during this phase.

If negotiators lose their tempers or argue belligerently, the negotiations may fall apart; no progress is made if people are not speaking to one another.

There are times when an agreement in principle can lead to a protracted quest for agreement on smaller details.

Those smaller details are worked out in bargaining, the phase where actual sacrifices and concessions are made.

The Fourth Phase is the Commitment and Closing Phase

Once the parties have completed bargaining, made all the adjustments, and agreed upon the least uncomfortable result, the negotiation is ready for commitment and closure.

Commitments can be made public (through a press release or some other media) as a way to share the conclusion of a process with the public.

By this time, any hostility should be long over with, since the parties have moved to this stage following the conclusion of bargaining.

At times, though, resentment can be close beneath the surface, so any positive steps that can continue to support relationship building are important at this time.

It is important to note that, in the process make sure that you commit to carrying out the agreement that has been negotiated.