Chapter 1: Successful Negotiation
• If you want to negotiate more effectively, the first step is the knowledge that you are constantly negotiating in your daily life. Negotiations are basically found in three areas: conflicts, relationships, and transactions.
• We talk in the classical sense of “negotiation” when persons or parties pursue different interests and communicate with each other to reach an agreement.
• The zone of agreement in the field of negotiation is referred to as the ZOPA (Zone of Possible Agreement). It defines the bandwidth of a possible bilateral agreement between two parties in a negotiation.
• For assessing the success of a negotiation, it is necessary to know its best realistic alternative (BATNA) and of course to also know about the other party’s.
• Your BATNA is the best alternative to a negotiated outcome or a termination. Never accept a worse outcome than the BATNA you have prepared.
• The biggest mistakes that you can make while negotiating are: exerting pressure, lack of flexibility, aggression, compliance and inadequate preparation.
• The most appropriate form of negotiation recommended by the Harvard concept is based on four principles: 1- treat people and problems separately from each other; 2- put interests at the center not positions; 3- develop a range of options before deciding; 4- build the result based on objective decision-making principles.
• Consider people and problems or issues separately. Be sure to be “hard” in the matter and “soft” in relation to the people involved (SOPHOP principle: soft on people, hard on points).
• Ensure that interests rather than positions are placed in the center. Identify as many interests as possible and strive always towards a negotiated result that satisfies the interests of all parties.
• Develop as many options with all the stakeholders to everyone’s advantage.
• Always strive towards the solution of a problem that will best meet the interests of all parties.
• Focus on objective criteria for potential solutions. For this purpose you should jointly develop a transparent set of standards to help evaluate the different options to which all parties can explicitly commit.
• Sustainable success is only secured once you are out of the negotiation process – be aware of this and take it into account, so that it drives the process from effective preparation to conscientious follow-up.
Chapter 2: Prepare for the Negotiation in Advance
• Preparation in negotiations is called the A and O, the most essential ingredient. Through adequate preparation, you avoid being random. By being very specific you will be successful and achieve better results. The model of SMART goals supports negotiators effectively by formulating clear, realistic and ambitious objectives. Make sure that your goals are always SMART: specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic and time-bound.
• For each negotiation define three different targets: Your best results (Nice to-have, ideal goal), your realistic result (Want-to-have, core target) and your stop line (must-have, retreat destination).
• In negotiations always disconnect the person from the matter in hand. Negotiate effectively and appropriately by formulating the problem and include the negotiating partners in the problem-solving rather than criticizing them personally.
• Gather as much information as early as possible about your negotiating partner, the company and the decision-makers involved.
• Designate people who are influenced by the negotiated settlement agreement as interested groups or stakeholders. These are people for whom the negotiated result is of great importance because they can have an impact on the negotiations by confirming, blocking or preventing them.
• In complex negotiations emphasize systematic and structured stakeholder management to identify all possible solutions to anticipate risks and thus to negotiate successfully.
• Do not try to win the hearing, or only work with your own arguments, but always ask yourself what your negotiating partner wants and show him the way to meet those needs. Help them satisfy his needs and solve his problems.
• Analyze and consider the motives and interests behind the positions of your negotiating partner so as to move away from a fixed position and be open to a mutually beneficial meeting.
• Use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) together with the style compass as a guide to set the stage for negotiations, so that you can individually and appropriately tailor arguments to the relevant stakeholders and respond effectively to possible objections.
• Invest enough time to create an ideal atmosphere by preparing the main setting (venue, hearing, meeting duration, composition of participants and agenda), in order to positively influence the process of the session.
Chapter 3: Gain Self-Motivation Through the Right Attitude
• Make sure that your motivation, happiness and satisfaction does not depend on external circumstances, but on your own attitude.
• The way you demonstrate your abilities and your behaviour is entirely dependent on your attitude.
• Truly successful people are not motivated because they are motivated by others, but because they motivate themselves and achieve excellence through this.
• Laughter causes you to feel better, regardless of your current emotional state. If you feel down and want to feel better, then adopt a better posture. Keep yourself upright, smile at yourself and you will feel more relaxed.
• Sources of motivation:
o Focus on strengths, not weaknesses.
o Manage your emotions and avoid negative ideas
o Visualize your success and embrace your victories
Chapter 4: Create Confidence
• A person’s outward appearance inevitably determines the first impression they make on us. Only after we have made assumptions based on the exterior do we begin to pay attention to other features such as facial expressions, gestures and intonation. Be aware of all the factors which determine this first impression, and take this into account in your preparation.
• How you look can open the door to your success!
• Be open in your movements and with your body, and offer a positive aspect and winning smile to your negotiating partner. Make it clear that you are looking forward to meet or seeing him again. You will notice that he will respond to this positive action with an appropriate response, and in turn be open to you and your proposals.
• Your handshake should be just like you: sincere and confident, and with the intention of personally welcoming your negotiating partner in a very natural way.
• If you keep the name of your negotiating partner in mind and repeat it, it makes a discreet but very effective compliment.
Chapter 5: Find Out the Objectives of Your Negotiating Partner
• At each level of the communication process, content, voice level and the use of body language are key means by which messages are sent.
• The majority of communication is mediated by body language. Communication is not just what you say, but also what is seen by your negotiating partner. Therefore it is not only important to focus on what you want to achieve, but it is at least as important as how you say something.
• When engaged in a meeting always connect posture and voice to the content. This allows you to detect any incongruity in a conversation, i.e. disparities between what is spoken and the messages you receive by paying attention to more than just words.
• Voice and manner of speaking are a gauge of the authenticity of a person. Talk loud and clear! This gives an impression of authority and a clear point of view. Modulate and change tempo, volume and emphasis! Use highs and lows and speak in short, clear phrases as then your voice will automatically revert to deeper tones allowing your partner to better understand you.
• By varying the speech rate and the targeted use of pauses you can significantly influence the effect of your words. Analogous variations in speech expression not only increase the effectiveness of what you say but also make listening enjoyable.
• Be aware of the personal space of your negotiation partner. By encroaching into this area your partner will feel harassed or become annoyed.
• Questions are important to understand what makes your negotiating partner tick, what drives him, and what aims he really wants to achieve. The more you ask the more information you obtain and the more successfully you can negotiate.
• Active listening is the silver bullet for information. It is not only important to listen to what someone says but to capture through active listening what and especially how someone says something. Active listening indicates to your interlocutor that you take him and his view of things seriously and treat him with the same respect as the content. Listening attentively is therefore a form of personal appreciation and this signal has a positive impact on your relationship with your interlocutor.
Chapter6: Always Negotiate with a Sense of the Benefits for Your Negotiating Partner
• The key to success lies in the so-called addressee-related communication: If you want to convince your negotiating partner, your argument mainly has to be addressee-based, that is, it has to be plausibly based on the interests of the other party by taking the thoughts, feelings, interests and experiences of others into account. The success of a negotiation is thus to a large extent reliant on the understanding of the position of your negotiation partner. But to understand the arguments of the other side does not mean that you agree with it.
• In negotiations you should see the difference between advantages and benefits. An advantage is something generally recognized and applicable, but the benefit is what attends to your partner’s individual needs and requirements. Simply put, you are dealing with an advantage when your partner receives a conclusive answer to the question: “What have I to gain personally”. An advantage is thus described in terms of a generally applicable advantage, a benefit meets the specific, subjective needs of the interlocutor with whom you are negotiating.
• The ideal means of communication in negotiations means always to respect the self-esteem of your negotiation partner. Encourage and compliment your negotiating partners in a sincere manner.
• The communication square is based on the assumption that each utterance may be interpreted from four sides—by the sender of the message as well as by the recipient. Note the principle of reciprocity in negotiations whereby you should not give anything away to your partner without getting something in return: The art in the context of negotiation is thus to give your counterpart the feeling that he owes you something.
• Be aware of the fact that the concession itself is not the important aspect but the fact of the act of concession and its effect on your partner.
• If in a negotiation situation a large demand is rejected out of hand, you then have the chance to make a smaller demand (for the original one intended) for a greater chance of success, because the second request acts as a concession.
• Give reasons and justifications for any demand or proposal. Always give your negotiating partner the opportunity to revise his position without losing face.
• In negotiations it is important to remember the following: If you go to where the other stands you can take him where you want to go!
• The great skill of conversation and negotiation is to make the characteristics and qualities of your offer (i.e., your arguments) represent and address directly the interests of your negotiating partner.
Chapter7: How to Respond to Objections and What to Do When It Gets Tough
• Always see objections from a different angle: your negotiation partner needs a little more time, more information, additional advice and support.
• Look at objections as a means to a successful conclusion to the negotiation and not as being about the negotiators themselves.
• Never adopt the position of your interlocutor but instead look behind it to identify the hidden interests behind the positions they take.
• Acquire appropriate defence strategies in order to respond quickly and confidently in conflict situations.
Chapter 8: Create Alternatives, and Create a List of Concessions
• Only talk about the price if the customer has already built up a corresponding sense of the benefits of the product due to your use-oriented negotiations.
• If the price is higher than the perceived individual benefit for the customer, this will make them feel that the product is too expensive. You then have two options: to lower the price or increase the sense of the personal benefits through a use- and needs-based negotiation with the customer.
Chapter 9 and 10: To Come to a Good Conclusion
• Do not continue to discuss after the conclusion of negotiations, since you run the risk that the negotiators will once again begin to doubt what was seemingly secure.
• Do not exert pressure on your negotiating partner when it comes to signing a contract or agreement.
• A very effective way of giving your negotiators the feeling that they have negotiated successfully is to agree to a small concession that may appear at the last moment.
• In our dynamic economic world in which products and services are becoming increasingly interchangeable, next to the brand the relationship is often the only thing that can help a business achieve a unique position.