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Empowerment Through Knowledge
No.15: Negotiation Tips 2

The art of negotiation involves a number of human behavioural aspects, including creativity, assertiveness, emotional intelligence and resilience, patience, critical thinking, analytical thinking, common sense and communication skills, among others. In this edition, we will offer you five further techniques that can help you achieve better results when negotiating. If you missed the first three, head back to our fifth edition of Empowerment Through Knowledge.

 

Today’s five tips are:

  1. Ask for more to get what you want
  2. Printed word power
  3. Be the one to write the contract
  4. Funny money technique
  5. Smart is dumb and dumb is smart

Negotiation as a Part of Life

When would you need to have effective negotiation skills? The answer is, more frequently than you probably think. At the most common level, this could be agreeing with your family or friends on a movie to watch, or a restaurant to visit. Have you ever visited a shop or bazaar or even used a taxi in a less developed country? You are expected to negotiate for everything in such places, unless you are happy to be ripped off. What about asking for a raise, or discussing your salary for a new job? Or dealing with customers, or suppliers? Or practically any request from your children. The list can be endless.

 

Our Tips
1. Ask for more to get what you want

This technique can also be entitled “exorbitant demands”. By making a much higher demand if you are the seller (or much lower offer if you are the buyer) you would be creating an upper (or lower) boundary or anchor in the negotiation. The only risk is if the other side gives in to emotions and walks away from the negotiation because they feel offended. However, this technique is worth that risk, since you can almost always mend that bridge by offering that they commit to a revised price instead. The advantages?

  • You might just get it.
  • It gives you some negotiating room.
  • It raises (or lowers) the perceived value of what you’re offering (or trying to acquire).
  • It prevents the negotiation from deadlocking.
  • It creates a climate in which the other side feels that they have won once they raise or lower your offer.

 

2. Printed word power

When you can show “proof” in writing, you increase credibility. People believe what they see in writing more than if it is just verbal. Having something in writing gives it an increased sense of officialdom, giving the feeling that the figure is “set in stone”. This gives some protection from the pressure of getting asked for discounts or raises. It is arguably why, in most movies, you always see the potential employer write the offered salary on a piece of paper to a desired candidate, instead of just saying it.

 

3. Be the one to write the contract – “fait accompli”

If there is any kind of written agreement or contract, try to insist on taking on the burden of writing the contract yourself. It is much safer and, when you send the contract (with signature and cheque even) it may be easier for the other side to just accept your conditions. If the other side is doing the writing, read the contract every time to check for tiny changes. A small change could make a huge difference, especially from a legal perspective.

 

4. Funny money technique

Although this term can have different meanings, our meaning here is the one where you break down the amount into ridiculously low sums, for example: per day, per customer, per hour. Some clever marketers use this in their advertising, it works. Somehow, saying that something costs six hundred euros feels more expensive than telling you that it will cost you less than what you spend on your daily cappuccino in a year.

 

5. Dumb is smart and smart is dumb

Never act too sophisticated. Act humble and you’ll lower the other side’s defenses. Instead of competing, they may even want to help, because you will be less threatening for them. The opposite is also true: If you present yourself as a hotshot negotiator, they will try to do their utmost to defend themselves and/or beat you at your own game.

 

Conclusion

To be able to negotiate effectively, you may need to use various skills to reach your objectives. You should also remain aware of techniques that could be used against you, and become skillful in applying them so that you can exploit them in your favour.

 

If you want to learn to apply these skills to practical situations, our Successful Negotiations Professional Development Workshop will offer you a safe environment to practice.

 

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