The Key Negotiation Skill Of Determining Achieveable Targets For Your Commercial Negotiations.
A critical negotiation skill in your business negotiations is how you go about planning your objectives.
I would like to share with you 3 critical points that we cover in our negotiation skills training programmes to think about when you are preparing for your negotiations.
1. What is the absolutely ideal result for you in this negotiation?
What would a great transaction (one that you would be very happy to agree to) look like?
We call this your aspiration base - in other words, the level at which you will aspire to close the transaction.
You should know that it is important in your negotiation to always ask for a little more than you expect to receive. This means that you must always have an aspiration base that is higher than your desired outcome. By asking for a little more than you would like to receive you enable yourself to make a concession to your counterpart in return for a counter concession.
On the upside, you may just get what you regard to be ideal if you ask for it! Don't make the mistake of making decisions on behalf of your counterpart by saying to yourself they will not be happy with that .Take note that I am not advocating that you make extreme requests - extreme demands are highly risky and dependent on the cultural environment within which you find yourself.
2. What is the absolutely minimum acceptable outcome for you in this negotiation?
At what stage will you decide to terminate or postpone your discussions?
If you do not decide on a specific point at which it will no longer be feasible or attractive for you to close a transaction, then you may become susceptible to reaching an agreement that you will not be able to live with. This is important to do as you could easily become emotionally committed to closing a transaction at all cost because you may think that your individual reputation is at stake.
3. What do you think are the aspirations and minimum acceptable transaction levels for your counterpart?
It is also important that you consider the aspirations and minimum acceptable deal levels from your counterparts point of view. This will never be an exact science but through proper planning and investigation of supporting information you may be able to get a good view of what kind of agreement is the norm in your line of business or kind of negotiation.
By considering the aspirations and minimum acceptable deal levels from your counterparts viewpoint, you will be able to identify the bargaining range. Knowing the agreement range or zone of possible agreement (ZOPA) will help you to see if a deal is possible or not.
Most negotiation training workshops will teach you that the bargaining range is defined as the area of overlap between your minimum acceptable deal level and the minimum acceptable deal levels of your counterpart.
Remember that most of your success in negotiation is dependent on the quality of your preparation. You should spend at least as much time preparing for negotiations as you expect to be busy negotiating. If you expect to be in negotiations for an hour, then you should spend at least the same time in preparations.
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