Two people are involved in a negotiation - one reaches his/her objective(s) and is satisfied, whilst the other walks away dissatisfied with the result. Does this situation sound familiar?

How often have you felt disappointed with a settlement that you have reached? Have you ever entered into an agreement only to feel remorse soon after reaching agreement?

SUCCESS VS FAILURE

What distinguishes success vs failure in commercial negotiations?

Most of us acknowledge the significance of preparation to achieve positive results and it is therefore interesting to note that the majority of business negotiators do not spend adequate time preparing for negotiations, often due to insufficient negotiation training. Professional sports people spend notably more time preparing for competition than they spend in competition; should it not be the same for business negotiators?

THE EVIDENCE

Business negotiators only spend around 1/3 as much time preparing for negotiation as they actually spend in negotiation. If you were a professional sports person, this would mean that you applied only 1/3 as much time training & planning as you do competing. The number 1 contributor to successful business negotiation results is the quality of your preparation for the negotiation.

As a matter of negotiation strategy, consider the following main 5 elements of preparation and at the same time you will also enhance your negotiation skills:

1. Understand Yourself

Before we even employ best- and leading practice negotiation, it is key that we first understand our own strengths & weaknesses and it is important that we make use of personal profiling tools to emphasise our areas of preference within the context of business negotiations, which enables us to have a reference point from which to plot our skills development.

2. Vision

What is the ultimate aim behind the negotiation? Is the negotiation about price or is it about the value that can be added? What are the main motivating issues behind your counterparty's position? What common ground, if any, exists between your and your counterparty's vision? It is important to understand the interests or silent motivations behind the positions of all parties to the negotiation and it is only by asking questions that we will discover these motivations.

3. Value

What are the key deal goals being pursued in this negotiation? What are the facts and figures contributing to the negotiation environment? What alternatives does each party have, if any? Once again we should try to identify, prioritise & weigh the goals of all parties to the negotiation and only then are we in a position to highlight those objectives that are shared and at the same time deal with those objectives that are likely to produce conflict.

4. Process

Have you spent time thinking about an agenda for your forthcoming negotiation? Have you noted all the trades that you will give & receive? Do you have tools/templates at your disposal to support the efficiency of the negotiation cycle.?

5. Relationship

It is easy to forget that we deal with people who have goals & aspirations not unlike our own and it is not always just about the money. The research is clear that people are more likely to deal with those whom they trust & like, than with those with whom they little in common. Try to focus on those things that you share with your negotiation counterparts, and do not forget to focus on the human elements.

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