Better Bargaining
by Jeremy Thorn
13/09/2006
Isn’t it all obvious?
Although negotiating skills are not so difficult to acquire with practice, for most of us they are not intuitive. Even the most experienced negotiators regularly report that, without formal training, they did not know why they were successful, let alone how they might have been even more successful, nor how they might deal best with circumstances that are entirely new to them.
And contrary to what you might expect, it is usually the most experienced negotiators who claim they learn the most from formal training. Those with only limited exposure to hard bargaining often report that the skills seem so ‘obvious’, once explained, that they can’t see why they may be so special. But special, they are! It often takes much battle-weary and hardened experience to know for sure how much we don’t know!
How ‘special’ are these skills?
Our average run-rate of sums made or saved by delegates, 2 months after a two-day QED negotiation workshop, currently exceed £40,000 per person. Not a bad return on a modest training investment? And just recently, the FD of one of our clients reported 7 of his colleagues had saved a massive £12 million.
What stops us doing better? - 5 common myths.
If the rewards of acquiring key negotiating skills are so great, and yet they seem so obvious once explained, why then are they so hard to acquire without professional help? Here are 5 common myths which are worth dispelling.
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“Negotiation probably involves deceit and lying.”
In fact, professional negotiators work very hard to build mutual respect, trust and integrity between them. Negotiations founded on mistrust or dishonesty inevitably produce poor results – and still take a lot of time to achieve even then.
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“My arguments should be sufficient without wheeling and dealing”.
Where the worth of an argument appears overwhelmingly convincing to the other side, or where there is actually nothing to disagree with, there is indeed no need for a negotiation. But when one side has a different view from the other, as is so often the case, skilled professional bargaining skills are essential. Great arguments on their own may not suffice - and coercion rarely works in the long-term.
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“When I say I need something, I expect to be believed, not argued with!”
What a charming idea! I might say I need a pay-rise, my hernia operation or a cost reduction, now. But life rarely allows our initial demands to be successful without further exploration! (And why should it?)
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“Amongst those of goodwill, we only need to go along and see what they want and a sensible deal should readily be available. No need for any great negotiation skills there?”
One of the most common mistakes made by unskilled negotiators is to under-prepare. Skilled negotiators NEVER ‘go along to see what the other side may want’ – they work incredibly hard to find out in advance and to prepare their position accordingly. -
“If we make the other side a generous offer, they will surely respond generously?”
Sadly, human nature regularly demonstrates that this is usually no more than a fond hope. The more one side gives without winning something back in return, the weaker that side will appear to be and the more the other side will want. (And why not? The implication to many will inevitably be that there is still much more to gain.)