So much of life is a negotiation – so even if you're not in business, you have opportunities to practice all around you ~Kevin O'Leary

Regardless of profession, age or gender, we all negotiate with no exception, and it is one aspect whose importance cannot be overstated both in professional & personal life. Whether dealing with kids, family, colleagues, neighbors, other clans or countries, knowing the art of negotiation applies. Practical negotiation skills elevate the status both in the social & professional world alike. 

Negotiation is simply human interaction, whether it is for clinching a deal, conflict management, hostage crisis or reaching an agreement. The fundamental of the entire conversation is to understand better, leading to a mutually beneficial & long-term agreement. 

Every person in sales, business developments participates in business negotiations. Business negotiation is no different & follows similar fundamentals. The purpose of writing this piece is to share critical aspects that may help future negotiators.  

Preparation: The saying goes, "The more your sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war". The importance of preparation & practice is & shall remain a vital ingredient across the profession. Many negotiations fall because of under preparation, but none fail because of over preparation. Negotiation may require dealing with a wide range of topics, including but not limited to navigating through objections, fears, prejudices or human emotions. Therefore, the preparations must encompass interacting with people from different departments to have diverse perspectives helping to deal with objections more effectively. People appreciate talking to someone who comes prepared with elementary information.  

Know what you want in the negotiation and what you can live without

Be a listener: All good negotiators are excellent listeners. ACTIVE listening requires acknowledging, enquiring, & paraphrasing to have a similar understanding to the customer, enabling us to appreciate their perspectives better. Active listening also encourages the customer to share more information and brings customer closers. However, concerns start when a customer raises apprehensions. In such cases, the temptation to interject & correct the course becomes intense. If interjecting is not possible, then our body language becomes defensive; besides, we start thinking of a reply to bring the discussion back, thus losing focus on vital points raised.

Customer raising apprehension & sharing worries opens a window of opportunity to build credibility, besides disquiets helps to get a treasure trove of information to build an offer.  

Bad experience in the past:  In such cases, hear the customer out. Note details & end the discussion with a promise to look into it. Ensure that the case is brought to a logical end keeping the customer informed. Never let the case remain unattended or open. 

Negative Feedback: It is crucial & important to hear negative feedback shared by the customer since it helps to understand the customer's underlying fear, which must be kept in mind while creating a final offer. Besides, it provides valuable & authentic information on the area of improvement.  

Competition: At the initial negotiation stage, customers talking about competition is a blessing. In most cases, the benefits and perceptions the customer shares about competition give insight into their expectations providing crucial information to build an offer.  

One of the best ways to persuade others is by listening to them." ~ Dean Rusk

Ask Questions: All business leaders suggests approaching negotiation as a student eager to learn. The reason assigned to this approach remained common across all the leaders, namely. 

1. During the negotiation, information is the most valuable thing. It is directly proportional to success. 
2. Most people appreciate the salesperson taking an interest to know about them. However, it would be best to be careful & not overdo it. 
3. Better understanding provides a solid basis for a win-win agreement as it helps to bring commonality between the solution provided against the client's expectations. 

Therefore, before getting into any negotiation, prepare a set of questions/clarifications to know more about the customer. We focus on knowing What to do & When to do it, which is essential but knowing WHY is the key to success.

Information is a negotiator's greatest weapon." ~Victor Kiam

Credibility is crucial for human interaction/dealing; negotiation is no exception. It takes time & effort to build it, but a small mistake sends it up in smoke. I was working on a significant contract & it took over a year of rigorous follow-up to reach the final stages of the contract. As a courtesy, a meeting between ours & customer management was organized. During the discussion, my director started talking about our "OPEN DOOR POLICY", & while emphasizing, he threw an ultimatum that customers can reach even our MD & as per policy, we cannot screen customer calls. As luck could have it to check this policy customer called up reception for MD. It was lunchtime, and a guard was managing reception. He erroneously asked the customer, "WHO HE WAS" & "HAS HE TAKEN APPOINTED". This meeting was the last we met on contract as it was lost forever.

Post this call, and there are a couple of learning I have carried since

4A. Credibility is the most important & we must guard it at all costs. There are times when credibility is the only differentiating factor between us & others

4B. Do not throw ultimatums until & unless there are no other options left.  

Every exaggeration of the truth once detected by others destroys our credibility and makes all that we do and say suspect - Stephen Covey.

Ensure customer wins:  We negotiate to win & try to maximize benefit; that is & must be first & foremost purpose. However, it is equally essential to realize that customer is answerable to people in their organization. Failure to convince his internal customers generally results in you losing the contract sooner or later, and sometimes it also impacts credibility. 

Therefore, it is essential to ensure that the customer takes a win back to his team/organization. If that is the case, rests assured that the customer will negotiate in his organization from next time onwards on your behalf.  

Place a higher priority on discovering what a win looks like for the other person." ~Harvey Robbins

Follow up: After the negotiation is complete, it is always important to send a detailed mail on all points discussed & agreed upon on the same or following day. The benefits are as below 

1. Since the discussion is fresh, a mail helps to establish the points discussed & agreed upon
2. The mail also gives an opening to share a few crucial points which got missed during the meeting

What if the deal falls:  Negative it may sound, but before going into a negotiation, it is must know what if the contract fails. It is important to understand & acknowledge that there is competition. The reason for having a plan "if the deal fails) are 

1. Lower down the anxiety as in most cases, and anxiety gets better than us. Decisions taken in stress regularly result in bad agreements.  
2. No life depends on one deal; therefore, it is ok to lose; however, it is necessary to know the shortcoming, whether in person or product. 
3. The feedback must be worked upon to improve.  

The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you're dead." ~Donald Trump