The Accidental Negotiator

Every negotiation that we are involved in has two different components  to it. 

The first is what is called “value creation”. This is, as its  name implies, the process by which we attempt to put more issues on the  table – we try to make the negotiation become bigger. The other part is  called “value claiming” this is when we are involved in a single-issue  negotiation and we want to get as much of the pre-existing value on the  negotiating table for yourself—and away from the other side. 

When it  comes time to claim value during a negotiation, are you going to know  how to do it?

As negotiators, we understand that when we enter into a negotiation we  need to use our negotiation styles and negotiating techniques to both  collaborate and compete with the other side of the table. 

It is our job to increase the pie of value for all parties, often by identifying differences across issues and making tradeoffs. At the same time, what we are trying to do it to claim as much of that larger pie for ourselves. 

So what’s the best way to make this happen?

Let’s face it, negotiating has never been easy to do and with the  arrival of the Covid-19 virus, it just suddenly became a lot harder.  

These days nobody really wants to sit in a closed room for a long time  with a group of people who may or may not have been practicing safe  social distancing. However, life must go on and so negotiations do  continue. Many of our negotiations have now moved online. Today’s tools  allow this to happen relatively smoothly. However, even online disputes do pop up. 

When they do, negotiators need to know how to deal with them.

So first off – congratulations! 

The last negotiation that you were  involved in went very well. You were able to use your negotiation styles  and negotiating techniques to get a deal that you feel proud of and  you’ve been congratulated by everyone you know for conducting a  professional negotiation. Right about now you are probably feeling a  real sense of pride. Now it’s time for you to move on to your next  negotiation. You feel that this next negotiation should go as well as the last one did. 

However, is this feeling going to work in your favor or is it going to work against you?

So a negotiation is a business discussion that occurs between two  adults, correct? 

Well, in a lot of cases this is a correct statement.  However, there are times when things can become heated during a  negotiation. When one side feels as though they are not getting their way, they start to look for ways that they can convince you to change your mind. One  tool that they have available to them besides using different  negotiation styles and negotiating techniques is to threaten you. 

If they decide to do this, how should you react?

Every negotiator wants to become better. 

However, the big question that we all face is how to go about doing  this. For some of us, reading books on negotiations or attending  negotiations can expose us to new negotiation styles and negotiating  techniques. However, it turns out that most of us would benefit the most  if we were able to cast off some negotiating misunderstandings that we all seem to be carrying around with us. 

These “negotiating lies” are baring us from improving our skills.

So – does the other side really mean what they are saying? 

Will they  really do what they are promising to do? I’m pretty sure that you and I  can’t tell. The reason that we are so bad at detecting deception is because the most common signs of deception, such grammatical errors  and as increased blinking, tend to be quite difficult to notice and  interpret correctly. In addition, it may be difficult or impossible to  determine whether the other side’s claim is true or not. 

If we can’t  count on being able to detect lies, a more fruitful approach may be to  find ways to discourage the other side from engaging in deceptive tactics in negotiation in the first place.

As negotiators, our goal whenever we are starting a negotiation is to find a way to get the best deal possible.  

This is not always an easy thing to make happen. 

The best negotiators  are the ones who can use their negotiation styles and negotiating  techniques to both create value during the negotiation and then claim  that value as a part of a deal. In order to become better at making this  happen, the following 10 negotiation skills can be used.

When we are involved in a negotiation that involves prices, we need to  keep in mind that no matter what negotiation styles or negotiating  techniques  are being used, it’s the first number that either  side presets that will play an important determining factor in how the  rest of the negotiation goes. 

It turns out that opening offers  have a strong effect on price negotiations. What happens is that the  first offer typically serves as an anchor that strongly influences any  discussions that follows. Where things can start to get crazy is when  you realize that even random numbers can have a dramatic impact on  people’s judgments and decisions. 

What all of this means is that  negotiators need to know how to anchor prices during a negotiation.

So just exactly when is a negotiation over? 

I’m pretty sure that by now you know that this is a loaded question – a negotiation is never over.  Even after we’ve been able to use our negotiation styles and  negotiating techniques to reach a deal with the other side, we still  need to make sure that they will keep their word and do what they  promised that they would do. However, things can get just a little bit  trickier if after the deal has been signed the other side comes back to  you. The reason that they’ve come back is because they want a renegotiation of the deal. 

What’s a negotiator to do now?