Negotiation Skills - The Process

Step 5. Conducting a Negotiation

Negotiation is as much about listening and observing as it is about talking. You need to be very alert to the mood of the negotiations, since this can change quickly. Being alert involves using all your senses to pick up signals given off by others. 

Making a proposal is fundamental to all negotiation. It is vital to decide early on in the planning process whether you wish to speak first, or to respond to the proposal from the opposition.

Leave yourself plenty of room for manoeuvre when presenting your case. Do not make brash statements that suggest your position is unmovable. Likewise, do not try to pin down the other party to a fixed position too soon. Avoid forcing them into a corner or into making promises at an early stage of the proceedings, since this reduces their options when you come to concessions later.

Helpful things to do

1) Listen carefully to your opposition - their wishes may be closer to yours than you expect
2) Be willing to adjust your strategy if you can see a compromise early on in the proceedings
3) Make your initial offer unrealistic, and compromise from that point onwards
4) Take notes of all the offers made, trying to record them verbatim

Phrasing your proposal

It is important that you present your initial proposal fluently and with confidence so you are taken seriously by your opponents. While speaking, emphasise the need to reach agreement.

When making your proposal, explain the conditions attached before making your initial offer. Summarise briefly and then keep quiet to show that you have finished, and allow the other party time to digest your words.

Responding to a proposal

When you have heard the other party’s offer, do not feel obliged to respond immediately with a counter offer. Remain as inscrutable as possible while summarising the proposal as you have understood it.
This gives you more time to think about what has been said, and also provides an opportunity to confirm that you have understood it correctly. It is crucial that you understand the other party’s position completely.

If you decide to make a counter offer, try to do so immediately after you have summarised the other teams offer. To become a successful negotiator, learn to recognise that there are alternatives to every situation.

Decide what you can offer as a counter proposal by working out what issues are priorities that are least important to you, and incorporate them into your counter offer. In this way you will appear willing to compromise, but will not in fact give away anything of great value to your team.

Go to Emotion and Tactics