Negotiation is no longer about “domination”
We often think the louder person with the more authoritative appearance with a pushy attitude wins in negotiations. Although some do prioritize physical appearance in others; to some extent people judge a book by its cover, but in the long run it's information that helps us win on the table.
Think, you are sitting in front of a vendor/agency to get some service (as a client). Definitely the vendor is the subject-matter-expert, not you. So, you can't really push him beyond a point, unless you collect ample information on the subject matter. For example, if we have to arrange an event thru third-party, we must collect information about similar events done by other clients. What kind of complexities the event has, what are the minimum elements required to make it successful, what kind of problems usually arises during execution- if we get to know this sort of information, we can obviously negotiate better, rather than just pushing to get more from the vendors.
There are some ancient ideas like "If I sit for negotiation, I must sit on the bigger chair, or I must dress better (or look better) than the other party". Dear friends, days have changed, nowadays parties are not afraid of bosses that seem like landlords that they give up their stake and work at loss. Rather if we can set a win-win situation and explain our expectation and the other party's benefits, we might crack a better deal. We can't actually tell a party to do something without any benefit. We better clearly point out our expectation and explain to them that we can only allow them to have a logical profit. If a party wants to make big profit in a single task, its not good for them in the long run, because clients will discontinue with them sooner or later, when they get an alternative. Providing clarity on expectation really helps win better deals, for both the parties, I have seen as such in my not-so-short career.
Vendors/agencies/counterparts are humans. Apart from the basic need of earning bucks, they also want to be recognized and treated properly. If we can give them clarity, maintain professional relation, and can show higher benefits in the long run, we can really get "unfair" share of attention and more-than-justified amount of effort from counterparts. "We give them money, they give us service. No extra relationship management needed"- please give up this thought if you want to win more. Humans are still more emotional than rational. If you can bring the party in the same page, they will not consider the job as your job, rather they will engage themselves into your team. Nothing beats the effectiveness of having collective effort from multiple parties. Examples are everywhere, we just need to accept that.
To summarize, my suggestions for winning at negotiating are as follows:
- Collect as much information as possible on the topic
- Provide proper clarity to the counterpart
- Be logical, reasonable, keeping your interests intact,
- Don't think of them as opponents, keep the situation win-win,
- Try to create an emotional appeal around the task you are discussing
- Try to actively involve them in your serving your cause.
Faisal Mahmud is a Senior Marketing Manager at Bangladesh Edible Oil Limited.
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