Learning how to negotiate is one great way to keep more money in your pocket. Anyone can and should learn how to negotiate things like your salary, your next car, or even a 5 star hotel room. Many consider negotiation an art form. Here are 4 tips to negotiate like a pro.
Build a Connection
Human connection is paramount in negotiation. In other words, if you go in anticipating a war, that’s exactly what you can expect. But if you go in expecting that you’re going to make a deal that satisfies the interests of both parties, you’re much more likely to have that outcome. This is a win win. You need to connect on a human level.
The more similarities you share, the more relatable you are perceived. To achieve this, try to be agreeable in the initial phases of your negotiation. In sales, the small agreements you make accumulate to larger accords, which contribute to the success of your negotiation.
Create Relatability
The more you can agree to early on creates more relatability between the two parties. To achieve this, get a lot of yeses out of the way first. In sales, the more small yeses you can get from the prospect, the higher the likelihood to get to the bigger yeses. That way, by the time you reach the sticking points, the common ground you’ve established will increase the likelihood that you’ll be able to reach an agreement.
Know What You Want
Specificity is key to successful negotiation. Determine what you want in advance, what you can live without, and what are the must haves. Being sure of what you want helps you make informed decisions throughout the negotiation process. It also gives you an aura of confidence and knowledgeability that may influence the other side.
Be Willing to Walk Away
The one thing that will give you the upper hand in every negotiation is to be willing to walk away. When you reach an impasse in the negotiation, you have to consider this strategy. Before you walk into any negotiation, you need to know at what price or what terms you know you’ll walk away from the deal. This alone will turn you into a much more effective negotiator.
My takeaway
The success in negotiation does not only fall in securing a deal. It is important to practice empathy towards others, to practice exactness, to determine motivations behind actions, and to articulate ideas in order to build a robust business platform. Just like any forms of art, negotiation requires practice in order to master its craft.
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