Being a well-rounded business owner or operator necessitates the development and cultivation of competent person-to-person and person-to-business negotiating skills. Luckily, effective negotiating does not have to be a secret art, as learning business negotiation can and will benefit your growing business immensely.
Why Negotiate?
More often than not, you don't have a choice in choosing whether to negotiate or not. Whether your task is to secure financing from prospective investors or to arrange a supplier's drop off schedule, you will be forced to deal with other people all the time.
In order to effectively interact with your business partners and auxiliary helpers, you must be an effective listener, communicator, and persuader if you want to get the most out of your resources. Thus, learning to effectively negotiate over a wide range of topics will help you throughout the course of your business dealings.
Learn to Listen
One of the most difficult things is to be a good listener. While many of us think that we're pretty good listeners, the fact is that many people have difficulty retaining the information conveyed to us by the other party. Being a good listener grants you a number of advantages. First, you concentrate your full attention towards the other party, giving you a better sense of their thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
Next, you show the other party that you care and that you're sincere in your business dealings. Perhaps the most important benefit to being a good listener is that you decrease the chance of missing or forgetting crucial information that you may have otherwise missed if you had not been listening carefully.
Master Your Use of Nonverbal Cues
It has often been said that the majority of the communication that takes place during negotiations is entirely nonverbal. Indeed, the role that body language plays in both normal communication and business negotiations is a large one. Learn to read body language to see if what they are saying matches up with what their body is telling you.
In addition, you can use the power of body language to alter the course of a negotation. For example, surprised or advere body cues can signal the other party that their initial price is too high. Whether or not they choose to verbally address it will most likely be affected by their recognition that their price is probably out of your league. Never underestimate the power of body language and nonverbal cues.
Knowledge is Power
Preparing for an important negotiation is often more important than your performance during the actual performance. Information is crucial in the context of a person-to-person as well as a person-to-business exchange.
Arming yourself with everything there is to know about the opposing party is critical. You can utilize this information throughout the course of the negotiation in various ways, from deducing an attractive price that both parties can quickly agree on and even more. The possibilities are nearly endless when you’ve adequately prepared for your important negotiation.
Don't underestimate the power of good listening skills, reading body language, and research. While the three of these alone won't be enough to transform you into a master of negotiations, they are good steps to begin with when first setting out in the world of business negotiations.
