Negotiation...When Less is Better
In a negotiation, especially a heated one…Never miss the opportunity to say nothing.
In negotiations and business dealings you will deal with many different types of people and personalities. Some negotiations are easy, others are hard, and a few seem absolutely impossible.
Don’t feel you always have to have an answer. Don’t feel you always have to respond to the other side’s arguments and opinions.
Of course, it isn’t easy to do this. But recognise why you feel the need to respond…it’s not because the other side is wrong (in your opinion), it’s because of the primal fight or flight response. You feel under siege and you feel you must defend yourself and your view otherwise you’ll be defeated in the negotiations. And when you feel the need to have to defend yourself, your reasoning becomes skewed as the focus falls on defending your opinion rather than the outcome you want.
You may win the battle, but you still might lose the war.
Become conscious of the way that you negotiate. See when you are defending your view simply because you believe the other person is wrong. At times like this, just let them talk…but listen, don’t dismiss their arguments as nonsense. Remember you need to understand where they are coming from so you can find their “triggers”. It’s these “triggers” that are the doors to a solution.
John Rosel