THE SUBTLE ART OF WIN-WIN

Pallavi Pinakin offers a few tips on how to win at the negotiating table

We live in a complex world. Every person has opinions, desires, thoughts and feelings. Finding the true middle ground between two diametrically opposed positions is one of the hardest and most challenging posers that people often face.

Developing and mastering strong negotiating tech­niques not only helps us in our professional life but also interpersonal rela­tionships. This skill pays dividends throughout one’s lifetime and makes it extremely valuable for everyone.

Here are some steps to help you become a master negotiator at work.

BE PREPARED You must do your homework before walking into the room to negotiate. While it’s impossible to anticipate every potential scenario that may arise, doing your research beforehand will certainly give you an edge.

The first step is to learn more about the other party: who they are and what they’re hoping to achieve from this negotiation. In addition, identify details or weak spots that can help you gain the upper hand. For ex­ample, if you know that a certain clause is crucial for them, you can concede on that front and ask for something in return – i.e. for the terms that are most important to you.

Be clear as to what constitutes a win for you ahead of time. Of course, it’s important to stay grounded in reality; but you should try to approach the negotiation with a focus on your best case scenario and make sure that you aren’t setting the bar too low.

This includes defining your ‘walk away point.’ If a bare minimum requirement can’t be met by the other party, it’s vital to recognise that and walk away instead of wasting time.

DEVELOP GOODWILL Negotiation is often seen as a cut-and-dry transaction that dispenses with the important role that mutual goodwill and feelings play in the process. People skills factor into a productive deal as much as figures or analyses.

Regarding the other party as a partner to be respected rather than an opponent to be bested is the first step in creating an atmosphere of trust, which in turn serves as the foundation of a constructive negotiation.

Apart from embodying these qualities yourself, it’s also im­portant to seek them in your negotiating counterpart. Honesty and integrity are critical attri­butes, and their absence should count as a red flag so that you can avoid wasteful negotiation time.

If you do decide to walk away, don’t burn your bridges behind you – because you never know who you may have to deal with down the line… so leave on an amicable note.

Cultivating a healthy, respect­ful affiliation with everyone involved also makes good long-term business sense. Mutual goodwill sets you up for fruitful negotiations in the future, and creates a positive reputation for you and your organisation as a fair party.

WIN-WIN SCENARIO Approach­ing a negotiation with the goal of being the only winner might work well for the deal at hand but there is a significant downside as well.

Playing a zero-sum game earns you a reputation for being ruth­less and negotiating in bad faith, which is counterproductive in the long term. An all-or-nothing mentality kills any chance of repeat business because it will alienate the other side.

The deals that really stick and lead to future collaboration in­corporate ideas from both sides. Aim for a win-win scenario where all parties walk away feeling happy. This mindset also ensures that different stake­holders work together as a team rather than as rivals, and makes for smoother negotiations and opening doors for the future.

LONG ANSWERS Ask open-ended questions. Simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers to questions rarely provide sufficient data while open-ended questions increase the chances of the other party divulging important information.

Of course, it’s crucial to listen actively, ask follow-up questions and paraphrase information to make sure you’re on the same page.

REFERENCE POINT While it’s tempting to offer a range of options to the other party to seem flexible and reasonable, it usually means that they will choose the end of the spectrum less beneficial to you since they now know how low you’re willing to go.

Instead of yielding the upper hand so quickly, start by throw­ing out a concrete number or variables that would work best for you and see if it sits well with the other side. You can com­promise later, should the need arise; but in a best case scenario, you’ll walk away from the deal with your ideal terms fulfilled.

SILENCE IS GOOD The best nego­tiators know how to harness the power of silence to their advantage since it tends to make most people nervous.

If you don’t respond immediately to a less than satisfactory offer, chances are that the other side will scramble to fill the quiet with explanations or reasons behind their statement, providing you with valuable information.