When you negotiate, are you aware of how you make concessions? Are you aware of the impact concessions have on the flow of the negotiation? Do you develop a strategy for how you'll make concessions prior to entering into a negotiation?
When you negotiate, one of the best barometers you can use to get insight into how a negotiation is flowing is the manner in which concessions are requested and made. Great insight can be garnered from this observance, because the demeanor and style of the negotiators can be gleaned. In so doing, negotiators can gain insight into when requested concessions are sincere, or being used for positioning in the negotiation.
When negotiating, some negotiators concede too quickly, while others concede too slowly. With some negotiators, asking for what they want is easy, while with others, asking for what they want can turn into a long laborious drawn out process. Nevertheless, asking the other negotiator for concessions and assessing the probability of receiving them is easy to determine, but you have to know how to do so in order to achieve the goals of the negotiation. There are inherent opportunities embedded in a negotiation in the creation, allocation, and timing of concessions. In order to maximize those opportunities, requests for and the allocation of concessions have to be implemented properly. The following ideas highlight the manner in which concessions are used to achieve better results when negotiating ...
Set the stage: Camera, lights, action
Before entering into the negotiation, complete the perfunctory phase of gathering background information on the other negotiator. From this process, you'll gain insight into her style of negotiating and how dogmatic she might be when requesting concessions. After that process has been developed, create two lists. On one list, assemble concessions the other negotiator may want from you and those that you may want from her. On the second list, amass concessions you could easily give the other negotiator, which would not weaken your negotiation position and those she could readily give to you. Compare the two lists and look for items that overlap, which would not degrade your negotiation position. Rank those items as 'ones'.
Next, assess the probable concessions that might be requested of you which would introduce severe anxiety and stress into the negotiation. Place a ranking of 'ten' on them; in essence, those concessions are potential 'deal breakers'. For the remaining concessions, rank them as 'fives'.
Now you have a three tier ranking system. Those probable concessions ranked 'ones' can be easily given away during the negotiation. Nevertheless, in so doing, make a 'big deal' out of making the concession and give praise to the other negotiator for being able to extract them from you. Then ask for something in return. Every time you give, make sure you get something in return.
Those concessions ranked 'fives' should be conceded with more caution and with more 'flare', than the 'ones'. You should also give the appearance of being more deliberative prior to making a concession. The concessions ranked 'ten', well let's just say, hope they won't enter into the negotiation, less you pray. Nevertheless, if the 'tens' enter into the negotiation at an early stage, ask that they be tabled (set aside) until a later point in the negotiation. From there, build momentum by agreeing on more minor points during the negotiation, looking for opportunities where you can 'give away' some of your 'ones'. Determine as you progress through the negotiation when it might be appropriate to 'give away' 'fives', but do so more judiciously; make the other negotiator work harder than she did for the 'ones' to receive them. At this point, you're allowing the other negotiator to sense the fact that getting concessions from you will become increasingly more difficult.
Be sensible to your senses:
Be mindful of where you are in the negotiation process. In the same manner in which you're creating your list of concessions, and thus have created a plan by which to implement the appropriation out of those concessions, your negotiation partner, if she's a savvy negotiator, will have done the same on her side. It therefore behooves you to know where you are in the negotiation, in order to get insight into when the timing is appropriate to make concessions.
Sense when you're close to exceeding the other negotiators patience when making requests for concessions or just standing your negotiation ground. Depending upon the flow of the negotiation, one way to get more is to give 'something' the other negotiator wants before she asks for it. When you want to signal that you're near the end of being amenable when asked for concessions, respond more slowly than you might have when making prior concessions. By doing so, you'll send a silent nonverbal signal that will speak voluminously about where you are on the mental scale of making concessions.
When it comes to negotiating, never be fearful of asking for what you want. In the end, the reason you're negotiating is to maximize the position you had prior to the negotiation. In order to maximize the outcome of the negotiation, make sure you pace your requests for concessions of the other negotiator, and strive to create a win-win negotiation environment. By doing so, you'll always achieve more from every negotiation ... and everything will be right with the world.
The Negotiation Lessons are ...
· In a negotiation, the manner in which you make concessions sets the tone of the negotiation. In order to set the right tone, be aware not to make concessions too quickly and seek something in return when doing so.
· There are different ways to play the concession 'game'. Observe how the other negotiator makes concessions by taking into account her body language when doing so and you'll gain insight into how she wishes to set the stage for the negotiation.
· The uses of concessions are wonderful tools to achieve a win-win appearance in a negotiation. To achieve such, develop and utilize the appropriate strategy, matched to the manner in which the other negotiator makes concessions, and you'll be positioned to maximize the negotiation.
Greg Williams - The Master Negotiator http://www.TheMasterNegotiator.com http://www.YourEmergingSmallBusiness.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_Williams |  |
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