By now you've been more aware of the times when you are in a negotiation with someone, whether it be a customer, co-worker, vendor, or someone at home. You've no doubt had one or two outcomes that were very different than what was available to you before the win/win training. You also probably had many negotiations that didn't result in win/wins, that went as they have in the past, or perhaps worse than usual as you tried new things. Remember, to be a successful win/win negotiator, you must:
A. Have the knowledge, which you now have and can reinforce and strengthen by review of the training materials in your manual and in the book, Getting to Yes.
B. Have the desire to be a great negotiator. This includes seeing yourself as a businessperson, providing leadership for others and not simply focusing on tasks alone.
C. You must practice. Each unsuccessful negotiation or failed attempt to create a spirit of collaboration can be used and learned from. Rather than take the position that what you are doing doesn't work or some other defeatist attitude, look at what you learned from your success and failures, what you could have done to have a different outcome, and begin experimenting and trying different things. Negotiations, like many skills, require practice daily. Let's review:
Separate the people from the issues. You must be soft on the people but tough on the issues. This means also creating a spirit of collaboration and not saying things that could be taken as offensive. For example: I feel pressure rather than you are pressuring me. Set the tone of collaboration early on in the discussion!
Uncover interests. Positions are solutions. Interest are the needs behind those solutions, not only being aware of your interest but also asking questions to uncover the other party's interests.
Creating options. When working with customers, you may need to create some commitment. For example, "We certainly want to see, Mrs. Jones, that whatever we do meets with your needs and requirements. Here are a few options of ways we may go about doing that..." Do not try to rush this part of the process. Often times you can create solutions that are better than either party would have dreamt of.
BATNA. Remember to have a backup, an alternative to negotiated settlement. This is not your bottom line in negotiation, rather it is what you can do without the other party if you cannot reach a negotiated agreement with them.
Use objective criteria or an objective process for reaching a decision. The classic example here is if your car is stolen, what should the insurance company pay you. Is it wholesale, retail, is it what's remaining on the financing, is it what's in the paper on Sunday on similar vehicles, etc. You will want to forward the objective criteria that helps persuade the other party and that creates a foundation of fairness for both parties.
Relationship. One of the truest tests of the successful win/win negotiation is that the parties will want to negotiate again. There may be some upsets along the way during the negotiation, but the primary results of the negotiation in terms of the value provided for each party, and the state of the relationship at that point, is what really counts.
Commitments. What are all the factors to be included in a negotiated agreement. Never make a negotiation about one issue because then it becomes a battle of wills. Rather than have inflexible criteria for the ending of the negotiation, this part of the process involves you in thinking about all the things that need to be considered for an agreement to be complete and to be followed through by each party successfully.
