Chapter 1: Definition

Know What Negotiation is

There are many misconceptions about negotiation. Estate agents like to call themselves 'negotiators', yet in house sales they rarely do anything, except discount the price of the property. Many salespeople describe themselves as negotiators. So what is it? Is it a Dutch auction, which starts high and goes lower? Is it another word for selling? These are very common misconceptions. In fact, negotiation is none of these. A simple dictionary definition describes negotiation as 'discussing or bargaining in order to reach agreement'.

Negotiation is a transaction in which both parties have a veto on the final outcome. It requires voluntary consent on both sides. It is a give and take process where the actual conditions of a transaction are agreed. It is the act or process of bargaining to reach a mutually acceptable agreement or objective. It requires movement on both sides - real or perceived.

Why do we negotiate? Simply because if we don't we will not get the best deals available to us. One thing I can promise you is: if you don't negotiate, you are already losing money. The reality is, of course, that lots of people in business do not negotiate - they simply make agreements the best they can and it costs them every single time. Just last week, a senior manager from one of the world's leading software companies called me and said this: 'Reading your material, I realised that our team of sellers never negotiate, they just close the deal. We are losing large sums of money every month just because no one has taught us a better way. Can you come and help us?'

In a free market economy there are only two pivots around which any deal will finally be agreed: price and value. The bulk of people in business concentrate just on price - wrongly. Focus just on price and the best deals will never come your way.

Negotiation is in some ways like chess. You are prepared to sacrifice particular pieces in the interests of winning the game. In chess you know the pieces but you can't see into the other person's mind. In negotiation you don't necessarily know the 'pieces'. You have to discover and develop your own pieces and find ways of uncovering your counterparts'.



How to Negotiate Effectively
How to Negotiate Effectively (Creating Success)
ISBN: 0749448202
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 111
Authors: David Oliver

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