Negotiation Success Step Two Do Your Homework
Negotiation Success Step Two Do Your Homework
The outcome of a negotiation is often determined before actually sitting down with your negotiation partner. (Remember, it’s a win-win outcome we’re looking for. For a reminder of The First Step to a Successful Negotiation, see www.ourlifebusiness.com/archive.) How then, can we prepare for the best possible outcome? Simple – you’ve got to do your homework.
Your homework will consist of the six questions outlined below. I suggest taking the time to write out the answers. The overarching goal of these questions is to make you so well prepared for the actual negotiation that anything that takes place during your discussion will not be a surprise. Here are the questions to answer:
1. What do you want as a result of this negotiation? Write down as much as you can about what you want from this negotiation. Don’t stop with just the first few things that come to mind. Keep writing. For example, if you are negotiating for a new job, of course you will be listing a salary. But what else is important to you? List it here: vacation time, parking, flexible schedule, room for growth, six-month review, etc. Keep writing.
2. What does your partner want as a result of this negotiation? Repeat step one above, but this time look through the eyes of your negotiating partner. This is harder to do. Use your imagination. Using the same example of a new job, the hiring manager will want someone smart, someone to take the pressure off of him or her, who doesn’t need a lot of hand holding, who gets along with others, etc.
3. Where do these lists overlap? Start to draw connections as to how to create a win-win solution. You will need to keep an open mind because new ideas will always come up later, but begin to see where there are shared interests and common ground.
4. What is your ideal outcome? What would make you ecstatic? For a salary or numbers negotiation, what’s the ideal number?
5. What is your acceptable outcome? What are you willing to agree to? What would be ok – no resentments, no regrets?
6. What is not acceptable? And what would you do if this negotiation failed? What (words or numbers) would make you stand up, smile, and politely say “no thank you”? Then, what’s your back-up plan? Question six is crucial. It has to do with the “power” in the negotiation. Rather than feeling as if you are at the mercy of your negotiating partner, you now know your walk-away point. Most likely you don’t need this job “no matter what.” You can look elsewhere. This can offer great confidence going in to your discussions.
There are other forms of homework that are also important. For example, you will want to find out how much the market will bear for this position (go to salaries.com for some great help on this one). How much does this car, boat, piece of land go for in other equitable settings?
For the life-changing negotiations, doing your homework is a deliberate action that takes time and effort but that could bring tremendous rewards. For the smaller negotiations, simply having the forethought to think about what you really want, and what your partner (or spouse or kids!) really wants will make a negotiation easier, less confrontational, maybe even fun. Now, it’s not just about who will do the chores, or where you’ll go for vacation, but it’s about what both parties find most important and figuring out ways to get there together.
© 2005 Kristin Thalheimer, MBA & Coach
Negotiation Success Step Two Do Your Homework - To learn more about this author, visit Kristin Thalheimer's Website.
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Negotiation is everywhere. We negotiate for new jobs and higher salaries; for cars and homes; with our partners, siblings, and kids. Some negotiations are life changing – careers that move us from one part of the country to another. Other negotiations are less dramatic, but may be more frequent – who will do the chores, or where to take the next vacation.
The outcome of a negotiation is often determined before actually sitting down with your negotiation partner. (Remember, it’s a win-win outcome we’re looking for. For a reminder of The First Step to a Successful Negotiation, see www.ourlifebusiness.com/archive.) How then, can we prepare for the best possible outcome? Simple – you’ve got to do your homework.
Your homework will consist of the six questions outlined below. I suggest taking the time to write out the answers. The overarching goal of these questions is to make you so well prepared for the actual negotiation that anything that takes place during your discussion will not be a surprise. Here are the questions to answer:
1. What do you want as a result of this negotiation? Write down as much as you can about what you want from this negotiation. Don’t stop with just the first few things that come to mind. Keep writing. For example, if you are negotiating for a new job, of course you will be listing a salary. But what else is important to you? List it here: vacation time, parking, flexible schedule, room for growth, six-month review, etc. Keep writing.
2. What does your partner want as a result of this negotiation? Repeat step one above, but this time look through the eyes of your negotiating partner. This is harder to do. Use your imagination. Using the same example of a new job, the hiring manager will want someone smart, someone to take the pressure off of him or her, who doesn’t need a lot of hand holding, who gets along with others, etc.
3. Where do these lists overlap? Start to draw connections as to how to create a win-win solution. You will need to keep an open mind because new ideas will always come up later, but begin to see where there are shared interests and common ground.
4. What is your ideal outcome? What would make you ecstatic? For a salary or numbers negotiation, what’s the ideal number?
5. What is your acceptable outcome? What are you willing to agree to? What would be ok – no resentments, no regrets?
6. What is not acceptable? And what would you do if this negotiation failed? What (words or numbers) would make you stand up, smile, and politely say “no thank you”? Then, what’s your back-up plan? Question six is crucial. It has to do with the “power” in the negotiation. Rather than feeling as if you are at the mercy of your negotiating partner, you now know your walk-away point. Most likely you don’t need this job “no matter what.” You can look elsewhere. This can offer great confidence going in to your discussions.
There are other forms of homework that are also important. For example, you will want to find out how much the market will bear for this position (go to salaries.com for some great help on this one). How much does this car, boat, piece of land go for in other equitable settings?
For the life-changing negotiations, doing your homework is a deliberate action that takes time and effort but that could bring tremendous rewards. For the smaller negotiations, simply having the forethought to think about what you really want, and what your partner (or spouse or kids!) really wants will make a negotiation easier, less confrontational, maybe even fun. Now, it’s not just about who will do the chores, or where you’ll go for vacation, but it’s about what both parties find most important and figuring out ways to get there together.
© 2005 Kristin Thalheimer, MBA & Coach
Negotiation Success Step Two Do Your Homework - To learn more about this author, visit Kristin Thalheimer's Website.
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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