NEGOTIATION SKILLS

Let’s talk about negotiation…

A real story here: I had a cup of wine but I don’t drink alcohol and I wanted a bar of chocolate – please don’t ask how this happened. Guess what I did? I found the nearest friendly face who had chocolate bars and I negotiated the chocolate for the cup of wine, at the end of the day he thought I was doing him a favor. That is the power of negotiation.

A lot of people may not be good at the art of negotiating but thankfully it is a skill you can learn. What are the prerequisites of learning negotiating skills? Communication, Marketing skills, and Conflict management.

Now more than ever, the skill of negotiating is an important one. The pandemic’s devastating effect on the world economy has resulted in budget cuts and some businesses going under. Right now, negotiation can be the difference between you losing or keeping a job.

Negotiation is a crucial skill as it allows you to get what you want. Often times, you may not get it exactly how you would have hoped, however, it dramatically reduces the chances of you being stuck in situations you are unhappy with. It could be for your organization or for yourself, the point is when you negotiate you secure the best deal possible at that given time.

Every negotiation process begins with adequate knowledge of what is needed. Understanding what you need, how you need, why you need it, and also very importantly why what you are bringing to the table is essential to the second party is very important. As it not only gives you the needed confidence, it also helps in your ability to convince.

There are times negotiations get heated, and in those moments, it’s essential to control your emotions. This allows you to keep the focus on what exactly you are trying to achieve. And when things still are not going the preferred way, consider the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) which you had identified before the start of the process.

Negotiation should ideally be a win-win process and in other to achieve this, both parties should continuously consider the needs of the other party. Now, go forth and negotiate your way into whatever success is to you!