Question

7. Fully discuss what you might do to build a strong positive relationship with the other negotiator.  

Answer 1

Every one, at some point, is it in their professional career or in their personal lives we negotiate with someone from the other side. This may be with vegetable vendor or between heads of the Country. A successful negotiation brings happy face at the end of the transaction between two individuals / group.

To begin a negotiation, certain background checks to be carried out about the issue on hand, with whom we are going to negotiate, where they are coming from what they might expect, etc. Good amount of time to be spent on researching these to have a positive and successful negotiation.

First and foremost necessity for the negotiator is smile on their face. Smile brings the inner positive energy to the negotiation table. This smile brings smile on the one at the other end of the table too which means positive energy all around the table.

Before starting the negotiation, there should be a plan in place on how far the negotiation can go and strategically place the points. Basically the worst case scenario (point of giving up) of the negotiation should be thought about it in the beginning itself.

Instead of negotiating on point by point, it is better to deal as a package. For example, if the negotiation is about price of a product then variables such as a) payment term b) lead time c) duty or taxes d) freight e) mode of shipment need to be packaged. In that case, the agreeable points are ticked off and the points where negotiation needed are discussed further.

In most of the cases, negotiations are not one off. We will be negotiating again and again with the same person. It is very important to have a positive approach for recurring success in all negotiations

Another positive approach is win-win for both parties. Negotiation results win-loss or loss-win may give upper hand for one party and it may not yield desired results all the time, the next negotiation the losing party tries to bargain tough and the future negotiations may not give results.

Once the negotiation completed, a summary of points agreed and disagreed need to be discussed. This will give clarity on the decision taken by both party. Once all the negotiation parties are in same page, the agreement needs to be documented for records.