How To Deal With Daily Negotiation

Negotiation is not always related with pricing. We negotiate every day over any of our daily role. Yet most of us don’t prepare for these everyday negotiations and often some people don’t even properly prepare for the big deals. Here are some good practices on how to prepare for any kind
of negotiation:

Always prepared with alternatives:

Never enter a negotiation without having an alternative in mind that you can accept. Options spare you from buckling too quickly if your first choice is rejected, and it saves you from appearing desperate.

Seek precedents:
Be ready to report on past agreements; this approach will strengthen your hand.


Reveal interests:

Try to find out your opposite’s true interests. Often he or she will purposely cloak them, knowing that such intelligence bolsters your position. For example, if you knew your opponent had to meet a deadline, you could use that information to trade for something you wanted. If the other party reveals what’s behind his or her demands, you may be able to skip over adversarial negotiations and quickly come to a win-win agreement.

Try hypothetical scenario:

Since in most cases both you and the other party will be cautious about revealing information that will give the other side a leg up, consider using hypothetical scenarios to create a comfortable atmosphere. For example, ask, “What if you needed the delivery by…” or “If price wasn’t an issue, what would be?”

Find out:
If you learn that price isn’t the only issue blocking the agreement, ask for more information about the other concerns. With that extra information, you may be able to come to a compromise.


Ask questions:
In many instances you could consider responding to questions with a question. For example, if a prospective employee asks what salary you’re offering, respond with, “What salary range were you thinking of?” That’s another way to get your opposite to reveal more than he or she originally planned—giving you a small, but significant, advantage.