Friday, July 25, 2008

Skills That Work On Your Negotiation

Negotiations require a great deal of preparation. As part of their negotiating strategy, good negotiators will try to identify any potential mishaps and prevent any damaging circumstances that may waylay the talks. For example if your counterpart in negotiations is from another country and does not speak your language, translators will be needed. They way the furniture in the room where the talks will be held is arranged can have a positive or negative effect on communications, if the seating arrangement is such that eye contact cannot be made, and body postures cannot be seen clearly. All of the non-speaking aspects of body language play a role in the heat of a negotiations session, and you will want to do all that you can to be able to pick up on them and respond in a way that is non confrontational and open, so that talks among the conflicted parties do not break down.
Several negotiation skills may be relied upon as you work to reach your negotiation objective. Knowing which one might be the best to select in any given circumstance comes with experience, but it can also be aided by effective negotiating training. Depending on the specific business negotiating situation you face, after hearing your counterpart's initial offer, you might select to do one of the following. Asking for the other party to clarify their stance helps you to understand more fully what it is that they want from the negotiation, and can help you to formulate a counter offer that will appeal to them. If you know what their objective is, you can frame your counter offer in words that will show them how they will benefit from the offer. You might also realize that you can give them what they desire without changing your objective, which would be a highly agreeable outcome. Negotiation skills can vary depending on your and your counterpart's objectives, and moment-by-moment changes that you detect as you proceed with the talks. Training can give you valuable tools that you will have at your disposal to utilize in reaching your negotiation goals.

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