Becoming a master negotiator isn’t a skill learned in school. Yet, all of us are bound to negotiate on a daily basis.
People negotiate on a range of aspects: from picking the kids from school to requesting a salary raise, from the redaction of a contract to buying a fancy car at a cheaper price, etc.
In any case, we negotiate EVERYDAY! With our competitors, with employers, with vendors, with employees, with family members, with spouses, etc.
What fewer people realize is that the ability to negotiate starts from a very young age. Indeed, toddlers negotiate very well with adults through their cuteness – even when they can’t speak.
In this post, I will expose a number of tips which will level you up in becoming a master negotiator. But before that, let’s start with a situation I witnessed a little while back.
There was this colleague of mine …
Our employer was restructuring the company and initiating a shift basis work. And employees were to sign new contracts.
George – an employee – made it clear from day 1 that he wasn’t interested in working on a shift basis. He managed to shut that conversation with his superiors for years. And …
Suddenly, the top management gave him an ultimatum. Either he starts working on a shift basis, or the company would escort him out.
George’s response was simple and quite straightforward: “OK. In that case, consider this as my resignation notice period”.
Now that was a bold move. One that everybody was forced to respect, even if they did not approve it. Long story short: on the last notice day, a new position was offered to George in the company.
The company, who claimed they were ready to let go of him, offered George a new position. Not only that, but they also accommodated to his only condition i.e. not working on a shift based contract.
Why did the company make a 180° turn? Allow me to rephrase that question …
What tips to becoming a master negotiator did George use?
Tip n° 1: George was willing to walk away.
From the very first second, George was clear: he won’t be working upon a shift-based contract. He had established and expressed what was inacceptable to him.
When negotiating, ensure your opposing party knows you won’t make a deal at all costs. If you make a deal at all costs, the opposing party will sniff that out – and may turn it at your disadvantage.
If there are any negotiation terms you are NOT willing to accept, simply walk away! Let your “No” be a real one.
Threatening to fire George was a sign the employer was willing to make him work on shifts at all costs.
Making such threat tells me one thing: the company assumed George would do anything to keep his job. Including NOT walking away.
Such assumption was a mistake, which brings me to the next point.
Tip n° 2: Listen carefully to the terms of your opponent
The company made an assumption that proved to be wrong.
Had they carefully listened, they would have noted something capital: the ONLY thing which was NOT an option for George was to work upon a shift-based contract.
George knew what the company wanted, and he knew what he did NOT want. Losing his job was never a problem for him.
The company knew what George wanted, BUT they also ASSUMED he wouldn’t risk losing his job. Such assumption empowered them to recklessly bluff – by hinting he would be let go of.
The party who listens more will know both their motivations and their opponent’s motivations. Listening more gives you more leverage and more power.
Don’t assume. Listen carefully.
Tip n°3: A good negotiation is a win for each party
People often think negotiation is about winners on one side and losers on the others. This couldn’t be further than the truth.
To think of negotiation in terms of winners and losers is the first step to sabotaging any negotiation you may have to do.
Why? Because if your opposing party feels like they are losing, you will lose the deal. Period. No one likes feeling like a loser. People are willing to concede – definitely NOT to lose.
Forcing George to make him sign the contract would have made him a loser. Any other option (especially under such conditions) was a winning option for him – and a losing one for the company.
The company assumed that firing George would’ve made them the winning party. It turned out to be wrong. And the proof of that is the fact that George was offered a new position on his last notice day.
The company’s move turned out to be a failing move, and they corrected it.
Conclusion
Most probably, George didn’t know he was using negotiation techniques when he was going through all of this.
The fact is: using these techniques gave him leverage and the upper hand at that negotiation table. Such conduct forced his peers to respect him.
Without knowing, that advantageous position contributed to securing a better deal for himself within the company.
In fact, I thought it was a pity George didn’t negotiate a salary raise back then – but that can be a subject for a later post 😉.
This post only listed a few tips to becoming a master negotiator. There are other useful tips to help grow your negotiating skills. I will be exposing them in a different post.
In the meantime, do you think George could have done better? How so? Have you spotted any other negotiating techniques George used? If so, I’d love to read your thoughts down below in the comment section.
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