05 Jun 09 Negotiating for a Win-Win Result

In business and in life it’s a valuable skill to be able to persuade others. I’ve learned over the years it’s even more impressive & effective to negotiate and communicate so that both parties win out. Any negotiation that involves one party taking advantage over the other is set up for failure from the start.

I’ve always been interested in the art of negotiation and how to effectively persuade others to my thinking. The biggest interest I’ve had is how to use strategic negotiation to win others over to my thinking, while staying calm & collected. Many times it is so easy for people to get worked up over the small things and let their emotions take the best of them. When entering into a bargaining agreement or even any social or business setting that requires you to persuade someone- please keep in mind your end objective. Whether it’s to get a higher payment agreement, close a prospect on a sale, or convince someone to go out on a date with you; keep focused on the end result, rather than get wrapped up in the moment.

So many times I’ve entered into negotiations with people who run me around in circles and ultimately the conversation ends up into an argument with no real solution or problem solved. I’ve found the best way to negotiate is to think about the other person’s objectives, put yourself in their shoes, always be reasonable, and speak slowly and calmly. Rarely will raising your voice or becoming hostile with someone win them over to your side. Sure, you may win your point for now, but ultimately you set yourself up for a failing relationship if you win people over by force. Effective business people use charisma and personality to win people over for the long-term. They do not focus on just today’s result, but more importantly how will today’s outcome affect tomorrow. Are they going to be a happy customer, client, or partner? Or will today’s ‘win’ turn into a nightmare tomorrow?

A book I recently read does an excellent job of explaining the art of “WOO” (Winning Others Over). Author, G. Richard Shell describes in his book The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas case studies and real-life examples of people entering into powerful negotiations that were able to effectively leverage a whole lot with very little. He talks about huge negotiations from small businessmen to rockstars to entrepreneurs to high-powered Wall Street executives. The book is incredibly useful and has helped me tremendously in fine-tuning my persuasion & negotiation skills to effectively win others over and persuade them to my point of view. Whether you’re a salesperson, owner, executive, or just a regular person looking to improve upon your persuasion, negotiating, and sales skills, this book is for you!

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