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Five Tips on Negotiating the Best Terms For Both Parties

Author: Damien Justus
by Damien Justus
Posted: Aug 17, 2018

Successful negotiations aren't just about getting what you want; it's about two parties reaching an agreement wherein they both benefit. Whether you are negotiating for lower rates with your service providers or better conditions in your serviced office, learning tactics on how to negotiate a mutually beneficial contract can serve as a competitive edge in the business setting. Here are five tips on how to do just that:

Establish Mutual Respect First

No mutually beneficial agreement can be reached without respect coming from both sides. Show the other party that you respect them by arriving to the meeting on time, maintaining eye contact when speaking with them, and maintaining proper body posture. Make sure to command the same level of respect that you give to your opponent. Seeming timid and reluctant can invite your opponent to walk all over you during the negotiation process.

Give Both Sides Enough Time

Win-win negotiations are about both parties getting what they want. This can only be achieved if they are both given enough time on the platform to state what they want. Let one party state their desires, and then let the other party do the same afterward. This gives both of them a fair shot at making their case rather than have to listen to the other party make demands. When it's your time to speak, don't hold back. Don't be afraid to state your demands. Be assertive, both in voice and body language.

Wear the Other Party's Shoes

Try to envision yourself in the other side's shoes. Are the terms and conditions you are lobbying for fair to all people involved? Most people only research how certain stipulations of a negotiation will affect them, but fail to read up on how different outcomes will affect the other organization they are negotiating with. As a result, they both go about pushing for terms that are simply impossible for the other party to accept. This does nothing but wastes both parties' time and rupture existing and future business relationships. By studying the other side, specifically how the deal affects them, you can also use the information to influence their decisions, such as by helping them realize how certain changes in a contract can boost their sales and profits.

Train Your Employees

Training your employees, especially the marketing and customer relations departments, can yield better negotiators. Sales negotiation training programs are specifically designed, as the name implies, to help you close deals more efficiently. It helps your sales staff develop a masterful negotiation process that leads to win-win solutions when possible. It also helps your staff improve sales pricing and profitability by effectively dealing with savvy customers and resilient purchasing departments. Sales negotiations can also help strengthen your existing relationships with customers and business partners. Lastly, these training programs usually involve role-playing thus instilling your staff with a sense of awareness of the fact that there are two sides to consider.

Do Your Homework

To be able to help both you and the other party involved, you need to be knowledgeable about the matter at hand. Determine alternative solutions that are available for both you and your opponents. Thoroughly research and analyze the other business' footprint on social media and by meeting up with other vendors that offer comparable solutions. Collect data and facts that support your case. This way, you can better identify pricing, goals, terms, and conditions, and so forth. Coming to a negotiation without having done any research can leave several loopholes in your arguments that can be exposed by the opposing party. You'll want to maintain credibility by having all the facts straight and coming prepared with all the documents needed.

Final Thoughts

Effective negotiation skills take time and deliberate practice to sharpen. Applied properly, it can help improve both your personal and professional life, allowing you to extract opportunities from partnerships and building solid relationships with customers and organizations.

About the Author

Damien Justus writes in the business, home improvement and real estate spaces, and is very passionate about health, cooking, diet plans and anything that has to do with staying fit.

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Author: Damien Justus

Damien Justus

Member since: Nov 07, 2017
Published articles: 42

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