Negotiation and the Art of Persuasion....Persuasion is a key ingredient in negotiation. How do you persuade someone to do something? Do you rely on your authority over them? Do you "sell, sell, sell," with benefits statements and other Marketing techniques? Do you cater to logic and set up rock solid arguments? Or do you show unwavering persistence in your position and stick with it until others agree that you are right? All of these approaches can be tempting, but they're not going to be effective in any communication. To be persuasive you must provide four critical elements: * Credibility * Common Ground * Evidence * Emotional Connection
Let's look at why it's important to know how to be persuasive. Persuasion isn't all about selling. Nor is it trying to convince someone to agree with you. It's about getting to shared understanding and agreement. From there you work together to reach a mutually beneficial outcome. Managers need to be good persuaders. They need to accomplish objectives through people. They could choose to bully, dictate, or coerce people to get the work done, but how successful would that be in the long run? If they use persuasion effectively, they will lead employees to want to reach a shared solution. This is very much applys to the art of negotiation In the corporate part of my working life I really enjoyed negotiating. They were usually centred on sales for high value items of capital equipment. However all of us are negotiating all of the time, in our working life and in our private lives. It comes down to all parties getting what they want with neither feeling sore about any concessions. Basically finding a fair compromise. In many ways the subject of the discussions is of little consequence because there are some fundamental principles that need to followed. My approach is very much one of; 1. Knowing very clearly what I want to achieve and why. 2. Questioning and Listening - to find out all I can about the other parties position and needs. 3. Talking - to let the other party know what I want him to know of my position. Only disclose what you think they need to know to be able to get started. 4. Thinking - about our relative positions and what we each may be able to give to reach our respective goals. When this point is reached it's normally possible to develop a strategy and you can then plan how you will try to steer the discussions. A vital part of this strategic development is to know your walk away point. The walk away point is the line you are not going to cross in giving any ground. It's vital that you fix this in your mind because in the actual negotiations you may well be emotionally drawn to give more than you should. Be pragmatic. For the conclusion to be 'win-win', all parties should feel positive about the negotiation once it's over. This helps maintain good working relationships. In summary: The negotiation itself is a careful exploration of your position and the other person's position, with the goal of finding a mutually acceptable compromise that gives you both as much of what you need as possible. People's positions are rarely as fundamentally opposed as they may initially appear. In an ideal situation, you will find that the other person wants what you are prepared to trade, and that you are prepared to give what the other person wants. If this is not the case and one person must give way, then it is fair for this person to try to negotiate some form of compensation for doing so - the scale of this compensation will often depend many of the factors in the whole scope of both parties situations. Ultimately, both sides should feel comfortable with the final solution if the agreement is to be considered win-win. There is a very good article on this topic at this link. At the Home page click communication skills and then Win - Win Negotiations.
Go to be your own business expert Home Page from Negotiation |