Don’t be afraid of negotiation! Negotiation skills can be learnt by anyone and once you’ve tried it, you’ll want to develop and hone this skill in your work and home life. Here is another set of tips to help you on your way to becoming a better negotiator.

1.       Move in small steps – this tip prevents you from hurtling towards your walk-away point at break-neck speed and also links to your trustworthiness, for example if you’re prepared to move by 10% in one step, the basis for your earlier ask then seems false.  

2.       Don’t use round numbers – there’s something psychological about round numbers that makes them look contrived or made-up on the spot. Using odd numbers appears as if there is some scientific thought that’s gone into the calculation and is less susceptible to being challenged. Instead of £1,400, use £1,417.

3.       Over and under – if you’re presented with a demand that you determine to be unreasonable it can be tempting to argue against it. In the negotiation space, a proposal beats an argument, so instead place an equivalent unreasonable price on the counterpart’s demand.

4.       Be explicit and bold in what you ask for - In the event that you consider yourself to be in a position of relative power and don’t have full information on the position, true needs and power of your counterpart, be bold with your requests. You never know, you might get what you want! You can always back-track if necessary and remember “Shy kids get no sweets”.

5.       Express and emphasise areas of agreement, rather than just focusing on the differences – this technique really helps to build and grow rapport and can maintain the negotiation on a positive footing.

6.       Beware of soft language – experienced negotiators are trained to spot weaknesses in their counterpart’s position and will exploit it. Appear more confident and avoid imprecise language such as “I can’t go much lower than £1,000” or “my final offer would be in the region of £1,200” or “I’d expect a discount of between 5% and 10%”.

7.       Adjournment – this can be a useful technique of the negotiation isn’t making the progress you expected. Ask for a short break and use it to refocus or reframe your approach. Also, use this time to collect feedback from other colleagues on any non-verbal signs that they’ve picked-up from the counterpart during the discussion that may indicate division or a lack of conviction, which you can later exploit.

8.       Silence – this is powerful, but can be uncomfortable. Ask open questions and sit silently, deeply listening to the response. If you’re making a proposal, once you’ve said your piece, again sit silently, waiting for a response. Don’t succumb to the feeling that you need to fill the void with more talking – it will undermine your previous statement.

9.       Open door – use a hypothetical example to test the water on a proposal, “just suppose I was able to agree” or “what if”. This means that you can explore new options in a conditional, risk-free way.

10.   Don’t dilute your argument – if you give a robust reason for why you can’t accept something or insist on something, fight the urge to provide more reasons. Each reason offered will slowly dilute your argument.

So there you have it, my top 10 negotiation tips, all of which and more you’ll learn on my 1-day negotiation skills course, which is available face-to-face or remotely.

 Negotiation is a skill that anyone can learn, it’s fun and can help you get a better deal at work and in normal life. There’s a lot more to learn about negotiation, so if you’re curious and want to know more please get in touch here.

 The best days lie ahead

 Martin