What is it going to take to your next sales negotiations to work the way you want it? If you need to go buy a bunch of books for negotiating learning styles or the latest negotiation negotiation techniques? If you need to bring in a hired gun? Or maybe it will be something so simple that it often gets overlooked - set the negotiating room right?
Sometimes it's all about the accessories
I know you want to have to talk about the best way to seize and keep power in the next negotiations. However, long before you get to where you need to worry about who has the power, you must ensure that the room you'll be in negotiations to help you get to the job you want to reach. It can not be part of negotiations definitions, but it probably should be.
Although we mainly focus on the most detail about the actual negotiations themselves, it turns out that we really need to expand our thinking. What I mean is that we have to spend some time thinking about lunch. And maybe dinner.
Studies have shown that people do not do well if we try to work longer hours without taking breaks. This is true when we are negotiating. This means that both lunch and dinner breaks are necessary. This means that the big question is how are you going to get your hands on these meals? Will everyone go offsite? Will you have a meal made? It is always important to both sides of the table can go and eat by myself - that's when some of the most important strategies work gets done.
Knowledge is power
It has always been my opinion that the negotiations is simply a specialized form of communication. This means that you must find a way to grab and hold on the other side of the table's attention.
The room you decide to negotiate to help you do this. Do not let the look of a room or how it forces people to sit in it to take attention away from material that you present.
Which leads to my next point: make sure you have everything you need to make a presentation. Do not plan shows up and just present some PowerPoint slides. Let's assume that things will be clear to the other side. Suppose you end up with a discussion of how your proposal can be modified to be acceptable to the other side.
If this happens, then you will have to be ready. This means that you should take time to make sure that you have all the supplies you'll need before starting negotiations: plate, plates, markers, paper, copy machines, etc.
Finally, as the lighting in the room look like? If it is not up to the task, you and everyone else will be in the dark - literally! Visit the web site before the start of negotiations and make sure they are both light and any audio system will help, not hinder, your next negotiation.
One final note that I almost hesitate to bring up. However, it was a problem more times than I care to admit. Make sure everyone involved in the negotiations knows where to go. All too often busy people make assumptions about where negotiations will take place and they end up showing the wrong place - perhaps even the wrong city!
What all this means for you
As negotiators, it can be all too easy to lose when you are looking for a way to our next negotiation process work the way you want it. This idea is a great idea, but too often we end up focusing on the wrong things. Instead, as part of the implementation of principled negotiation, we should spend some time thinking about how the room that will be negotiated in will be set.
Things to keep an eye on include making sure that when it breaks up, there are places to eat nearby. Making sure it will be easy for both sides to focus on the material presented and to make sure that everything you will need to explain the plan and document your progress is available. Finally, make sure that everyone knows where negotiations will take place - do not waste time waiting for people to show up!
In the negotiations, as in life, more often than not it's the little things that determine how what we have to negotiate turns at the end. If you take the time to make sure where your next negotiations will take place is set up to support you, then you'll be that much closer to a successful agreement.
