There
is an art in the act of a successful negotiation. There is an actual science
behind what makes someone an expert negotiator. Anyone who ever tells you
otherwise, is a damn fool. Most people make the mistake of confusing
negotiating as bargaining, and thinking that the main objective of a
negotiation is bargaining for a particular price. Most people also make the
mistake of failing to properly prepare for a negotiation. Many people view
negotiations as an adversarial experience instead of a cooperative and
problem-solving opportunity for both parties. Many people also fail to imagine
what their counterpart’s interests and preferences may be prior to the
negotiation process. I was able to find three very informative and helpful
videos on YouTube about negotiation techniques. Each of these broadcasts is at
least 20 minutes in length, to abide by the specifications of the work assigned
to me.
I
chose to view a video from The School of Internet Marketing founder, James
Martell, who hosts a show called “Coffee Talk.” On this particular episode,
Martell welcomed his guest Roy Weissman to the show. Weissman has negotiated
millions of dollars in agreements with companies like Time Warner, AT&T,
Verizon, Comcast, NewsCorp, and many more. Weissman was able to provide very
insightful information about negotiations. He stated that one of the biggest
rules in negotiation is to “Always separate the emotions. As soon as you bring
emotion in, everything else flies out the window.” He mentions that most people
do not think about their objectives and what they wish to accomplish from the
negotiation. Also, that many people do not think about their ideal end-point
that would make them feel like they accomplished their objective. Weissman
believes that the people who do this, always have better outcomes. He mentioned
a relevant quote that I really like in, “If you don’t know where you’re going,
how do you know if you ever got there?”
The
second video that I viewed was of Margaret Neale, on Stanford Business School’s
YouTube account. Neale is an accomplished research professional that offers
excellent advice on successful negotiations. The video began with her telling a
thought-provoking hypothetical story about deciding to turn down a career offer
while your friend takes it and negotiates a better pay. Neale stresses that the
point of a negotiation is not to simply get a deal, but to get a good deal. She suggests taking three
steps to ensure that every negotiation brings a good deal. Step number one is
deciding what your alternatives are. An alternative is basically what you have
on hand. Neale certified that whoever has the better alternative, does better
at the negotiation. Step number two is determining what your reservation price
is. This is the point when we are indifferent and saying “no” looks as good as
saying “yes.” She mentioned the third step as begin very important yet often
overlooked in deciding what your aspirations are. What is an optimistic
assessment of what you can achieve during this negotiation. It is also crucial
to assess the situation, prepare, ask or engage with your counterpart, and
package your alternative proposals as a package.
The
third video that I viewed was from a broadcast called “The Voluntary Life,” which
was hosted by an English guy named “Jake.” This individual show is based on
negotiations in entrepreneurship. Jake brings up a good point in that when it
all boils down to its simplest form, business really is all about negotiating
or finding ways to reach agreements with people. Jake also expands further by
suggesting that negotiating is a “fundamental part of all relationships in life
because it’s a way of reaching agreements between you and others in order to
achieve happiness.” He urges people to write everything down. If someone
doesn’t, then this usually leads to confusion and difficulty among the parties.
As far as the credibility of “Jeff” goes, I’m not sure what his accolades
include. However, I do know that after listening to him, that Jeff knows what
he’s talking about.
Negotiating
is not an adversarial experience, rather a collaborative and problem-solving
opportunity. It sure seems that there are far more ways to ruin a negotiation
than there are ways of having a successful negotiation. I will continue to
educate myself in the ways of this art form and hope to be in a far better
place someday, due to implementing what I’ve learned of successful
negotiations.
Works Cited:
“Mastering the Art of Negotiations”
by James Martell with special guest Roy Weissman:
“Margaret Neale: Negotiation:
Getting What You Want” from the Stanford Business School:
“Entrepreneurship – Part 7:
Negotiation” from The Voluntary Life:
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