|
|
Lessons In Negotiating From Youngsters: Selecting The Best Approach For Your Purchasing Negotiations.
Have you ever tried to reason with with a 2 year old?
Were you surprised with their negotiation skills?
Well, my son is now almost 2 and half years old and has now learnt that he has a will - a seriously strong will at that. Typical of children at this stage, he is far more interested in getting what he wants than with executing his mother or father's wishes.
It appears to me that as children we tend to be assertive rather than accommodating in our communication with others. We are only concerned with satisfying our own needs and wants rather than satisfying the needs and wants of others around us.
It is only as we mature that we believe the world does not in fact revolve around us and that we have to fit into society in a responsible and positive way. We learn that we can not only do as we wish but also have to consider the rights, feelings and desires of others.
This made me think about the 5 basic negotiation strategies and how you can use them to underpin the achievement of your sales negotiation goals.
1.Competitive negotiation
This is a style of negotiation that is primarily assertive and concerned only with your own needs, desires and targets.
2.Accommodating negotiation
This is a mode of negotiation that is predominantly focused on the needs, wants and targets of your counterparts whilst ignoring your own needs. Sales training programmes often advocate this negotiation approach as the most suitable strategy.
3.Compromising negotiation
Probably the most universally known of all negotiation strategies. This is a mode of negotiation where you meet your counterparts in the middle. You get some of your needs, wants and objectives met and you do the same for your counterpart.
4.Collaborative negotiation
This is a mode of negotiation where you attempt to meet all of the needs, desires and objectives of your counterpart and they do the same for you.
5.Avoiding negotiation
This is a style of interaction where you do not regard negotiation as the best method to achieve your objectives.
The important factors which will determine which of the above strategies should be in your negotiations is to respond to the following 3 questions:
a.What is the Importance of an ongoing relationship to you?
If the relationship is critical, then you will not be able to be only competitive, you will have to at least compromise with your counterpart. If you do not satisfy the needs of your counterparts, then it is not likely that a meaningful relationship will develop.
b.How many alternatives are available to you?
If you have a host of alternatives at your disposal, you can afford to be more competitive. On the other hand, if you have no alternatives, then you will be required to be more accommodating.
c.How much time do you have available?
If you have a lot of time available, then you can certainly be more competitive. The less time you have, the more accommodating you will have to be.
As you can see, it is important to ask yourself these 3 questions before you start negotiating so that you can pick the strategy best suited to the situation at hand rather than just following a negotiation strategy based only on your preference.
It is also important to remember that you should be flexible in your approach. You may want to change your approach as new information becomes available during your negotiations.
|
More Articles
Blogroll
|
