Never enter into any agreement or negotiation from a point of desperation. The moment you show how desperate you are, you disarm yourself of bargaining power. The value of the transaction will be compromised by your appetite and apparent desire. Rather go back, gather yourself and your thoughts, and reschedule the talks. We often put a price tag on products based on our needs. No one wants to spend more than the actual value of the product or service. As African businessmen, politicians and the like, we have lost the power of effective negotiation, therefore time, value and resources have been wasted. Where potentially we could have reaped millions of dollars, we have settled for a few thousand dollars which of course could pay some bills and jump start an economy. The question is do we properly calculate, plan and prepare for negotiations, deals or agreements or do we see the dotted line as Red Sea Party, imminent breakthrough and forget the fine print. I have watched with great interest how sudden outbursts of joy over the signing of mergers between companies and political parties, even churches, have turned into a series of mourning experiences as the dotted and signed document is activated. Before you can have the famous handshake to signal agreement, consider your actions carefully. The decisions you make at this point have lasting effects on where your organization will be for the foreseeable future. Keep in mind that those who have entrusted you with the responsibility for negotiations are counting on you to make decisions in the best interest of the organization.
Here are some trading guidelines.
• Do some research and research on the other party before the meeting. Check the trade references and the results of previous agreements that the other party has entered into. Use your non-negotiables checklist to determine if you should continue negotiations. It may not be necessary to enter into any negotiation if the other party does not pass the “non-negotiable” test beforehand.
• Prepare questions in advance that seek to clarify the clauses of documents you have previously received. Have your legal representative investigate and review any contracts or agreements. Preparation involves anticipating questions and answering them before participating. It involves presenting your best case and alternatives where necessary, therefore it is important. There is nothing wrong with preparing for a stuck position and how to get out of it.
• Attend important meetings with witnesses or people who can help with the discussion. This could be your Personal Assistant or Senior Manager on your team. You may need someone who can give you tips and advice. Someone you can use eye contact with to determine if you should continue or not. Sometimes when you are alone trading with a panel you lose because of the numbers as you may have 5 active brains thinking before you.
• Don’t rush into the decision: always look the negotiating party square in the eye and avoid being bullied into making a decision here and now. The push should never be just to ensure that the agreement is signed without the parties taking ownership of the decisions they are making. Whenever there is a rush, you should signal within yourself that there might be something hidden in the deal. Take your time. You don’t have to sign instantly.
• Understand the time factor: There is always a good enough time for negotiations to take place. You will not negotiate effectively when you are in a hurry or when there is fatigue on both sides of the negotiating table. Depending on how tense the negotiations may be, it is healthy to ask for a “time out” to recover.
• Avoid emotional bargaining: Separate your own emotions from the issue being negotiated. When you get too angry or emotional, you lose composition and bargaining power.
• Avoid attacking the person but look at the issue under negotiation – There is a tendency to target personalities at the expense of the issue under discussion or negotiation. While it’s important to know the type of person you’re negotiating with, the subject matter supersedes personalities.
• Pay attention to details: In the event that you receive documents in the meeting without reading them first, it is important to read the fine print or give it to a specialist within your team to analyze while you discuss it. The fine print is usually the source of all the problems in any negotiation.
• Be prepared for compromise: Before entering into a negotiation process, you should know both the best and worst case scenarios, the benefits and the drawbacks of each case. Obviously, you should start the negotiation by putting your best case on the table. As you trade, a bit of compromise is necessary, but don’t go below the worst case. I’ve heard it said that “in a negotiation, both parties should come away feeling like they’ve gained something and lost something.”
• Never make your despair obvious to the other party. It is important to do a SWOT analysis of yourself and the team you are leaving with. Once you know your strengths, you won’t let someone without a thorough understanding of the current topic on the table lead the discussion. Do not expose any weaknesses you may have as the other party will take advantage of your useless proposition.
“Your ability to negotiate, communicate, influence and persuade others to do things is absolutely Indispensable for everything you achieve in life”
Brian Tracy, American self-help author