Negotiation Skills Training Seminars
With
over twenty-five years of proven industry experience, the
Negotiations
Training Institute of America is the recognized leader in negotiations
training, consulting and performance coaching. Through public open
enrollment seminars and private on-session training sessions, we
have helped leading corporations, non-profit organizations and governmental
agencies improve their ability to
negotiate
better outcomes for their constituencies.
First-time
negotiators as well as those with the greatest
competitive
drive and amount of first-hand experience and
negotiations
wisdom can benefit from our time-tested seminars. Whether focusing
on
negotiating
a contract with a vendor or jumping in to the often-stressful
car buying process to
deal
with a dealership, our classes provide useful skills, proven techniques
and various classroom role plays to help you
become
more aware of negotiations that you must face on a daily basis.
For more information on our negotiation skills training seminars please
contact us.
Negotiations
Training
The Art
of Making Concessions:
Proper Use of Concessions
One of the areas
where many
business
professionals truly fail when negotiating is during the
bargaining
phase - that time when each side focuses on various proposals
and concessions
to come to an outcome that they will find mutually beneficial. Too
many people fail to follow some simple guidelines when
making
concessions:
Jimmy: "We
really enjoy working with your company and we're excited about
extending
the contract. Although, times are tight for us right now. Can
you waive the shipping fees?"
Donnie: "Well,
yeah, I think we can do that."
Jimmy: "Greeeeat.
Oh, and we won't have to worry about the restocking fees will we?"
Donnie: "No,
I suppose not."
Jimmy: "Excellent...
if you can provide us with expedited shipping, I'd say
we
have a deal!"
Donnie: "Deal!"
Too bad Donnie
gave away the farm. First off, he violated the cardinal
rules
on concessions:
1. Never give
a concession unless you get one in return
But this is
only the first rule... there are four others to always keep in mind
when negotiating, no matter the deal.
2.
What
you perceive as having low value, the other party may perceive
as having high value
3. What you perceive as having high value, the other party may perceive
as having low value
4. Whoever gives a large
first
concession without getting one in return usually loses the most
in a negotiation
5. By focusing on interests and increasing the "size of the
pie", concessions become the means to reach a
mutually
beneficial outcome
The first rule
is the most important one. You should never give a concession to
the other party without asking for one in return. When the other
party asks you to give them something to close out a negotiation,
the smart negotiation asks for
a concession.
Donnie: "I
can waive the shipping fees if you upgrade your order from Gold
Level technical support to Platinum Level technical support."
Also, it helps
to have a
good
understanding of what each part finds to be of high or low value.
You may be able to give a concession that is of very low value to
you (inexpensive and easy to give up) that the other party might
find of very high value (difficult to normally get or expensive).
Donnie: "I
can waive the shipping fees if you will also pay for our crew to
install the product. You'll also benefit by not having to use your
resources to handle the installation."
Shipping may
be perceived as high value to the customer but may realistically
be a very low margin and inexpensive item for Donnie. However, installation
may be a very high margin service. By waiving the shipping fees,
Donnie eliminates something he can normally "throw in"
by asking the customer to
pay for higher value installation.
In regards to
concession, when you give a large concession and don't
ask
for something in return, you are waving a flag that the other
party can ask for more. Don't fall into this trap. It's always important
to lean on the first rule - never give a concession unless you get
one in return. Furthermore, by focusing on
the
interests of each side and choosing to increase what might be
of interest to each side, you increase the size of the pie.
Spend some time
prior to your negotiations understanding what concessions you can
give or request during your discussions.
For Negotiation
Skills Seminar information please
contact
us.
Related:
Negotiation Course
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