Effective negotiation is crucial in both working and personal life. It is an invaluable workplace tool when dealing with clients and across every aspect of building a successful business.
Not only will it help you to achieve your best deal, a ‘win-win’ with your clients and maximise their value to your organisation, it will also enhance your decision-making, problem-solving and relationship-building expertise in your day-to-day role.
So what are the ten key skills necessary to be a successful negotiator?
As a successful negotiator you will:
- Build rapport: Put people at ease and get them onside by creating a relaxed atmosphere with easy conversation.
- Promote good feeling: Create and maintain an environment of trust and respect throughout the discussions.
- Communicate clearly: Communicate ideas clearly and logically in a way that is easily understood.
- Listen actively: Pay full attention to what is being said, paraphrase and clarify then respond appropriately.
- Use effective body language: Communicate positive messages to the other party using appropriate body language including posture and eye contact.
- Solve problems: Find solutions and be prepared to compromise where necessary to achieve this.
- Ensure mutual understanding: Summarise discussions at regular intervals to ensure everyone is ‘on the same page’.
- Maintain assertiveness: Stand firm on important points when under pressure while remaining calm and controlled.
- Be flexible and responsive: Think on your feet, read between the lines and respond rapidly to changing situations.
- Make decisions: Make difficult decisions without hesitation and stick to them.
You may find useful:
Negotiation Skills and Techniques: The ability to negotiate is an essential skill for anyone who wants to consistently achieve positive outcomes with internal or external customers. This is often within a commercial business-to-business or business-to-consumer environment, but negotiation skills are also invaluable across a wide range of organisational activities including team building and human resource management.
Process, Questions, Objections and Value: This course tackles the four key areas which have the most impact on attracting and retaining customers or supporters and gaining maximum value from them. You will be challenged to reappraise your existing activities and procedures and take a holistic view of the customer experience, its commercial value and areas for personal and team improvement.
