Negotiation has become a very important part of every job. Whether you have to negotiate your way into successful employment or you are about to make a million-dollar deal – you will definitely have to know how this unusual activity called negotiation works and what steps need to be taken in order to win. As a matter of fact, negotiation is the only sport where you win only if your opponent wins as well. If you manage to achieve a win-win situation, you are a master negotiator.
However, it is not important only to know how to negotiate but also when to negotiate. We all have certain milestones that, if negotiated well, can significantly help us achieve our business goals.
Being interviewed for a job
Being interviewed for a job is the first step towards achieving goals when you will have to use negotiation skills. Remember that you do not want only to get the job but you also want to make the odds be in your favor when you start working for that particular employer.
Being promoted
The next step in having a successful business life is being constantly promoted for doing your job well. However, I know many people who are experts in their areas but never got a promotion. This happens because they cannot negotiate their way up. Therefore, if your negotiation skills are high, you will just have to wait for the right moment to use them.
Dealing with your co-workers
Negotiation is not only connected to business but with your everyday life as well. Talking to your colleagues on a daily basis can significantly increase your negotiation skills and improve your performance on work. Just keep in mind that negotiating with your co-workers does not mean persuading them to work more but achieving the win-win situation.
Motivating your employees
If you happen to be a CEO and you have a certain number of employees working for you, you may have to negotiate with them on a number of things. This is actually the most difficult way to negotiate because you are alone and you have to make more people happy and achieve the win-win situation. Furthermore, if you really know how to negotiate, you will use this skill to motivate the employees as well. Motivated and happy employees are the strongest force one company can have and the CEO behind it must be the reason for it.
Making a business deal
Now, we have come to the real thing, where all the previous situations seem like a piece of cake. When you act as a representative of a company and you need to achieve a business deal which will benefit both you and your company, you will need to possess extraordinary negotiation skills which will help you in achieving that. If you manage to do so, you will be one step closer to achieving your business goals and all that you have ever dreamed of will become a part of your reality.
Negotiations as the way to live your life
In order to use negotiations to achieve your business and life goals, you will need to practice it with the people you know. Talk to your friends or family members and negotiate deals with them – make them gain something as long as you have something in return and start with the small things.
Apart from the practice, try to back everything up with theory by reading a good book on negotiating. There are a lot of interesting and useful books on this subject, one of which is “Never Split The Difference” by Chris Voss. This book will teach you how to negotiate as if your life depended on it. Another good book on this subject is also “Crucial Conversations” by Kerry Patterson.
To sum up, people often cannot differentiate between negotiating and persuading someone to do something. Persuasion requires persistence while negotiation requires not only hard work but the artistic approach as well. My professor used to tell me that it indeed takes an artist to negotiate properly and make everyone feel satisfied. Therefore, if you have your business goals set and you have your negotiating skills learned – go and make a change.
About the author
Tom Jager is a professional blogger. He works at Royal-Essays and has a degree in Law and English.
