The good negotiator

Welcome to my weekly blog about business, in today’s blog I’m gonna give you some tips on how to negotiate. Negotiate is an art, and like any art not everyone can do it, they can try but only the ones that really know how to do it will be able to master the art of negotiate. Without further due let’s start with these tips on how to negotiate.

Lose that fear on asking and fighting for what you want.

That is the first step, you have to stand up and be assertive, don’t take a no for an answer. Everything in this life is negotiable if you know how to do it. 

Always make the first bid.

When you are negotiating for a product, be sure to always be the one on making the first bid. There are two sides you can be on, the seller or the buyer, either way you always have to be the first one. If you are the buyer start low on your bid but if you are the seller start high, the only way it can go is up no matter if you are a buyer or seller.

Learn to listen

This is actually a good technique. You sit down and shut up, the other person will start talking trying to fill that uncomfortable silence we all hate, but between all the babbling, he’ll start to make no sense or is going to tell you information you needed to know without asking, only by being quiet.

Gather information before the negotiation.

Before starting to negotiate, you have to know where the other side stands, their needs, how desperate are they, their options. All that information you have to know before starting to negotiate, that will give you leverage.

Have a plan for the worst, but expect the best.

When you negotiate always expect to get what you want, but incase you don’t get it have a back up plan to know when the negotiation is turning against you. Try to always keep the negotiation in your favor but is also important to know when to walk away.

Take your time.

Be patient at the time of a negotiation, if you hurry you’ll make mistakes. If you are patient and take your time and think things through you’ll have the advantage. 

Never give without taking.

If the other side wants you to cut something off the negotiation, so they can have a better deal, don’t accept until you have something in return.

Don’t focus on your own pressure.

When you focus on your own pressure, the other side will look more powerful than you, and as a consequence you’ll start to make mistakes. So focus on the other side pressure, what are their weakness and why are they feeling pressure? Once you know that you’ll feel more powerful.

Never negotiate alone.

When you have the last word in a negotiation and you are feeling the pressure, always have an excuse to walk away saying you have to talk it over with other people first. Even if it’s you the one you have to talk to, walking a way and giving you a time to think and to reason is giving you a bubble of air.

A negotiation is not a competition.

Negotiation is not a game of winning and loosing. A good negotiation leaves both parties satisfied with the results. You’ll find that useful further along because you could start a business relation with the other side.

Those are all the tips I can give, I hope you find them useful and I hope I’ll see you in my next post.