Negotiation Skills Training Courses

Our public Negotiation courses and in house Negotiations courses are enlightening, educational, measurable and fun. Negotiation training courses can be scheduled at your offices or through our open enrollment courses. We do offer negotiation skills training courses to the general public.

Contact us today to discuss your specific Negotiation training needs or to sign up for one of our public negotiations courses. 

Participants in the Win- Win Negotiations course will learn to:

• Develop an effective plan and strategy for any negotiation
  
• Know when and when not to negotiate
  
• Negotiate face-to-face, on the phone, and through e-mail
  
• Learn to become a more persuasive negotiator
  
• Develop a common negotiating language with the other parties
  
• Use negotiation techniques that pull information from the other parties
  
• Read client and employee behaviors styles to maximize closure
  
• Recognize interests and issues and avoid unnecessary positions
  
• Neutralize manipulative negotiation tactics
  
• Minimize negotiation conflicts and deadlocks both internally and externally
  
• Coordinate negotiations within client organization
  
• Meet business objectives by focusing on planning rather than on tactics

As I've often said, "If you make a mistake and don't repeat it, then it becomes part of your experience base." As a result, it should become one of the lessons you've learned. On the other hand, if you repeat the same mistake, then shame on you!

Here's one lesson I'll never forget. About twenty five years ago, I believe I made the biggest mistake of my career when I set out to negotiate a big deal. As part of what I wanted to negotiate, I actually gave something away without getting anything in return. I agreed to pay an extra year of licensing fees. As the fees were at a reduced rate, it really didn't appear to amount to much in the context of the total agreement. I felt I could negotiate that point with no problem.

About one year later, I found out that what appeared to be a minor point during then, turned out to be a deal breaker for the other party when we started to negotiate again. In fact, had the other party not gotten the additional licensing fees, irrespective of what they might have had to give in return, the bank would have withdrawn their offer to finance this party's leveraged buyout of another division of the company. In essence, there would not have been any possibility of the other party consummating their buyout, and they "won" an enormous point without having to give anything in return. Their strategy to negotiate with me caught me off guard.

While this is a simplistic overview of what I intended to negotiate leading up to this particular point, had our team had any information regarding the importance of this point for the other party, we could have gotten some concessions we wanted in return for the additional licensing fees. Another experience learned the hard way. From that point on, I never forgot this any time I began to negotiate.

At the same time, when you begin to negotiate you have to be careful not to take the information you've gathered about the other party's situation and use it to hammer them into submission, as the other party probably will spend a significant amount of time and effort "getting even" at some time in the future. By way of example, early in my career, I wanted to negotiate a licensing agreement which was very favorable to the licensee in terms of the benefits versus the costs. About two years into the seven year agreement, the licensor had the opportunity to "level the playing field." The licensor had developed the next generation raw material used in the process which offered significant cost savings opportunities in the manufacturing process. The licensee had no choice but to purchase their requirements from the licensor. You guessed it! The licensor charged a premium for the new raw material that more than made up for the shortfall he believed he had been forced to accept when the original license agreement was signed.

Lessons learned: You need to do your homework and obtain as much information as possible about the other party prior to the actual negotiations. Once you begin to negotiate, ask open ended questions to get additional information. Never give anything away without getting something in return. At the same time, be careful not to hammer the other party into submission.

Charles H. Newman: http://www.beyondthechickendance.com

Notes: Negotiate

More Negotiations Training Tips