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

 

All of us would like to feel powerful in our negotiations but we seldom spend any quality time thinking about how and where we might get our power. It is a continuing source of amazement to our consulting group how often our clients will enter into critical negotiations with only the vaguest outline of what they are going to do and how they are going to do it.

Alternatives are the best source of power in most negotiations. It is easy to walk away from a deal you don't like if you have multiple ways to accomplish the same goal. Unfortunately, we don't always have as many good options as we would like. In these cases, we've got to figure out another way to give ourselves power.

We have found that the often-overlooked process of Planning is a great source of power. We're not talking about thinking in the abstract, or chatting with your colleagues about the deal on the way to the meeting. By Planning, we are talking about a disciplined approach to preparation that will allow you to think through your strategies, strengths and weaknesses, goals, and alternatives before you ever leave your office.

Sounds complicated and time consuming doesn't it? It doesn't have to be and the results that you get will more than justify whatever effort that you put into the process. Here's how we recommend that our clients plan for an important negotiation:

(1) First, put yourself in the other side's shoes. What is going to be important to them? What issues are they likely to concede? Where are they going to be coming from? This will give you important insights into the strategies that they are likely to use.

(2) Figure out what you want out of the deal and write it down. It there are points that you absolutely have to win, then you had better be very clear on them up front. At the same time, think about concessions that you can make that won't cost you much.

(3) Look at your list and theirs and try and find some areas where you are likely to come to a quick agreement. It is usually best to start with the easy stuff. It gets the meeting off on a nice collaborative note.

(4) Isolate the problem areas and brainstorm some possible solutions. If you know that price and delivery dates are going to be a problem, then you are way ahead if you come to the meeting with some suggestions on how to bridge the gaps.

(5) Know how the other party is going to be measured on the outcome of the deal. What is it going to take for them to look good? Don't assume that price is the only factor. Quite often there are other, less obvious but equally important yardsticks; quality, or on-time delivery, for example.

(6) Figure out your pricing strategy in advance. What is your starting point? What will your moves look like? And, most importantly, what is your walkaway point. You have to know at what point you no longer want the deal. WRITE IT DOWN! This will keep you from getting carried away and doing something that you will regret later.

(7) Think about what you will do if, for some reason, you don't get the deal. This is not negative thinking. If you aleady know what you are going to do if you can't get an acceptable agreement, you are much less likely to feel the pressure to get a deal at any cost.

We feel so strongly that Planning is critical to successful negotiations that our rule is: If You Don't Plan, Don't Go.

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