I’ve been a negotiator my whole life. From convincing my parents to let me have ice cream as a bedtime treat to getting my first job at 12 – managing golf carts at a New Jersey course – it’s part of who I am. This important skill has helped me in my career, first as an executive contract negotiator for a large company and, for the last 20 years, as CEO of JNBA Financial Advisors in Minneapolis, where I negotiate business deals, big and small, for my clients every day.
In fact, we’re negotiating right now. How about you promise to read the rest of this article, and in return I’ll give you three tips to negotiate nearly anything.
Oh, you’ll agree to it if I offer four tips?
It’s a deal.
Here are four tips to improve your negotiating skills:
Enter a negotiation with reliable information and data. Take the time to get ready. Do your research. Read everything thoroughly, and then read it again. Don’t hesitate to involve trusted colleagues to carefully review contracts, supporting data, projections – everything. The saying “measure twice, cut once” applies to negotiation preparation too. If you approach the table with incorrect data or miss an “I” that isn’t dotted or a “T” that isn’t crossed, you’ll be at a major disadvantage and could face serious consequences.
Don’t fall in love with a deal. I will walk away from an opportunity in a heartbeat. That can be extremely difficult if you’re emotionally invested, and another good reason to seek counsel from a trusted advisor. When a client brings us an opportunity they’re interested in, we always listen to them to truly understand what’s appealing about it. Then we do the technical assessment where we really scrutinize it and look at the hard data – the P&L, budget, projections and much more. Often we find it’s not as good an opportunity as the client initially thought, and when we present the information to them in an objective manner, they understand that it doesn’t make sense to move forward. Your gut can only get you so far – data doesn’t lie.
Know when to bring in a professional. You may be the best company owner or most talented sales person, but that doesn’t mean you’re an expert negotiator. It often makes sense to bring in a trusted advisor to handle negotiations, especially when it’s about something that’s very near and dear to your heart like your family or your business. An objective third party acts as your advocate and removes the emotion from the situation, sidestepping the things that go bump in the night for most of us – fear, uncertainty, lack of confidence, greed. Top advisors enter negotiations by asking themselves one – and only one – question: What is right for my client?
Define what a win-win situation actually looks like. I always go into a negotiation with the idea that it has to be a win-win. What’s interesting is the definition of a win-win. Each party needs to get something of value out of the transaction and “win” somehow, that’s a given. But where you really provide value for your client is in helping them determine what provides the greatest worth for them, and what they’re willing to give up in pursuit of the win. Is it price, speed, quality, comfort? “Winning” isn’t necessarily beating the other person; it’s getting what’s most important to you, in a way that’s acceptable to both parties.
One example? My main objective in the deal between you and me was to get you to read this whole article, and if it meant all I had to do was write one more tip than I had originally planned, then so be it.
And it looks like you made it to the end. I call that a win-win.