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1-Page Summary of Negotiation Genius
What Is “Negotiation Genius”?
Negotiation geniuses have a set of skills that most people lack. They are able to overcome obstacles and achieve success despite the odds. People might think that negotiation geniuses are talented at negotiating, but they really aren’t. Rather than relying on intuition and instinct, you should develop a conceptual framework for understanding the negotiation process and how it works. You should also establish specific goals for each negotiation, as well as prepare methodically so that you’re ready when it comes time to negotiate. While most people think their goal is always to create win-win agreements, this isn’t true; instead of focusing on creating agreements with everyone involved in negotiations, focus on taking psychology into account when making decisions during negotiations. Make sure your approach is mindful so that you can learn from every single negotiation you go through in order to improve yourself over time by learning from your past mistakes or successes depending on what happened during the previous negotiations
Your Tools for Negotiation
Negotiation begins long before you sit down. Before negotiating, figure out your goals and options. Your BATNA is the best alternative to a negotiated agreement, or what you’ll do if negotiations fail. You can also determine your reservation value—the lowest outcome that you’ll accept in the negotiation. Then, evaluate how much leverage each party has at the table by identifying their goals and options as well as their reservations values and walkaway points. Finally, identify where there’s overlap between both parties’ zones of possible agreement (ZOPA), which are ranges of acceptable outcomes for both sides of a negotiation that will make everyone happy with the deal they’ve made together.
The negotiation process is important. If you make the first offer, it can be good because your anchor price will help determine what the other party will do in response. However, if someone else makes an offer to you, don’t let that influence how you respond and just use it as information about their thoughts on the negotiation. You should also try to figure out ways to moderate or change that anchor price so that you have more room for negotiating.
If you’re trying to figure out how far you can push the other party in a negotiation, start by doing research. Find out what’s important and gather information. Next, identify your assumptions and challenge them. Also ask indirect questions to learn more about the other party’s needs and goals. Once at the table, pay attention to both parties’ BATNA (Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement) as well as their reservation value (the maximum amount they would be willing to settle for). Figure out where there is overlap between those two figures so that you can reach an agreement in the middle range of each side’s offer. If one party doesn’t concede, don’t either. Instead, sit quietly with standing offers on the table until one or both parties make a move toward compromise. When making concessions, label them clearly so people know what they are getting in return for giving something up. Concessions should also shrink over time if possible because this shows that negotiations are reaching their limits or that someone wants it seem like everything has been narrowed down significantly. When responding to an offer, think about closing this particular deal while strengthening your relationship with the person across from you at the negotiating table ; these two things do not always go hand-in-hand.
To create value in a negotiation, both parties must work together. If one party is not satisfied with the deal, then it’s not a good deal. You should try to balance each other’s needs and wants. Try to make deals that benefit everyone involved. Before you start negotiating, make sure you know what your goals are as well as the other person’s goals. Use scoring systems to keep track of how close you are to reaching those goals and be flexible about them if necessary so that everyone can come out ahead in the end without losing anything important along the way.
