The Critical Negotiation Skill Of Determining Achieveable Objectives For Your Business Negotiations.

A critical negotiation skill in your purchasing negotiations is how you go about deciding your objectives.

I would like to share with you 3 important points that we cover in our negotiation skills training programmes to think about when you are preparing for your negotiations.

1. What is the absolutely best result for you in this negotiation?

What would a absolutely wonderful deal (one that you would be very happy to agree to) look like?

We call this your aspiration base - in other words, the level at which you will aspire to close the deal.

You should be aware that it is important in your negotiation to always ask for a little more than you would like to get. This means that you must always have an aspiration base that is higher than your targeted objective. By asking for a little more than you would like to achieve you allow yourself to make a concession to your counterpart in return for a counter concession.

On the upside, you may just get what you regard to be fantastic if you ask for it! Don't make the mistake of making decisions on behalf of your counterpart by saying to yourself they will not be happy with that .Take note that I am not suggesting that you make extreme requests - extreme requests are very risky and dependent on the cultural environment within which you are negotiating.

2. What is the absolutely minimum acceptable outcome for you in this negotiation?

At what point will you decide to end or postpone your discussions?

If you do not decide on a specific point at which it will no longer be possible or desirable for you to conclude a deal, then you may become vulnerable to closing a deal that you will not be able to live with. This is vital to do as you could easily become emotionally committed to closing a transaction at all cost because you may think that your personal reputation is at stake.

3. What do you think are the aspirations and minimum acceptable agreement levels for your counterpart?

It is also vital that you think about the aspirations and minimum acceptable deal levels from your counterparts point of view. This will never be an exact science but through proper planning and research of supporting information you may be able to get a good view of what kind of deal is the norm in your line of business or kind of negotiation.

By considering the aspirations and minimum acceptable agreement levels from your counterparts viewpoint, you will be able to identify the bargaining range. Knowing the agreement range or zone of possible agreement (ZOPA) will help you to see if an agreement is possible or not.

Most negotiation training workshops will teach you that the agreement range is defined as the area of overlap between your minimum acceptable deal level and the minimum acceptable deal levels of your counterpart.

Remember that 99 percent of your success at the negotiation table is dependent on the quality of your preparation. You should spend at least as much time preparing for negotiations as you expect to be busy negotiating. If you expect to be in negotiations for an hour, then you should spend at least the same time in preparations.

The Critical Negotiation Skill Of Determining Achieveable Objectives For Your Business Negotiations.

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