Negotiation
Negotiation Is A Skill That Most Don't Have
Most people think that they are skilled negotiators, but will inevitably fall into one of two categories, hard negotiation or soft negotiation.
Hard negotiators take a hard stance on everything (and everyone) and will hold on to their position out of pride and stubbornness because they think that it is a weakness to "back down". They think that they are right and won't back down for anything or anyone. A hard negotiator will damage relationships to "win" the negotiation at all costs.
A hard negotiator will always win against a soft negotiator, which makes it a popular choice, particularly among businessmen.
Hard negotiators are what we most commonly face.
A soft negotiator is concerned with maintaining the relationships and will willingly concede a position to keep the relationship intact. They assume that everyone has the same motives as they do, backing down on a position because they think it is the right thing to do.
The reality is that neither work in negotiation.
What We Do - Principles Based Negotiation
Principles Based Negotiation is a communications process that gets to the core of the problem (for both sides) and looks for ways for both sides to benefit, providing solutions that would never occur in a traditional negotiation.
We like to refer to it as "Win Win or No Deal".
We represent you in the negotiation by listening to the other party and asking questions so that we can fully understand their position. "Why?" is the most critical question any negotiator can ask. We want to find out the reasons behind the position that they have taken.
It's also critical to understand the cultural perspective of the other parties. During the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis, the US "negotiator" announced to the Iranian media that he had come to negotiate a "compromise", which led to his car being stoned by the locals and pushed back the process considerably. The word "compromise" in the Iranian language has very a very negative meaning ("to compromise one's positon").
We really do put ourselves in their position to fully understand their perspective.
Once we fully understand their position, we brainstorm ideas to find a solution that works for everyone. We attack the problem, not the people and end up working together to find an amicable solution.
As an example, during the 1980 negotiation between Israel and Egypt, both sides wanted the Sinai Peninsula. Israel was occupying it after the 6 Day War in 1967 and Egypt wanted it back. It seemed to be an impassable situation.
However, the real reason that Israel wanted to keep the Peninsula was that they didn't want Egypt to invade them. It was a question of safety - Israel wanted to feel safe. Egypt wanted the land because it has always been associated with Egypt and their position was that they were not going to back down on this.
The solution was to make the Sinai Peninsula a de-militarized zone so that tanks could never get close to the Israel border, allowing the Egyptians to keep the land and the Israelis to feel safe. Truly, this was a win for both sides.
Do you have a negotiation that you have tried to negotiate, but have failed? Or do you have a critical negotiation coming up and don't have the staff to handle it? We can help.