HTSS178 - 7 Basics of negotiation skills - Scott Sylvan Bell

7 basics of negotiation skills you must have 

Basic negotiation is a need you must have in sales and business. You will find for some business owners and salespeople negotiation freaks them out. This means you have a huge opportunity to close more deals and make things happen. You have to be willing to learn how to negotiate with other people and or business owners. 

Regret after negotiating a deal 

You always walk away from deals thinking you could have done better, this is normal. You will get better with negotiation over time. Everyone could have done it better once you explain the deal. Monday morning quarterbacks are real once you share your side. You really can't pay attention to what others say after you do a deal. 

Negotiation creates anxiety for others 

You have to get over the anxiety and then put in the work. Your skills can only be improved from learning the negotiation process.  You will be beyond the book at some point. Roland Frasier shared this phrase and it's a perfect way to explain how negotiation works. Most people are not willing to put in the work and or the effort to close deals. If you just work for a few minutes a day you can get huge leverage. 

The best books for negotiation 

There are a few great books on negotiation. You will want to pick up Start With No from Jim Camp and Never Split the Difference from Chris Voss. These 2 books on negotiation will give you the skills and the knowledge you need to have a fundamental framework. These 2 authors can give you enough to get a jump start and then take action to get started. 

The 7 basic negotiation skills you must have 

1. Put in the work – know what you are looking for and what you are not looking for (it may come down to your data, comps, questions, and even examples).
2. He who asks gets – you have to ask for what you want.
3. There is a dance to negotiation – the back and forth – vocal pitch and tone, pace
4. Everyone complains about price - All people are taught over time to complain about the price 
5. You must remain calm – you can overplay your hand / you can come across as aggressive
6. There is always another deal – You can get wrapped up in sunk costs fallacy, there are plenty of deals out there. 
7. Have fun when negotiating – it's just a product or service  

 

Negotiation basics you need to know 

You must get to the point of negotiation. So many people never get here or they “have to think about it” out of fear of negotiation. There is typically small talk when people meet with you. Get started by selling on the 2nd hand market. You can use Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, or anything similar. You can start this by finding 10 things around your home that have some sort of value but no meaning to you. 

How to visualize negotiation 

If you would like a visual representation of negotiation you can draw a plus sign. North to south is more of something or less of something (product or money) – east to west is more time and less time. These quadrants that are created will cover about 80 - 90% of the items you will negotiate for. You can literally draw this out every time you get into a negotiation. You can get stuck on a quadrant and lose out or you can use it as a guide to get what you want. 

Negotiation in sales

Your buyer is nervous when you negotiate. Make the process really cool and really easy for the most part. There is power in remaining calm for yourself and for the people you meet with. There are elements where you do have to emotionally engage to help you get what you want. Most people don't want to deal with an aggressive negotiator, you use this emotion when you need it for emphasis. Most people have the fear of making a bad deal, paying too much or getting bad terms in their mind.

How to renegotiate and save face

There are times where deals need to be renegotiated. Buyers remorse sucks this isn’t a reason to renegotiate. If you do have to go back and share there was a mistake made you can open the dialogue but before you do you must know your "reason why". This question is going to get asked by the people you meet with. Know that you can renegotiate deals, but the other group doesn’t have to respond. It may be that you need to tell them the truth, they were too good and negotiated too well against you and your team.

Communication in negotiation 

Communication in negotiation will come down to questions, reason why, stories, ask for favors, and even having fun. You can fail by walking into the worst parts of negotiation:

• automatic or max level discounts - This puts you in a bad spot 
• Desperate - You will get taken advantage of or cause people to walk away 
• Terms / price - Know what you can do and have planned levels when possible