From Done Deal: Insights from Interviews with the World’s Best Negotiators
by Michael Benoliel and Linda Cashdan (257 pp)
There’s a saying: Everything in life is a negotiation. When I first heard it some years ago, I thought: that’s not true… But the more I came to think about it, the more I found a deeper truth. I think maintaining this sensibility is a healthy one, even if you’re not actively involved in business negotiation. The sensibilities of maintaining a good approach to effective negotiations has wide reaching benefits in all aspects of life. In a book considered a classic by many, Done Deal: Insights from Interviews with the World’s Best Negotiators authors Michael Benoliel and Linda Cashdan share smart strategic insights from famed leading business leaders and international public political figures. These guidelines deliver effective and proven approaches to successful negotiation. I’ve shared a few.
by Michael Benoliel and Linda Cashdan (257 pp)
There’s a saying: Everything in life is a negotiation. When I first heard it some years ago, I thought: that’s not true… But the more I came to think about it, the more I found a deeper truth. I think maintaining this sensibility is a healthy one, even if you’re not actively involved in business negotiation. The sensibilities of maintaining a good approach to effective negotiations has wide reaching benefits in all aspects of life. In a book considered a classic by many, Done Deal: Insights from Interviews with the World’s Best Negotiators authors Michael Benoliel and Linda Cashdan share smart strategic insights from famed leading business leaders and international public political figures. These guidelines deliver effective and proven approaches to successful negotiation. I’ve shared a few.
- Enter the room well-armed – No successful negotiation succeeds without research and planning which is conducted well before the negotiation begins. This also helps to avoid the phenomenon known as ‘winner’s curse’ where upon closing a deal you realize you could have done much better. This includes knowing your objectives and the bottom line – what you need versus what you might want, that’s nice to have, but not required. Think strategically, and plan to ‘frame’ your offers so it is attractive to all participants, and proposals align with the other side’s vital interests. Think deeply about both abstract and factual concerns, and strive to master the issues being negotiated.
- Choreograph the relationships dance – You must understand people and how they relate. While people may represent large organizations, it is the individuals themselves with whom you negotiate. Start with respect. Strive to build a personal relationship and seek awareness of common ground and shared experiences. No interaction is too small, including a shared cup of coffee. Learn social practices of the other side and accommodate them when appropriate. Nurture trust and strive to negotiate from both sides of the table. This enables you to understand their perspective and gain insight into their goals and needs.
- Go the distance – Some negotiations are sustained and can last well beyond a single meeting. Some meetings might last hours, outside one’s normal work cycles. Be ready for what it takes, and assure that you maintain the physical readiness and mental clarity for the entire process. It can be in some cases skilled negotiators strive to take their opponent beyond the fatigue point, where their resistance is weakened, and they become inclined to agree. If you are there to negotiate something important, you must see it through to the end and maintain a flexibility to adjust your expectations and responses to align to the ultimate goal.
- Manage the process – The structure of your process will shape your negotiation. However, since variables will always be part of the process, a readiness for adaptation is required to accommodate unplanned situations that might arise in the course of the negotiations. Information is a key, and continually seeking informed insight into the other side’s positions is critical. Open-ended questions are a good tactic to get people talking, and direct questions are crucial to acquire specific date. Also, from the start you must assure that the deal being sought is feasible and attainable, and that those present are empowered to close the deal. In some cases people enter into negotiations just to get information, and then have no intention of coming to an agreement. Seek clarity and assurance that the people you're dealing with are there for the same reason you are: to come to a mutual agreement.
- Take it or leave it – It is said the ‘walk option’ is one of the strongest tools in negotiation. If you're comfortable walking away from a deal, then the party you're negotiating with lacks that leverage against you. Being a slave to your desire for elements in the deal can place you in a position where you're willing to give up something critical to gain something else. You must assure that what you get in a deal is what you want and need, not something that you settle for in absence of achieving the original goals and objectives in a negotiation.
“In addition to astute advance planning,
there must be flexibility
to adjust quickly to the unexpected conditions
that occur in the negotiation.”
there must be flexibility
to adjust quickly to the unexpected conditions
that occur in the negotiation.”