NEGOTIATION NOTES

Introduction
- Section 1: Understanding the “TRUE” Negotiation:
1. What is true negotiation?
2. Negotiation is a learnable skill.
3. Everything is negotiable.

- Section 2: Think like an Expert Negotiator:

1. Mindset of Negotiator
2. The “Pricing Uncertainty Principle”
3. Contracts are merely starting points.
4. Negotiation is a game, so play it.
5. Types of negotiating.

- Section 3: The Six Styles of Negotiating

1. Win-Lose Negotiating.
2. Lose-Win Negotiating.
3. Lose-Lose Negotiating.
4. Compromise Negotiating.
5. No-Deal Negotiating.
6. Win-Win Negotiating.

- Section 4: Negotiation Tactics & Methods

1. Tactic 1: The Flinch
2. Tactic 2: Assertion
3. Tactic 3: Question (A Favorite)
4. Tactic 4: Lowball
5. Tactic 5: The Nibble
6. The Law of Indirect Effort.

- Section 5: Negotiation isn’t just about negotiating.

1. Moscow Analysis for Negotiation.
2. Negotiations are never final.
3. The Four Essentials.
4. Positioning and Body-Language.
5. You’re going to win.
Section 1: Understanding the “TRUE” Negotiation:
- First of all, negotiation isn’t about arguing. A negotiation is a STRATEGIC
DISCUSSION that resolves an issue in a way that BOTH parties find acceptable. In a
negotiation, each party tries to persuade the other to agree with his or her point of view.
 By negotiating, all involved parties try to avoid arguing but agree to reach some form of
compromise.
- Negotiation is a learnable skill. Try to apply all new learned skills into everyday life,
practice is always welcome.
Section 2: Think like an Expert Negotiator:
- No matter how much inflexible or firm the terms or price could be, everything is
negotiable, you must observe where and how you can negotiate, how you can get a better
deal than the one you’re being offered and that should be a mindset you should adopt in
order to become a master negotiator.
- Pricing Uncertainty Principle: All prices are arbitrary and malleable. You can set any
price, for any product, at any time, at any level. BUT, you have to justify the value you
have imposed on your product/service.
- Contracts are merely starting points. When they bring you a contract, it’s clauses are most
likely written to be in the favor of the one that wrote it, always read and re-negotiate your
contracts.
- 2 Types of Negotiation: Different purposes; people often mix these up, leading up to
using the wrong techniques in said negotiation.
- Type 1: One-Off Style; Negotiation happens only once, you know you won’t engage with
said counterpart again. No friends, no future, no nothing. Acute selfishness is to be
encountered here from a business standpoint. A good tip is to be selfish yourself, try to
win everything at once, try to burn him, you know you won’t meet him again.
- Type 2: Long-Term Negotiation; You are going to work with that client in the future
once again, so you must take that into account. You should practice good account
management and treat your client as a worthy partner.
Section 3: The Six Styles of Negotiating
- Win-Lose Negotiation: I get what I want from you, you don’t get what you want from
me. Goals are SELL FOR MAXIMUM PRICE and BUY AT MINIMUM PRICE
POSSIBLE. This is more fitted for one off negotiations, not meant for long term
partnerships.
- Lose-Win Negotiation: I don’t get what I want from you, you get what you want from
me. This is used primarily when you want to win the trust of your partners and come off
as genuine especially in the beginning, beware of getting scammed, this tactic should be
practiced with much bigger firms than yours.
- Lose-Lose Negotiation: Neither of us win anything from this negotiation. Used primarily
when the balance of the negotiation is tipped off in the favor of one party, this style being
used by the losing party that tries to minimize it’s losses by making the other party lose
to. This shouldn’t be really practiced at all times, but when faced with huge losses, this
can be used as one of the last resorts.
- Compromise Negotiation: Neither of us all fully satisfied with the deal, but the deal
doesn’t determine whether any of the parties have lost or won something of value.
Primarily used when trust needs to be established between two parties that require a
 security clause, with both parties compromising a future partnership seems like a more
possible and realistic prospect.
- No Deal Negotiating: Worst case scenario, other party refuses to do any business with
you, only thing you can try is to save the sale with other techniques such as the Lost Sale
technique and redirect the conversation.
- Win-Win Negotiation: The best negotiation style, most commonly used in the business
space and it’s a gold standard in the world of business. This is the aim when trying to do
business with any company, no compromises, no loses, and it’s the only way you can
build partnerships that can last on the long term.
Section 4: Negotiation Tactics & Methods
- Tactic 1: The Flinch; No matter how much the other persons offers or promises to offer,
always flinch. Act like you are shocked. Act like you were expecting something else.
This leads the other party to doubt themselves, they will start altering terms or prices.
- Tactic 2: Assertion; Mention that you can get it cheaper somewhere else, be reminded
that this tactic doesn’t always work, some will let you off, you’ve got to use it
intelligently, and provide evidence.
- Tactic 3: Question; Ask the person you are negotiating with…”Is that the best you can
do?” This may be to final, this should be used in the latter stages of the negotiation, but
this forces them to give you a final price on which you can further negotiate because you
force them to want to close, to which you can use some negotiating techniques such as
“foot in the door” where you offer an outrageous price, other party refuses, then you offer
your true price, making it sound much more reasonable. You can also ask: “Are you
telling me that you have never sold that item for less than that price?”
- Tactic 4: Lowball; “I can give you 50$ cash right now”, cash deals are preferred because
of the Reduced Inventory Costs, No Credit Card Merchant Fees and they get a Feeling of
Instant Gratification.
- Tactic 5: The Nibble; You agreed on a deal, everything’s good but you ask for additional
information, or imposing additional beneficial services, such as free delivery or similar
services that aren’t related to the product you already agreed upon. If they refuse these
services; you can try to shut down the initial deal, but this is a risky move, depends on the
other party.
- The Law of Indirect Effort: You harder you try, the less successful you will be from a
negotiation standpoint. The better deal you find for BOTH of the parties involved, the
better your deal will become, try not to win individually, first try to engage in win-win
negotiation.
Section 5: Negotiation isn’t just about negotiating
- Moscow Analysis for Negotiation: MoSCoW Technique (Prioritization Method), it helps
us what we want, what we don’t want, what we have, what we don’t have. We use this
technique to get a clear idea about what exactly we want. M= Must Have; S= Should
Have; C= Could Have; W= Won’t Have.
- Must Have: Fundamental Requirements: Minimum usable subset; Without them, release
will be useless and wanting; Guaranteed delivery at the end of timebox.
- Should Have: Important requirements; Need to Have; Without them, deliverable is still
usable; Necessary but not sufficient.
- Could Have: Negotiable requirements; Nice to Have; Minimum Value; Important but Not
Urgent.
- Won’t Have: Non-value adding requirements; Not required, maybe later; Bottom of the
pile; Not important; not urgent.
- Negotiation is never final: It’s always an on-going process. All information that can
affect the nature of the deal, partnership or the process of the past negotiations, there is
the possibility of re-opening contracts, negotiations, deals etc. Maintain win-win mindset
in re-negotiations.
- The Four Essentials of Negotiation:
- Get the facts and prepare in advance, do you research thoroughly, prepare alternatives
and plan ahead.
- Be concise when communicating what you want from them.
- Seek for a win-win situation. Prioritize long-term gains, regular clients are the ones who
put the bread on the table.
- Always practice the concepts and methods you have learned, always try to improve and
get out of your comfort zone.
- Positioning and Body-Language:
- Avoid sitting opposite from each other, it creates division, creates conflict.
- Avoid close arm gestures (crossing arms, closing yourself off, guarded and defensive
behavior.)
- Lean forward, listen closely and nod your head, eye contact is a must, calm and slow
speech, control the pace.