Negotiating Tips, Planning for Negotiations, Business Negotiation May 18, 2011

4 questions to Help Achieve your Negotiation Goals

Every business negotiation begins for one simple reason: the desire to achieve a goal. Perhaps you are trying to buy new materials at a better price or you are aiming to get a larger sales territory. You have clarified and refined exactly what you want to get from the negotiation, right? According to Dr. Chester L. Karrass, writing in his book The Negotiation Game,

It is possible for a negotiator to increase the satisfaction of both parties through a disciplined approach toward problem-solving.

The key to achieving your negotiation goals therefore, is to improve your problem-solving approach. To do this, ask the following four questions:

1. How can both parties benefit when you work toward the achievement of your joint goals?
2. How can both parties benefit when you work actively to help achieve the other party’s goals?
3. How can both parties benefit by you helping the other party to work for his/her goals?
4. How can both parties benefit by you giving up some goals in favor of others?

Notice the main theme in these problem-solving questions is trying to achieve benefit for both parties. If you enter a negotiation without considering the other party’s goals, you will not achieve a win-win negotiation.

What other strategies do you actively use when planning your negotiation? Do you prioritize goals? Do you analyze possible outcomes? Let us know in the comments.