Many people ask "why negotiate?" when we can simply accept the deal we have been offered. Why risk jeopardising the deal and create a potentially uncomfortable environment for both parties when the easiest solution could be to say just "yes"?
Three reasons:
- Negotiators are paid to maximise their deals, not just to close them
- There tends to be a better deal on the table than the one you are presented with
- Your job as a negotiator is to craft the best available deal with your counter-party
Negotiators are paid to maximise their deals, not just to close them
As a negotiator, you owe a duty to your business to maximise its EBIT. You are not negotiating merely to close a deal, you want to ensure you really get the best possible agreement that could be made, based on an objective assessment of commercial, market and power balance considerations. If you don't get the very best deal available, then you may have reached your minimal objectives as a seller, a buyer, or a diplomat, but you will have failed in your mission as a negotiator.
Master negotiators always ask themselves: "is this the very best deal I can get?"
There tends to be a better deal on the table than the one you are presented with
If you are negotiating with another professional negotiator or, simply, an experienced business person chances are that, in a competitive, short-term relationship environment, they will initially present you with an offer which is not the very best one they could make - even if they assure you otherwise.
In a collaborative, long-term relationship environment, you will instead tend to find that the other party may present you with their intention of a very good offer (if they hopefully intend to be honest and fair with you and preserve trust), However, there is a very high chance that not all variables and conditions were explored -leading, therefore, to a potentially suboptimal deal.
Always attempt to negotiate, question authority and structures as they are presented to you. Your job as a master negotiator is to go beyond the status-quo and be unafraid to explore options that can improve the deal for both sides (in a win-win environment) or, alternatively, for your business if you are in a distributive (win-lose) environment.
Your job as a negotiator is to craft the best available deal with your counter-party
When you plan and prepare your negotiations, always think: what else can we do to improve the deal on the table? Am I maximising my chances to get what I want? Am I providing the right services to my long-term counter-party and fulfilling my duty as a value-creating negotiator by crafting the very best deal collaboratively, even if this will invite initial conflict and objections?
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