Big negotiation coming up, and not sure where to start?

Here’s the twist: you’ve probably been negotiating for years already. You just didn’t realise it. There’s nothing to fear.

Over the next few posts, I’ll be sharing practical lessons from 20 years of working on high-ticket, international negotiations. No theory. Just what really works.

Let’s kick off with the unglamorous but decisive bit: preparation.

The key to success is: *Do Your Homework*.

Clear some space in your diary a few days ahead, grab a pen and paper (yes, old school; it really does work better), and write this one sentence at the top: “This Is A Negotiation”. Sounds obvious, but most people who come out feeling short-changed didn’t realise it was a negotiation till it was too late.

A negotiation isn’t a battle to be won or lost. It’s a structured conversation between two parties who both want an agreement. This isn’t the place for impostor syndrome: the very fact you’re invited means your presence isn’t just valid, it’s essential. They can’t do it without you!

Now, good negotiations should be efficient. If it takes three years of monthly “getting to know you” meetings, something’s gone wrong. You can probably reach agreement in three hours or less, if you put your mind to it.

And the best outcomes are win-win-win: you win, the other party wins, and the relationship comes out stronger.

Idealistic? Not at all. That’s how sustainable deals are made.

Now let’s get into some of the specific nitty-gritty about this negotiation you’re facing.

>> What’s your best possible outcome? Be ambitious, but grounded. What do you want to come away from the negotiation with? Write your best realistic result at the foot of the page. So that’s where you’re headed as you work down the sheet from “This is a negotiation” to “My best result would be: …”

In the middle of the page:

>> What’s unacceptable? I mean, the point where you’d walk away kicking yourself.

>> So where’s your break-even?

>> And finally, what’s your BATNA: your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement? In plain English: what happens – and how much do you stand to lose – if you stand up and say “Sorry. No deal”?

Map these all out in the middle in whatever way works for you. Often, just the exercise of downloading our thoughts onto paper is a healthy way of putting things in order. Clarity here changes everything.

Now read through it again with serious consideration. Draw a route from the top to the bottom, with the intersections and roads you want to avoid.

Then put it to one side for a few hours to let your subsconscious process it, while your attention’s on something else: Eureka moments happen in the bathtub, not in the boardroom.

Great stuff! We’ll pick up this page of notes again later and fine-tune it.

It’s easy. And it’s already taken you a long way down the road to a successful negotiation.

Follow me to find out what’s next!