When I speak with clients about upcoming
negotiations at some point we talk about power and assess which party has more
power and why.
In most cases my clients believe that the other party has
the power over them. They see their opponent as someone who is much bigger, has
much more influence, is a tough negotiator and often gets the better deal. They
feel powerless and are unsure on what to do to negotiate successfully.
They look at the negotiation like a David
versus Goliath. Only that David the courageous shepherd boy has been able to
battle a giant that many have been so fearful of and demonstrated that size
does not always matter. David won the battle as he was not scared, he was
confident and prepared. He was in
control of himself and did not let anyone influence him by their fears. He had
a strategy and he stuck with it, he decided against heavy armour as he knew it
would slow him down.
By studying Goliath, David understood his
strengths and weaknesses and could therefore use this knowledge to shift the
perceived level of power in his favour.
When I speak with my clients about their negotiations,
they often find themselves negotiating against such giants which can be any
powerful opponent; a big brand, a big retailer, or any big corporation which
makes them believe that they are the underdog and have to play by their rules.
But as Malcolm Gladwell writes in his book ‘David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits
and the Art of Battling Giants’, ‘giants are not what we think they are.’
Giants also have weaknesses, pressures, motivations and goals because at the
end of the day we are all people and we all have certain aspects that motivate
us. The key is to understand that and to figure out how you can shift the
perceived power in your favour.
When we talk about power in a negotiation,
we refer to two types of power, actual power and perceived power. Actual power
relates to the position and the capacity of the negotiator that enables the
negotiator to get the better deal.
Perceived power is not objective, it is the
perception one party has of the other as to how much power the other party has
in the negotiation.
If you believe that the other party has more
actual power than you then you need to work on shifting the perceived power in
your favour, just like David did when he took on Goliath.
Preparation is the key to success here.
Through preparation an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the
other party is gained. You then need to understand the motivations, desires and
pressures of the other party and work out a negotiation strategy with that
information. Think about how they will behave in the negotiation and why. Negotiating with an experienced opponent could mean
that there is negotiation history which can be obtained by talking to people
who have dealt with that party before. Most people are creatures of habit
meaning that their negotiation tactics and styles can be predicted which gives great insight.
Take the time to prepare, understand the other party as that way you will gain power and confidence.
#negotiationstrategies #negotiationskills #negotiate
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