One of the tricks is to have a posture that inspires confidence and power. (Photo: Medienstürmer for Unsplash)
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Q. – “I’m a seasoned salesperson, yet I must confess that I often feel like I’m not getting the most out of what I could get when negotiating with a client. Maybe because I’m still stressed a lot. Are there any little-known tricks to becoming a champion negotiator?” – Ludovick
A. – Dear Ludovick, I recommend that you read the book by Mike Wheeler, professor of management at Harvard Business School (HBS), entitled “The art of negotiation: How to improvise agreement in a chaotic world”. Because he presents unusual tricks, not to say counter-intuitive, allowing a successful negotiation. And this, bearing in mind the fact that the goal of a negotiation is never to see a winner and a loser, but to see two winners!
Here are seven winning tactics from his book.
1. Turn your stress into excitement
Let’s start with the stress that grips you when trading. It’s normal to see your blood pressure rise, but you need to keep your cool.
How? The author talks about an experiment conducted by a colleague of the HBS, Alison Wood-Brooks. The latter asked volunteers to do something stressful, namely to sing “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey in front of a group of strangers. Those who, just before going on stage, mentally repeated the mantra “I’m excited” (at the request of the experimenters) performed significantly better than those who had to say to themselves “I’m nervous”; they felt more at ease, and sang better.
In other words, the idea is not to do karaoke before negotiating, but rather to “surround your stress with a bubble of excitement”. For example, by repeating to yourself just before a little magic phrase that will give you positive energy.
2. Define your goal first
Preparation for the negotiation is essential for its success. Hence the importance of establishing your primary objective, that is to say the goal that you absolutely must achieve in order to consider yourself satisfied.
Once this is done, Mr. Wheeler recommends setting another goal, which is ambitious. This will serve as your starting point.
Finally, it may be a good idea to set yourself a minimum goal as well. If ever the discussion tends to show that it will be impossible for you to reach it, this will be a sign for you that it is better to withdraw from the negotiation as soon as possible, without wasting your time any longer.
Note, Ludovick, that this tactic should help you lose that recurring feeling of “not having gotten the best out of what you could have gotten”.
3. Keep an open mind
Negotiating well is above all knowing how to be flexible in spirit. It’s listening to what the other has to say, and really taking it into account. Without losing sight of its own objectives, of course.
“Adaptability is imperative in negotiation, from start to finish,” notes the author. Because opportunities will appear, as will unforeseen obstacles. The advantage will pass from one side to the other, like an ebb and flow. And it may even cause you to revise your goals, in light of new information gained during the discussion.
This is why open-mindedness is essential. Otherwise, it will be impossible for you to “make the most of everything that is happening”.
4. Adopt the right posture
Confidence and power. This is what your body language should project.
If you negotiate seated at a table, it can be good to have your head tilted a little and your hands joined, while having your gaze straight in that of your interlocutor. Because it sends a message: “I listen, I am comfortable, I am receptive”. On the other hand, it is better to avoid touching your neck or your nose: it gives the impression that you are uncomfortable, even unsure of yourself.
5. Cherish the silence
Don’t feel compelled to speak, to fill the “void” created by a moment of silence. On the contrary, extend the moments of silence as much as possible, especially when the stakes become important. For what? Because it will destabilize your interlocutor, sometimes even to the point that he will end up feeling the need to fill the silence himself. Which will lead him to say things he hadn’t planned to say. Yes, things that could well turn out to your advantage.
6. Take a break
Suppose things don’t quite turn out the way you had hoped. Well, a good trick is to take a break. Take a deep breath, stretch, look away. And say a sentence showing that you are going to immerse yourself in a long reflection, like: “Hmm… That deserves to think about it for a moment”. And stretch this moment as long as possible.
It is clear that this will disarm your interlocutor. It can even cause him to reconsider his position in the blink of an eye, after thinking that he may have gone too far.
7. Put your cards on the table
We often believe, wrongly, that to negotiate well you need to have a secret asset in your hand, and even that you shouldn’t reveal your game. The HBS professor takes the opposite view of this received idea: “ Indicate what you really want, play cards on the table, he recommends. This will inspire confidence and allow the discussion to take a big step forward.”
And to add: “Playing cards on the table can often have the effect of enlarging the cake to be shared, and therefore of arriving at a mutually beneficial transaction,” he said. In short, we therefore give ourselves the possibility of finding a win-win solution together!
There you go, Ludovick. These seven tactics should make you feel better when you enter a negotiation, and therefore not come out of it feeling frustrated.
By the way, Cardinal de Retz said in his Memoirs: “To set yourself up as a negotiator too much is not always the best quality for negotiation”.